Page 27 of Dance of the Phoenix (Cloak of the Vampire #3)

Aileen

I felt the stares as Ragnor and I walked into the cafeteria the next morning. It wasn’t because we were seen together but because we were holding hands.

When Ragnor grabbed my hand after we left the suite, I had been startled, but I said nothing. Now, as Ragnor took me to an empty table (thankfully not in the served area), I realized that he’d decided to officially go public.

Before yesterday’s fight, I would’ve been angry at him for making this decision all by himself without consulting me. But now, after spending the night in his arms and waking up to see his beautiful face smiling at me, I was actually flattered.

Because it meant Ragnor was through with us being discreet and wanted to show the whole world I was his, and he was mine. And that made me feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy inside.

When it came to Ragnor, I was far too easy.

Once we settled on our table, Ragnor turned to me with his pretty eyes and said, “Care to brew me some coffee, dear?”

I arched an eyebrow. “Dear? Really?”

He grinned, looking more relaxed than I’d seen him in a while. “Please?”

Sighing, I shook my head and let go of his hand. “Fine. Anything else, oh dear husband from the sixties?”

Chuckling, he placed his coat on a chair and said, “I’ll get us some food. Eggs and bacon?”

I couldn’t help myself, so I stood on my tiptoes and kissed his cheek. “You know me so well, darlin’.”

When I was about to head to the coffee station, he pulled me toward him and, with a smirk, pressed his lips against mine.

Butterflies filled my stomach as electricity shot through my veins, making me weak in the knees and need to hold on to his shirt for balance.

His hands grabbed my waist, making me shudder slightly.

I heard whistles and catcalls all around us, and while I wished I could deepen the kiss and have a full-blown make-out session with him, this was neither the time nor the place. So I pulled back, flushed and a little too excited, and smiled at him. “Later,” I promised, pulling out of his grasp.

He grinned before he headed to the buffet.

I took the time making coffee to collect myself. I was of half a mind to go back to the suite and change into dry underwear, but that would’ve been overkill, I guessed.

When the coffee was ready, I walked back to the table and saw Ragnor sprawled over his chair and nibbling on a piece of bread as he looked at me. Why did I find that hot?

Forcing my reawakened libido down, I cleared my throat and handled the coffee carefully as I grabbed my seat on the other side of the table. “They were out of O minus, so I put O plus instead,” I told him when I pushed the mug toward him. “Hope that’s okay.”

He frowned at me, and for a moment I wondered if the change was that drastic, until he suddenly moved to the chair next to mine. “I don’t like you sitting so far,” he murmured almost petulantly as he grabbed the mug and sipped, his arm spread over the back of my chair possessively.

Feeling giddy at his uncharacteristic boyish, immature behavior, I did my best to keep my cool exterior as I ate my breakfast.

It didn’t help that Ragnor pushed his thigh against mine under the table constantly while his hand behind my back played with my ponytail.

After so many days of going to sleep alone and being ignored and avoided by him, this situation almost felt like a dream. But I was determined not to let my bitterness fester.

We needed to get a handle on the Hecatomb situation first before we let ourselves work through our relationship issues.

Once breakfast was over, Ragnor said, “I’m heading to the office for a bit. Please start training with Logan until I arrive.”

I nodded, and when I saw the worry in his eyes, I cupped his face and gave him a soft, chaste kiss. “Thank you,” I said, holding his midnight blue gaze. For not asking me any more questions about Logan.

He gave me a somewhat pained smile in return. “I learned my lesson,” he said somewhat sadly before giving me another kiss and leaving in the direction of his office.

When I arrived at the training room, Logan was already there, only this time, he wasn’t doing stretches. Instead, he seemed to have been waiting for me, seeing as he was leaning against the wall with folded arms, his eyes on me the moment I walked through the door.

Before I could even close it behind me, Logan said, “You were right.”

Immediately alert, I cautiously stepped toward him. “About what?”

“We need to work together if we don’t want to die,” he said bluntly, scowling. “Though I can’t deny that I hate that we were paired up.”

I nodded slowly, heart racing. “I understand.”

His eyes flashed and I froze in my place. “You understand?” he said, voice dropping an octave. “ You understand?”

Fuck.

“Logan,” I said, attempting to sound calm despite my voice growing small and tense as anxiety covered my skin with perspiration. “I meant to say that I understand why—”

“You understand shit,” he snapped, cutting me off, as he pushed himself off the wall and strode toward me menacingly.

My instincts told me to step back, but I held my ground, even when he was all but in my face.

“Just looking at you takes my entire mental capacity to deal with. Hearing your voice is even worse. It feels like I die inside every fucking time, and if this goes on, your mere presence will finish me off before the Hecatomb has a chance to.”

His words cut deep, right at the guilt I would forever feel when it came to him. I began to shiver, distressed, as I whispered, “Logan—”

“And now I have to see you acting all lovey-dovey with our Lord?” he said incredulously, laughing humorlessly. “What a fucking joke.”

I flinched, and he leaned forward, his nose almost touching mine. “So I thought hard about how I can fucking cooperate with you for the sake of the Hecatomb,” he snarled, turquoise eyes glowing a bright neon green. “And I decided there is only one way.”

Sudden dread filled me as I saw the intent in his eyes, followed by his hands grabbing my face roughly, making me grit my teeth. “I need to give back as good as you gave me over three years ago,” he said, and before I could get over the shock, his lips crashed against mine.

Motherfucker, I thought in panic as he bit my lip to force my mouth open and let his tongue in. My dread transformed into pure hysteria as I grabbed his shoulders and tried to get him off me, shaking with anger and fear.

But Logan was strong and shoved my hands away, wrapping his arms around both my body and arms. I tried to press my lips together and refuse him entry a second time, but then I saw him unsheathing his fangs and lowering his head to my neck, his fangs grazing against my skin.

“ Stop !” I screamed, trying to shake him off, thrashing against his almost unbreakable hold as tears welled in my eyes. “ Logan, stop! ”

His fangs tore my skin, and I screamed in rage as I felt him take a sip of my blood.

And so the only thing I could do was scream in my mind, Stop him!

A soft pounding in my head, followed by Logan’s sudden immobility, made me suck in a breath.

Did it work? Did I manage to stop time, along with Logan, who knew about my time-stopping ability?

Seeing as Logan wasn’t moving, I decided to ask questions later. Wriggling out of his hold, I shoved him away and released myself from his fangs and clutches. My hand went to my neck, feeling the blood still trickling, while I looked at Logan. I was both terrified and furious.

What the hell had just happened?

Pain slowly built in my head, but I knew I could hold on for at least twenty seconds more, thanks to my training with Ragnor. So I held on while I tried to figure out the situation.

Did Logan think that by assaulting me back, he would be relieved of his trauma?

The fury exploded inside me, and I had to hold myself back from striking him. Because deep down, beyond my anger, I knew I deserved it. He was a victim of my past choices.

Everything in me wanted to respond in kind. To attack him back. To tear into him for what he’d just done.

My instincts and emotions battled with rationality. Because the rational part of me knew I had to let it go if I were to work with him and survive the Hecatomb.

But could we really do this? What if Logan did it again? What if this was a warning that he would abandon me when the actual Hecatomb happened?

Taking a few deep breaths, calming my racing heart and forcing my anxieties down and away, I cautiously thought, Release, and watched as Logan fell on his knees, fighting for breath, whipping his head up, looking so inhuman with glowing eyes and fangs still coated in blood.

He was no longer the Logan I knew.

Just like I was no longer the Aileen he knew.

“Did you get it out of your system?” I asked, unable to hide my disgust but successfully masking my own fears.

Logan growled in response, slowly rising to his feet, eyes flashing as if to say, Hell no .

I braced myself, preparing for defense against an attack. Because I wouldn’t let him get close to me a second time. There was a limit to how much I could sacrifice and suffer to make him feel better.

But suddenly the glow in Logan’s eyes dimmed and he sheathed his fangs. Confused, all I could do was stare at him, fearing it might be a tactic to get my guard down, until I heard the door open.

Wiping the blood on my hand with my black shirt and pulling my ponytail over my shoulder to hide the bite mark, I turned around to see Ragnor entering. His eyes narrowed, probably feeling the unbearable tension in the air. “What’s going on?” he asked at once.

“Nothing, my Lord,” Logan answered immediately. “Aileen and I were just discussing optional techniques that we could use in our strategy in addition to Iovan’s Imperium.”

I had to physically stop myself from gaping at him. The Logan I knew couldn’t think of lies to save his life. This shocked me far more than it probably should have.

Ragnor glanced between Logan and me a few times in silence before he nodded and said, “All right, then. Tell me what you were thinking about.”

For the next twenty minutes, Logan laid down what seemed to be an extremely well thought-out tactic that made me realize he’d thought about it prior to our training.

All I could do was stand there, unable to look at either of the men as I was still reeling from what had just happened with Logan, and listen as he detailed the idea.

I did manage to gather that this strategy, in essence to divide and conquer—keeping my powers under wraps until a case of emergency, if either of our lives was at risk—was probably the best we could come up with when it came to fighting together in the Hecatomb.

We still needed to work together, but at least we would each be facing another foe instead of standing together.

Nearing the end of the training, though, I began losing my focus as Logan’s assault took over my mind, and I was so out of it, Ragnor kept sending questioning looks my way.

But Ragnor asked me nothing. Not when we had lunch together, nor when we went to his town house for private training. In fact, he followed my act of “business as usual” right up until it was late at night, when we were in his suite.

That’s when our fragile peace threatened to break.