Page 14

Chapter 14

What Would Kate Do?

I miss Sloan. This sucks.

I looked down at my phone, but other than the usual morning report from Cash—aka, how Phillip had pissed him off—Sloan hadn’t reached out.

When my eyes lifted, Jo was watching me from the corner of the room, her dark eyes saying something I was too inexperienced to understand. But then her pointed gaze dropped to my lips. She closed the door with her foot, its soft click so loud that my heart ramped up in response. Even if I hadn’t picked up on what she was laying down before, I’d be stupid not to get it now.

Rambling, I tucked red hair behind my ear. “So, this witch…she has to be a big deal if you guys don’t like talking about her, right?”

“I wouldn’t worry about that,” Jo replied, pulling her hair up into a messy bun. “I hate to give any credit to that whiny bitch in the other room, but he’s going to get us an in with her. And with the four of us out to claim her head, she doesn’t stand a fucking chance, powerful witch or not.” Her eyes stayed with mine. “Honestly, your power alone could win against her. She wouldn’t be able to follow you into that frozen window of time you create. Very few can.”

“Oh,” I mumbled, the air harder to catch with the gorgeous assassin so close. “I don’t think you ever mentioned what it is that you can do—you know, other than scare the living shit out of every man who crosses your path.”

Her laughing expression made the tension in my chest worse for some reason. “You’ll learn that keeping your abilities to yourself will be the cleverest thing you could ever do, V. If they know what you can do, they can hurt you, so don’t ever tell anyone anything. If they find out, make sure they don’t breathe a word of it to anyone else. Kill every last one. No mercy. Never leave survivors no matter who they are.”

I opened my mouth, ready to argue, but her cutting look shut me up.

Jo had a past that she refused to tell anyone. I’d learned from Phillip that it was easy for this world to destroy someone. Shit, it’d destroyed me in a matter of a year.

It wasn’t clear how old the elusive Fae was or what she’d been through to become the ghost assassin out to bring the Organization down. Fact of the matter was, I didn’t know anything about the Fae. Whatever she’d been through, she kept it close to her chest. She didn’t utter a word of her past to anyone, and something told me no living person out there knew her in any way significant.

What a lonely way to live…

Catching my straying gaze, Jo spoke up again, “Letting people in can get you killed, V. It’s dangerous to trust anyone.”

I couldn’t help it. I asked her the question swirling around my head, “But isn’t that lonely?”

She stopped moving. For a second, I thought I was about to be attacked. But instead, she sighed and leaned against the wall with her eyes on the ceiling. “It is.”

Not expecting an honest answer, I continued to pry, “Then why—”

“Lonely is better than dead.” I inhaled a sharp breath when her eyes came back down from their place on the ceiling. She stared at me the same way Phillip did the day he divulged his past with Giselle. It was a look entrenched in despair and loss. “But maybe now I have a reason to crave the company. Who knows.”

I didn’t catch her meaning, but before I could ask, or really even blink, she’d shed the moment like a coat. The seductive look was back in her eyes and the earlier tension in the air returned. Quickly, I was under a very different sort of attack.

Biting my lip, I watched the sultry Fae take calculated steps closer before my phone pinged, stopping us both mid-movement. I looked down and couldn’t help a smile when Sloan’s text popped up.

S: Miss you already, darling.

He’d left last week with Nigel. He wasn’t the type to advertise our relationship, not like Phillip, but the blue-eyed Hunter had pulled me in by the waist and kissed me in front of everyone like it was just the two of us left in the world.

Grams had shaken her head but smiled. Nigel had lost his shit. Phillip had kept everything off his face, but his jaw was a little too taut for him to hide how he felt. It was Kris who had stolen the show, though. She had all but squealed in delight the second his lips landed on mine. I think I’d even heard the older woman say it was “about damn time.”

As always, my favorite response would forever be the Dark Fae’s, whose gaping mouth and huffy petulance never failed to amuse. Reaching his final transformation—the hip-out and ready to complain Karen form—Cash had cleared his throat and tossed a “Get a room!” at us before mumbling angrily under his breath. Something made useless when you were in a room of supernatural killers with beast hearing.

The rant had gone as follows: “Bloody showoff. Anyone can force a bird to kiss them, but can you make her smile with emojis and gorgeous Fae charm? I think not. Ladies love me. I’m a proper gentleman.”

It hadn’t taken long for Jo to see an opportunity to destroy Cash’s life. He was quickly pinned to the wall with a dagger lodged in his favorite jumper—or so he’d claimed in a loud rant afterwards. Even Grams had laughed. I’d never get away with putting a hole in the wall like Jo did every day, but Grams was a big fan of the infamous Fae from the moment they met. The two were quick to become friends. I hadn’t seen Grams take to someone so fast, but apparently, the two had a great deal in common. Now, they were as thick as thieves.

Definitely made a girl jealous.

After Sloan left with an angry werewolf in tow, Grams, Kris, and Sungho had said their goodbyes. They’d be out gathering more Hunters to our side, and we couldn’t waste any more time. With so many in the boyband left to bring down, we’d need all the help we could get.

I silently bemoaned their departure. I was desperate to hear about what went on between Kris and Sungho while I wasn’t looking, but from the way the day played out, my curiosity would need to wait until next time.

The busybody teen in me wanted all the tea, thanks to my relationship with Kate. She’d always given me details before I asked for them, and now I craved the drama of it all. Drama that wasn’t mine at least. The tea was always so much better and hotter when I wasn’t suffering because of it.

Now, just the four of us remained—Phillip, Jo, Cash, and me. We were on the hunt for the Wicked Witch of the West, better known as Harmony or Six in Lux’s boyband. They’d finally give me more information tonight on the witch before we started tracking down known associates to find her whereabouts. You didn’t get to that level of evil without associates. That was just powerful villains 101.

Unfortunately, anyone at Lux’s boyband level wouldn’t be easy to find. We could expect they’d take extra care to make it impossible to track them down, so we’d have to be smart. Lucky for us, Cash was sort of a snake when it came to finding these types. He knew her better than the rest of us, and he was confident we’d find her if we went after a few of her favorite treats as he called them. Apparently, Harmony’s sexual appetite was worldwide and renowned.

But that was the farthest thing from my head right now. My thoughts went a little fuzzy around the woman making her way over to the bed. Eyes on me, she tossed off her jacket and threw it onto the desk chair I’d been bent over by Sloan only a week prior. Then with another look, she took a seat next to me.

Jo had worn black faux-leather pants with a corset top and a pair of weaponized stilettos. By the end of the day, one of those would no doubt be pinning the light-haired Dark Fae in the other room to the floor. Not going to lie, I was looking forward to it.

Her curves were everything a girl could want. She was a goddess, and the sway in her hips made it clear she knew it. So, me, a mere mortal—well, Hunter with crazy supernatural powers—did a poor job of hiding how beautiful I found her.

I’d love to look half as hot as she did, but I also chose comfort over sex appeal on a regular basis. Jo, however, made it work in everything she wore. Even when she put on a sweater and pair of jeans with a messy bun and reading glasses, she looked like the hottest person in the room.

Every damn time.

I swallowed, throat suddenly dry and erratic heartbeat giving me away. I was a Hunter, but this woman put all my training to shame. I couldn’t hide anything from her. She saw it all. It was stupid to think that anything I felt about her would stay a secret, but I still gave it my best good-girl’s try because I was desperate to pretend I wasn’t a walking joke.

“Sad your little lover boy is gone?” she finally asked when I licked my lips, not totally sure how to address the gorgeous woman now inches away after our weird back-and-forth.

“Oh, Sloan? No. Wait, yes. Uh, why do you ask?”

Great. Really smooth there, V.

Jo’s lips rose, and she leaned into view on one arm, on the bed with her body taking a seductive curve like she was a lounging panther. “I thought you and that tattooed asshole were a thing…”

“I mean, we are. I’m sort of exploring things right now, and I didn’t think it was fair to be exclusive with anyone,” I rambled, silently berating myself because oversharing with people was starting to become a regular thing.

I wasn’t really the sharing type until I met Kate. I blamed the punk-girl menace for the fact that I’d gotten entirely too comfortable with sharing my thoughts. Before her, I was a stone-cold loner. Now, I had…feelings. I said things like “Well, actually…” and rambled like people cared what I had to say. I giggled and blushed, and I couldn’t pretend I didn’t.

I was a living, breathing teen girl stereotype.

Jo’s eyes lit up with mischief. “So, does that mean there’s room for more?”

I nearly swallowed my tongue. “What…?”

Before I understood what was happening, Jo leaned in and hovered close enough to kiss. “I told you, I’m craving company these days. And there’s something here, don’t you think? Why not explore it? That kiss…”

Was something , I finished in my head.

Sensation crept over my skin at the mere thought of her leg pushed between mine. I still remembered how soft and delicious it was to kiss her and how it didn’t compare to the way Sloan or Phillip kissed me. I wanted to do it again. I’d thought about it every day since it happened.

My pulse pounded ruthlessly in my ears when I thought it might happen again. How if I said the right things and gave her the permission she needed, she might find a reason to merge her mouth with mine. Would it taste the same or be different this time? Would it rock my world like the first one did? Were women my thing too, or was it just Jo? Curiosity was eating away at me.

I wanted to know for sure.

The Fae’s hot breath painted my wet lips before she giggled. Like, actually giggled. The terrifying woman who sent daggers flying at assholes on the daily was making such an adorable sound, looking like she might eat me whole, and I couldn’t cope.

“I’m guessing you don’t know what a woman could do that would put every man you’ve ever been with to shame.”

And she would be right. I had no fucking clue. But holy shit, I wanted to know so bad.

Her eyelashes covered her piercing gaze for a brief exhale before they lifted and amber light beamed in warning. I couldn’t breathe. This chick saw right through me. I’d be stupid to think my interest wasn’t scrolling across my face. I hung onto every word she said.

“Men don’t understand our bodies the way we do, babe. I’ve never been very interested in men to begin with, but even if I were, they’ll always fall short.”

I tried not to breathe as her fingers danced across my naked collarbone before gliding up the column of my neck. Brushing my hair away, Jo dipped her head down and kissed my shoulder. My eyes closed, and the sensation sizzling across my chest made it difficult to respond with anything other than a small gasp.

“I’m not the type to beat around the bush. Not really my style. We could be dead tomorrow, so I go after what I want. And right now, I want you. So, I’ll ask again, is there room?”

My new mantra lately had become: What would Kate do? And she’d be all over this. She’d live in the moment and try something new. Tomorrow wasn’t guaranteed, so why not? Why not give into my urges and find out what this was?

But first and foremost, I wanted this more than I could put into words. Hell, I’d wanted it from the first time our lips collided. If I didn’t explore it, how would I ever know it wasn’t something I needed? How would I claim to know myself at all if I didn’t risk a little and explore something different? Something unknown? I wouldn’t have the relationships I had with Phillip or Sloan if I didn’t give in, and this was no different.

So, why not?