Page 58 of Twilight Destiny

“Who was it? Dammit, Rosa, answer me!”

She was still trying to think of an answer when there was another knock at the door. Before she could react, Micah pulled it open and came face-to-face with Kincaid.

For stretched seconds, the two men glared at each other.

And then Micah frowned. “Who the hell are you?” he demanded.

Rosa shivered as Jake’s power slammed into Micah, almost knocking him off his feet. He staggered back a few steps as Jake crossed the threshold.

“I’m Kincaid. And I would advise you to shut the hell up if you know what’s good for you.”

Micah didn’t back down, simply stood there, his whole being vibrating with tension. “Rosa is my sister.” He spoke through gritted teeth. “And I have every right to know what the hell is going on.”

Kincaid grunted softly. “Point to you, Ravenwood.”

“How do you know Saintcrow?”

“He’s an old friend of mine.” Kincaid stressed the word ‘old’. “You obviously know him, too, since he’s given you his blood.”

Micah fixed his gaze on Rosa. “Is this guy the reason you stayed home while the family went to Italy?”

“Not exactly.”

“So why, exactly?”

Rosa bit down on her lower lip. The raw testosterone bouncing off the walls was thick enough to cut with a knife. “Why don’t you both sit down?”

Micah hesitated a moment, then sat in the chair across from the sofa.

“I’ll stand,” Jake said.

Rosa perched on the edge of the couch. “Micah, I went to Morgan Creek while you were gone.”

“What the hell! Why would you go there alone?”

“I wanted to meet a vampire. You won’t turn me. Neither will Sofie.”

“And this guy will, is that it?”

“No. I asked Saintcrow to introduce me to some vampires. I wanted to know what being a vampire is really like and I wanted to hear it from someone who didn’t know me and wouldn’t try to influence me one way or the other. Saintcrow introduced me to Jake, in hopes that he would scare me off. But it didn’t work. We’ve been seeing each other ever since.” She held up a hand when her brother started to speak. “You can’t tell me what to do any more, Micah. I won’t stop seeing Jake. But I decided that being a vampire isn’t for me. At least not right now. So stop worrying.”

“And I’m just supposed to accept this … this relationship?” Micah asked, his voice tight with disapproval.

“Yes. But I promise if I change my mind, I’ll call you before I do anything.”

Micah nodded slowly, then glanced at Kincaid. “You might be older than I am. You might be stronger. But if you turn my sister against her will, I’ll hunt you down and destroy you if it’s the last thing I do.”

“I can live with that.”

Looking resigned but unhappy, Micah stood and headed for the door. He paused, his hand on the knob, as if he wanted to say more, then stalked out of the apartment and slammed the door behind him.

“Well, that was heaps of fun,” Rosa muttered.

“You can’t blame him for being upset.”

“If I’d known you were coming over, I’d have called and warned you.”

“We were bound to meet sooner or later,” Jake said, dropping down on the sofa beside her.