Then Jarrett collapsed to the ground.
The stone fell to the side and shattered.
Tenn sat there. Staring. His heart hammering louder than thunder in his chest.
Come on. Come on. Come on.
“I believe,” Jarrett whispered, his eyes quirking open, “my prince is supposed to kiss me awake.”
CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
HE DIDN’T KNOW how long they huddled there, curled against one another. Jarrett was alive. Jarrett was alive. But weak. So weak. He fell asleep in Tenn’s arms right after speaking, as though that act had been scaling a mountain. Tenn didn’t care. He could have stayed there all night, holding Jarrett to his chest, until the twins began their attack and he had to kick his brain into gear.
He could have stayed there, if not for the hand that touched his shoulder. The hand that burned with fire and ice.
“Tomás,” Tenn hissed, flinching away, shielding Jarrett from the incubus.
Tomás stood there, inches away, once more wearing nothing but skintight jeans and a smile, as though it weren’t snowing outside. As though this were just another seduction. He burned like a sun. He must have been feeding. Tenn hated himself for not sensing the Kin’s arrival. He should have known Tomás and Leanna would be together. Working together. And now, here he was to gloat.
“I am impressed,” Tomás said. He was staring not at Tenn but at Jarrett. Jarrett, who could barely keep his eyes open. “You have done what no other could do.”
“I didn’t turn him,” Tenn said.
“No. But you spoke the language of the runes. You heard the Dark Lady’s call.” His eyes trailed to Tenn as he spoke, the smile twisting into something else. Tenn didn’t like that change in Tomás’s demeanor.
Tomás was looking at him like an equal.
“I didn’t hear anything,” Tenn said. “What the hell do you want?”
“Touchy, touchy,” Tomás muttered. He stroked the side of Tenn’s face, sending chills down his spine. Then he reached for Jarrett. Tenn beat his hand away. Tomás actually chuckled. “She expects this one to be a monster, you know.” He looked at Tenn. “What will you do when my sister arrives and finds him whole? Do you truly think you will leave here?”
“We’ll fight.”
Tomás laughed. Far too loudly. Tenn fully expected Leanna to come barging in right then. The fact that she didn’t had him on edge. She had to have felt that much magic. Maybe she just thought it was him turning Jarrett into a Howl?
“You’ll fight?” Tomás asked. “Adorable. And here I thought you had actually learned something in the last few days.” Quick as a viper, Tomás had Tenn against the wall, feet away from Jarrett, a hand around his neck. “You forget your place, little mouse. You cannot kill Leanna. Just as you cannot kill me. At best, you are our plaything. At worst, a meal.”
He leaned in and licked Tenn’s jawline. Fire screamed inside Tenn’s chest as the incubus drew the heat from him, leaving him shuddering. A renegade sigh escaped his lips.
“You don’t have it in you to fight her,” Tomás said, his words tilting on bedroom huskiness. “And neither does your lover. If you want to get out of here alive, you are going to have to play by my rules.”
Tenn wanted to say he wasn’t playing. He wasn’t going to be manipulated by Tomás—not after what he’d just done, not after he’d done the impossible. But he couldn’t get the words out.
Tomás could be very commanding when he wanted to be.
“What...what do you want?” Tenn managed. He shuddered and his chest ached; Tomás was drawing heat from him even now, more than he ever had before.
Tomás chuckled. “You always ask that. My answer is always the same. I want everything, Tenn. And you have just proven that you can help me get it.” He leaned in, and the little strength Tenn had left wanted to pull the Howl closer. “I am actually quite glad you restored your lover. He is going to make the coming days so much more interesting to watch.”
“I don’t—”
But Tomás put his free finger over Tenn’s lips.
“You don’t. But you will. If you follow my lead.”
He let Tenn go. Tenn slumped to the floor.
Heat rushed back through Tenn’s limbs, followed by a terrible tingling that made it impossible to move. He watched Tomás saunter toward Jarrett. Jarrett watched him approach with half-lidded eyes.
“Don’t you dare—”
“I’m not going to hurt him, Tenn. I already told you, I look forward to the fun we will all have soon. Oh, so very soon.” He knelt down in front of Jarrett, studying him but not touching. “But he will die if you keep him here. And you are in no shape to protect him from what is about to come. I won’t be able to, either.”
He looked back to Tenn.
“I will take him from here. Bring him to your friends. We can tell Leanna you pushed your lover out the window or something.”
Tenn wanted to ask a thousand questions, but the only one he could get out was “Why?”
Tomás’s smile read every question.
“Do you truly believe there is a single moment where I am not watching you, Tenn? I observed you and your friends creating your little runic circle. How positively ancient of you, by the way. As for why... I have my reasons. Let’s just say, it’s much more fun to watch you struggle. Opposition breeds resilience, after all.”
Tenn inched forward. He couldn’t trust Tomás. Not when Tomás had kept this from him. He must have known Jarrett was alive this entire time. He couldn’t trust him...
“I haven’t lied to you once, Tenn,” Tomás said as Tenn tried to move, his limbs barely working. “I told you from day one that I would keep you alive. And that I have. But you are right not to trust me. You shouldn’t trust anyone. Not even your lover, who still hasn’t admitted why he was sent to find you. Charming, if not a little convenient. Oh, yes, keeping him alive will make this so much more fun.”
Before Tenn could ask what Tomás meant, the incubus and Jarrett were gone.
Tenn blinked. The room suddenly empty, as if it had all been a dream. He could have almost believed it was a hallucination, too. If not for the shattered stone marking where Jarrett had lain.
Moments later, Tomás reappeared.
One day, Tenn would figure out how he was traveling like that.
Tenn opened his mouth, but Tomás was at his side before he could speak.
“Do not worry, little mouse. Your boyfriend is safe.”
“Why are you doing this?” Tenn asked. “Why are you helping me?”
“I’m not,” Tomás said. He gently caressed Tenn’s face, once more sending chills and heat through Tenn’s skin. Tenn’s mind raced with the images of what other sensations the man could arouse, but his words cut the thoughts short. “You are helping me.”
Tenn reached up and grabbed Tomás’s hand. His mind was fluttering, but he had to stay focused. Had to draw the Howl closer. Had to...