Page 20

Chapter 20

It is incredibly disconcerting to watch yourself walk and talk with other people. After past-Amber and past-Bastion finally left the office, there was a narrow window of escape while the CSI guys popped back to their van. If we didn’t move then, we’d be stuck for hours and hours.

Bastion moved silently and I tried to emulate him, wincing at every noise I made. He swore under his breath as he heard someone approaching and pulled us hastily into some sort of utilities cupboard. I was precariously balanced next to a mop bucket and I recognised the hoover we’d used to suck up the vampyr.

He closed the door behind us and we tensed, waiting to see if we’d been spotted. The space was limited and I was pressed up against him. There were worse places to be. ‘This is nice,’ I said facetiously. ‘You definitely do dates better than Emory. ’

He stilled. ‘After everything, do you still want to go on a date with me?’

That was a loaded question and I took a moment to really think about it, to think about all we’d been through together and what he’d come to mean to me.

I seized all of my courage and faced him. Cracks of light were beaming into the cupboard from the hallway and I could see the hard lines of his face, the scar through his lip, the sprinkle of grey in his hair. He was gloriously, ridiculously handsome, and it bowled me over that he had any interest in me.

‘Yes,’ I replied. ‘I still want to go on a date with you. If you’ll have me.’

‘For a long time you were just the kid I was bonded to,’ he admitted. ‘Then you were the witch I was bonded to. Now you’re Amber.’ Emotion I couldn’t – wouldn’t – name swelled in his voice. ‘My Bambi. Yes. Please.’

I had never heard him say that word, not once, and it was its own brand of magic. Hearing him say please made my knees go weak. I wanted to hear it more. Something hot curled in my belly and I licked my lips.

His lips curved in response. ‘Not here,’ he whispered. ‘We’re not having our first kiss in a supplies closet.’ His voice was low and husky; he wanted it as much as I did. For a moment I was tempted to press the point, but he went on, ‘Besides, I want this rune off when we share our first kiss. I want you to feel me, Amber, like I feel you.’

The man had more patience than a saint. ‘Then let’s get out of here,’ I growled, since my own patience had long since dissipated.

The CSI guy had disappeared again so Bastion cautiously opened the cupboard door, took my hand and led me through a small staff kitchen. He transformed his right hand into a claw and used it, somewhat clumsily, to open the back door. ‘No fingerprints,’ he explained.

‘Animals have fingerprints too, you know. Koalas have unique prints just like us. And orangutans.’

‘How do you know that?’

My brain holds all sorts of useless information. ‘How do you not?’ I shot back, making him grin.

‘I won’t be leaving any fingerprints that are in the Connection or police system.’

Once we were outside, we paused in the car park behind the office. We had no transport. I didn’t want to call the Coven and ask for the van while two of me were running around. I guessed we could always grab a taxi or walk to a bus stop.

Bastion shimmered and then he stood on four legs. ‘Climb on,’ he instructed.

I blinked. I guess that solved our transport issue. ‘But we haven’t even had our date yet,’ I protested.

He snorted, wings ruffling, and I climbed on. ‘Hold tight.’

I didn’t have his harness to secure me but we wouldn’t be flying far. Bastion waited until I’d grasped the tufts of hair at the apex of his back then launched himself forward, gaining speed before his wings snapped out and started to lift us.

In a minute we were high in the sky, above the grey wet clouds we’d pushed through. It was weird: I knew that clouds are made of water but they looked so fluffy and white that I didn’t expect rain to hit my skin as we’d ploughed through one of them. A fine mist clung to my face and clothes. Then we broke through the bank of grey and the sun beamed at us. Above every grey day, a glorious one waited.

We didn’t fly for long before Bastion dived back down. I squeezed his body tightly with my legs and silenced the scream that wanted to tear out of my throat. Exhilaration rushed through me as we ploughed back through the soggy clouds. Finally he landed lightly and expertly on top of the Coven roof.

I slid off his back and he shifted to human. I couldn’t help but beam at him. ‘That was awesome.’

‘You prefer it without the harness?’

‘I don’t know. I think last time the circumstances weren’t great, so I wasn’t exactly focused on the ride.’

A smirk tugged at his lips. ‘If you liked that ride, just you wait.’

I huffed. ‘You’re all talk. My lips remain unkissed. I’m beginning to think you don’t even like me.’

In a second he was on me, his body pressed against mine. He shifted his hips and suddenly I could feel something hot, hard and huge against my hip. ‘Oh,’ I said, eyes wide.

‘Oh,’ he agreed. ‘Having you ride me is – stimulating. Don’t think me cold or unaffected, Amber. I want you so much it is distracting me, but we can’t afford distractions, not now.’ He stepped back. ‘Let’s go and get this bloody rune off me.’

He grabbed my hand and tugged me into the Coven’s tower. He was a man on a mission.