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Didn’t matter anyway. Grandmaddox already had plenty of blood to curse me with. Might as well give Lana some, too.

“You know, you shouldn’t trust me to keep my word,” I warned her.

Naïve thing. Shewastoo trusting. It was going to get her killed, and she might be the only Infernarus who didn’t deserve it.

Begrudgingly, I dug the vial out of my pocket and handed it to her. “I’m not an Infernarus. You told me where the portal was, but I didn’t have to give you this.”

She put it around her neck again, pausing to marvel at my blood and looking quite pleased with herself. “But you did.”

Chapter 15

Lana

I slept severalhours. When I woke, it was to the smell of Asher’s sweat, the scent some combination of salt, alcohol, and human man. Not just human man—Asher.

He didn’t smell like some of the other natives I came across—like prey, or sickness, or filth. Quite the opposite. I wanted to run my lips over the sweat and taste it even as I mixed my scent with his.

That had me waking up real quick.

He still hates you. And you’re not too fond of him at the moment either.

I rubbed my eyes, catching sight of the beads of sweat that collected on his forehead. A droplet had already snaked its way down his cheek. Meanwhile, hot air still poured from the vents. It was warm enough that I’d kicked off the blanket.

He’d left the heat on at his own expense so I could be warm.

I reached over, beginning to press buttons at random as I searched for the one that would turn off the heater.

Asher startled at my movement, waking from whatever reverie he had been in.

“Lana,” he said, reaching forward and trying to remove my hand, “we talked about this already. I don’t want you touching—”

“You can turn off the heat,” I said.

He glanced over at me. Another bead of sweat slid down his cheek. I almost reached out to touch it before I remembered the shaky terms we were still on.

Without responding, he reached over to the dartboard and turned a knob. Immediately, the heat blasting through the vents shut off.

The silence that descended on us felt heavy. My eyes landed on that picture taped so close to the buttons I was pushing.

Finally, I said, “Are we going to talk about it?”

I saw his hands tighten on the steering wheel. “Nope.”

“You don’t even know what it is I want to talk about.”

“My wife is none of your business.”

That stung. “Last night, I did it because—”

“I don’t want to know,” he growled, the muscles of his arms straining, they were so tense.

“She was very beautiful,” I said quietly, “and she must have been a saint to deal with you.”

His mouth was a tight line, and I could hear his labored breaths coming in and out. He didn’t bother telling me to stop talking. I’m not sure at this point he could have. Not without losing control, and a cold human like Asher wouldn’t dare lose control.

“You shouldn’t have kissed me,” I said.

“You don’t think I regret it?” he said, finally looking over.