Page 36 of The Enemy to the Living (The Wild Hunt #2)

Quinn

I shower, Asher semi standing guard outside the door the entire time. Blood sluices down into the drain, but the water heats me up again. I feel a little queasy but only a little. It’s not like when I killed the vampire.

Tonight, I protected my mate. And when I hear him talking quietly on the phone, presumably telling the rest of the Hunt to come here and help him with this, I relax because he’s here and he’s alive and that’s because of what I did.

I climb out and towel off, then slip into the jogging bottoms Asher put on top of the closed toilet. Water drips from my still-wet hair onto my shoulders, and I rub the towel over my head, then take a look at myself in the mirror.

Silver rings my irises even now. My wolf is close to the surface. I think he will be until this is done with, until Asher and I are in bed and safe. Right now, I’m still very aware of the dead fae downstairs—the spicy tang of what he is mingles with the almost overpowering scent of his blood.

Asher pushes off from the other wall when I step out of the bathroom. His eyes move over me quickly at first, as though he might find some injury I haven’t told him about, then slower, lingering a little.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“I mean—It’s a lot, you killing—”

“Asher.” I grab his hands and squeeze. “This isn’t the same. I’m okay.”

“Yeah?” He stares at me. “Yeah, you are.”

He kisses me softly, quickly, and we take a slow trip back down to the kitchen.

“It’s not over, is it?” I murmur. Asher sits on the stairs, then pulls me down to sit next to him.

“No,” he says. “But the twins are gone. You’re safe.” He presses a hand to my chest, where the mating bond is. Where my wolf is.

“I said I’d give them ten fights,” I blurt out.

“What?”

“The deal. I just wanted to fight. It was the only thing that made me feel better. They said I had to come for ten fights and that’s what I wanted anyway, so I agreed.”

Asher frowns. “And when they asked for your wolf?”

“I-I thought they’d never get it. I told them I couldn’t shift, but they didn’t care.”

“What happened the other night?”

“It was the last one,” I say, staring at my hands.

Asher reaches over and threads his fingers through mine, and I stare down at the butterfly on the back of his hand instead.

“That’s why I said I’d come back. Part of the deal was that I couldn’t tell you anything, either, so I thought I’d come back and tell you—and I felt my wolf too, so I thought we could… we could fix everything and—”

“They tricked you?”

I scowl. “Yeah. Locked me in a room. They came by in the morning and said I’d missed the fight. Then they took my wolf.”

Asher leans over and kisses my shoulder. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I said I would be.”

“I got myself into this mess.”

“And Sparrow,” Asher says darkly. He shakes his head a second later. “I can’t be too mad at them. They saved me too tonight.”

“You owe them, then?”

Asher’s eyes flare. “Shit, I do.”

“What deal did you strike?”

“Said I’d tell them what I used to be.” He shrugs one shoulder and tips his head so it’s resting on my shoulder. “They already know, I think. Paxton does.”

I squeeze his hand. “I think Maurice does too.”

Asher hums.

“Why did you keep it a secret?” I ask.

“I don’t know,” he says, then sighs. “No, I do. I’ve never been certain about the choice I made. Giving up my wolf for another chance at life… What kind of wolf am I, once I’ve done that? I’m not human. I’ve never been human. For a long time, I didn’t know what I was.”

“You’re mine.”

“I am,” Asher agrees easily. “And I’m part of the Hunt. And I’m a wolf, even if I don’t have mine anymore.”

I reach over and touch his chin. He lifts his head, going where I push him easily, and when we kiss, the bond between us flares and grows a little stronger.

We’re interrupted by a knock at the front door. Asher groans against my mouth. “They’re here.”

“It’ll take a while?”

He grins, gaze all heat. “Not if I have any say in it.”

I stay sitting on the stairs as he opens the front door, though my stomach tightens at the sight of all the people waiting outside.

Maurice gives me an almost sardonic wave as he steps inside, attention immediately zeroing in on Sorrel’s body.

He’s followed by Jeremiah and Paxton, who I recognise only from their infrequent visits to check up on Kieran and Drew.

I don’t really recognise the two vampires bringing up the rear. One is older, and he looks just like every stereotypical vampire I’ve ever imagined—tall and pale, dark hair and dark eyes and a dark, neatly trimmed beard. He smells older than even Maurice.

The other one smells like him. He looks a little younger than me, with messy dark hair, dressed in an outfit I’d think more suited for a summer holiday than anything else.

Asher speaks quietly with the older vampire and the younger one watches me, unabashed.

When Asher notices, he nudges the younger vampire with his shoulder.

I think they were at my challenge, now that I come to think of it. I swallow hard. I try not to think of that night too much, even if it was the first time I saw Asher.

“Vlad, Grant,” Asher says, pointing at the older, then the younger vampire. “This is Quinn.”

Vlad inclines his head, gaze moving immediately past me to whatever Maurice and the others are doing with Sorrel’s body in the kitchen. Grant bounces over and drops onto the step just below mine.

“I remember you,” he says. He leans around me to take a look at Sorrel’s body, then jerks back again, face pale. “You did that?”

I nod. Asher snorts. “Could’ve been me.”

Grant rolls his eyes. I’m hardly more than a pup myself, I know that, and I don’t know how long he’s been a vampire, but I’m sure he’s older than me. Still, in this moment, he reminds me of a boisterous young wolf, sick of listening to his elders.

“Did you shift?” Grant asks me, eyes big again.

“To kill him?”

“Yeah.”

“Yes, I did.”

Grant’s grin is almost blinding. “Oh my God,” he gushes, “I’ve never seen a wolf shift before—or a shifted one either, actually, because I don’t think any of them did it that night when we… Anyway, can you show me?”

I blink at the absolute barrage of words, all spoken like Grant daren’t take another breath or risk losing track of them. He reminds me of Dante. Not that Dante is this… extroverted. But get him on a topic he knows about, and he’ll just keep going.

The two of them in a room together would be interesting.

“Not today, Grant,” Asher says, and his voice is firm but soothing. A smile softens my mouth. Grant is part of his pack, isn’t he? Does Asher know he’s done that? He must do.

Grant pouts. He doesn’t turn his head from Asher, instead looking at me again out of the corner of his eye. “Will you show me someday?”

“Yeah,” I say. I’m not against shifting right now. In fact, I kind of want to do it again, if only to prove to myself I can. My wolf prances about, fully ready to show off, but Asher gives me a faintly stern look. “Soon,” I add.

Grant’s pout is gone in an instant, replaced by a sunny grin.

“Asher,” Maurice calls. “Get over here and help with this, would you?”

I slowly rise to my feet. “I could…”

Asher shakes his head. “Stay. We’ve got this.”

Vlad is already with the others, but Grant stays next to me as Asher joins the other four at the other side of the kitchen. It’s already cramped in here, but even more so—none of the five of them are particularly small men.

“So…” Grant says, turning all his attention to me. “You and Asher?” He waggles his eyebrows and I huff a laugh.

“Yeah.”

“It’s serious?”

I open my mouth to give him some short answer—I don’t know what—and then realise he’s not looking me in the face. No. His eyes are on my chest, right in the middle, where my mating bond is.

“Yeah,” I say softly. “It is.”

Grant’s grin never falters. “Good. He needs it. You.”

I hum. Maurice is performing some spell; I can only tell because the blood pool is beginning to shrink and, thankfully, isn’t leaving a stain behind. “What about you?” I mutter.

“Me?” Grant seems genuinely surprised.

“You and—” I glance at Vlad. He looks the most forbidding of the three vampires over there, which is surprising because Maurice is usually immediately intimidating.

“Oh?” Grant flushes but shakes his head. “Vlad turned me.”

“Huh.” I know Lucien and Adam are more like father and son, but I’m sure Adam’s told me before that’s not always the case. “So you never…”

Grant is quiet for a moment too long. “No,” he says. “No, never.”

I swallow and lower my voice. “But you…”

Grant’s eyes are wide. He shakes his head, but I don’t think it means no. He just doesn’t want to talk about it. Not here.

“Because the Huntsman wants to see it,” Vlad says, voice raised a little, and I stick my head over the banister to see what’s going on.

He and Jeremiah seem to be in a bit of an argument—over what to do with Sorrel’s body, I think—and Maurice is standing by, faintly smirking.

Asher and Paxton exchange an exasperated look and I can’t help my smile.

He’s been building a pack all on his own, seems to me.

“Fine,” Jeremiah says, throwing his arms up in the air. “I’ll go start the car. Come on.”

He’s talking to Paxton, clearly, because Paxton’s the one who follows him out of the flat, giving me a small wave before he goes. I’m sure I’ll see them both soon.

“You’re going to come by and see us at the base, aren’t you?” Grant says, drawing my attention back to him. Maurice is performing another spell.

“Yeah, sure?”

“Only, I know you live with your pack, and Asher has his place here, so he doesn’t stay over much, either, and—”

“I’ll come,” I say, words heavy with promise.

It might be good for me to have my own friends, too, even if I already want to introduce Grant to the rest of our pack.

I’ll ask Asher later if Grant has any friends of his own.

Maybe he and Paxton are of a similar age, but it’s clear he sticks out, and I can’t imagine what his life must be like.

When I look up, Asher is standing at the foot of the stairs. He smiles at Grant, but it’s strained, and his entire body is held tense. I frown.

“Time for you to go, pup,” Asher says, and for a brief, shocking moment, I think he’s talking to me.

Grant gets to his feet with a rueful laugh. Maurice passes by, dragging Sorrel’s body along with the help of his magic, and Vlad stops at the bottom of the stairs, right next to Asher.

“Come, Grant,” he says.

Grant gives me a final, beseeching look as he tromps down the stairs. “We can’t stay a bit longer? It’s not going to be sunrise for hours . I never get to leave the base, and—”

“Leave Asher and his mate alone, Grant,” Maurice calls from just outside. “They have better things to be doing than talking to you.”

“Oh? Oh…” Grant’s smile is wicked, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes. Vlad nods to Asher then, to my surprise, to me, and Grant trails him out of the flat.

I bound down to the doorway before Asher can shut the door. He makes an affronted sound when I grab it, then another one when I step out into the night. “Grant, wait!”

Grant pauses halfway down the stairs. “Yeah?”

“Drew and Dax shift and go running sometimes before the sun comes up. I’m gonna go with them, so if you want, I can ask them if it’s okay for you to come along.”

God, I feel like a kid again, knowing that I’m half-asking Vlad if Grant has permission to join us.

Grant doesn’t care about that, of course. Vlad opens his mouth, and I can tell by his expression that he’s going to say no, but Grant beats him to the punch. “You’ll do that?”

There’s so much hope in his voice. Vlad closes his mouth and swallows.

“Yeah, I’ll ask. Asher’s got your number, right? I’ll text you and let you know.”

Grant nods. When the wicked grin returns, it’s real, and he looks past me to say, “Have fun tonight.”

“Good bye , Grant,” Asher growls, then grabs me around the waist and hauls me back inside. He slams the door shut and I start laughing. I’m still chuckling when he spins me and presses me up against the door.

“You doing okay?” I ask between chuckles.

Asher stares at me, one hand planted on either side of my head. His eyes are dark and ravenous. My chuckles taper off, but I’m still smiling because there’s warmth in them, too.

“I thought they’d never leave,” he says.

“They’re gone now.” I reach for the hem of Asher’s T-shirt.

Asher catches my hands. “Quinn, wait.”

“What’s wrong?”

“Nothing’s wrong, darling.” His lips quirk up.

“I just… I thought I could go slow, but I don’t know if that’s true.

But I know, too, that you’ve still got a lot to work through—maybe even more after all that’s happened over the last few days—and I’m more than happy to take you back to your pack if you want.

We can… I don’t know. Go on dates. Get to know each other better. ”

My wolf digs his claws in. Oh, like fuck am I leaving. I don’t bristle at the care. It’s genuine. He’s genuine.

“You’re my mate.”

“Quinn…”

“I don’t want to go.”

“Okay.”

“I don’t want to go slowly, either.”

“And dates?”

“Yeah, we’ll go on dates.” I grin. “I’ll take you on some cheap ones, and you can take me on expensive ones.”

That gets me the laugh I’m after, and Asher puts my arms around his waist before he leans into me. His mouth is so close. “We’ll negotiate that one.”

“Okay,” I say and take the kiss he’s offering me.