Dark Flames (Blood Bound Book 6)

Chapter 15

“Let me try.” Guy said and pulled a dagger from his shirt sleeve, slicing it across Jason’s arm.

Instinct had Jason flinching again and crying out. Zachary finally released his hand and Jason shot off the sofa like he’d been stung by a bee.

“You’re right, he’ll be in no danger at all,” Zachary frowned not so sure that meant Jason would be any help to the team or Tiara if they were attacked.

“You’re all insane!” Jason yelled before inspecting every inch of his hand and arm. Suddenly the same dagger came sailing through the air, hitting him blade first right in the chest before harmlessly bouncing off and clattering to the floor. “Stop!”

“You’re open season Superman… at least until we teach you to stop flinching.” Guy laughed.

“You mean I can fly?” Jason asked stunned.

“No, you ninny,” Zachary teased, “You’d drop like a stone. But come to think about it… at least the hard landing won't kill you.”

Tiara’s eyes had widened while watching them t*****e Jason. She was suddenly feeling sorry for him. Standing up, she walked toward Jason holding her hand out, “Would you like for me to remove it? You don’t have to go with us if you don’t want to.”

Still caught up in the wiggly-boos, Jason held his hand out letting her slide the ring back down his finger but before she could pull it all of the way off, he closed his hand glaring over her shoulder at Zachary’s flaming hand that had just reignited.

“On second thought… I’m safer with it on,” Jason mumbled darkly. “I need some form of protection against the sociopaths around here.” He moved his gaze to Tiara and couldn’t help but smile, “And I guess you need a shield for tonight… right?”

Tiara hesitated for a moment then slid the ring back into place when he relaxed his hand. Her mother had warned her to make sure the one wearing the ring was always with her when she entered a graveyard because if her father caught wind of the fact she was ignoring his protection… he might come for her himself.

“Thank you,” she whispered softly, this time giving him a real heartfelt smile

Jason swallowed wondering if you could really drown in a girl’s eyes or if that was just a saying. She was the type of girl that if you see walking down the street you’d have to turn and look just to make sure she was real.

Zachary cleared his throat when it looked like Jason was starting to develop a crush. He pretended it wasn’t him when Tiara turned to look but he smiled inwardly when Jason glared at him.

“Jason can wear the ring tonight on a trial basis. If he decides he doesn’t want the job, then Tiara can remove the ring and we will choose another human tomorrow,” Storm announced, settling the matter for now.

“Where’s Trevor? Isn’t he supposed to be here?” Jason asked as he leaned back against the wall so he could keep an eye on Zachary and Guy.

“He’s still at the police station doing damage control on all calls dealing with anything paranormal,” Storm answered. “He’ll meet up with you at the graveyard. Since this will be Tiara’s first time out in the field, I’ve chosen a small graveyard that’s off the beaten path.” Storm glanced again at the ring Jason was now wearing.

He felt frustrated at the fact he couldn’t go back in time and shake the truth about the ring out of Myra. He just couldn’t risk the time jump right now. All he was allowing himself was teleporting across space but not long distance time. At least not until he was sure this area was stable enough that he’d be able to make it back.

Noting the direction of Storm’s gaze on the ring, Tiara innocently moved in front of Jason, “Were the two of you able to find a spell that would allow Carley to be seen?”

“No, the only ones we’ve come across so far would make her a risk of being seen by more than just the team.” Guy answered. “But we haven’t given up looking. We’ll find something.”

“Carley, until I get used to my powers, will you stay here or join one of the other teams?” Tiara smiled softly to ease the harshness of the statement, “I would hate to accidentally break the link between you and Guy and if you are with us in the graveyard tonight, I can’t promise you my necromancy won't affect you, too.”

“Come to think of it,” Storm agreed, “it would be best if Carley was kept available for any of the PIT teams that need a spy or a search and rescue. She can still hang out with her brother whenever she wants but this team is not the place for her… Tiara is right.”

“No problem,” Carley said happily. “Now that I have my dream job, there’s no way I’m gonna lose it.”

A loud beep startled all of them and Storm looked down at his cell phone. Taking it out of his pocket, he smirked at the text message before rising from the sofa.

“I have other matters to attend to,” Storm said apologetically. “I bid you all a good day.”

Storm abruptly vanished and Carley got a big grin on her face. “I’m going to see what the rest of the teams are up to.” she said brightly and faded from Guy’s view.

“And I’m going to go and see if I can keep her out of trouble,” Guy shook his head and left the room.

Zachary’s phone chose this time to start playing the William Tell Overture and he quickly silenced it. Looking at the text he grinned, “Storm just sent us the address for the graveyard.”

Jason shivered needing a place to hide and worry about what the hell he was getting into. He glanced at Tiara, “They gave me the room across from this one. I guess that’s where I’ll be until you need me.”

Zachary waved at him, “Good night.”

“It’s daylight you jerk” Jason growled before slamming the door behind him.

Tiara’s eyebrows disappeared under her bangs when she heard her bedroom door echo with the slam. “Is he going to be alright?” she asked trying to make conversation since Zachary looked like he had no intentions of leaving just yet.

“Don’t worry about Jason,” Zachary said. “If he’s brave enough to mouth off to me, then he’s not as big of a coward as he pretends.”

“Why was he here at the castle in the first place?” Tiara frowned.

“Jason was lucky enough to get marked for death,” Zachary shrugged. “Angelica removed it last night.”

Tiara remembered the girl in the window. How could she have forgotten that Zachary had a girl friend? She felt instant dread thinking about him touching her tonight if he already had a lover. It wasn’t right.

“Angelica, she’s your girlfriend… right? Do you want her to join the team with you? What was Storm thinking when he told me to share the breath of sight with you,” she babbled nervously as she started for the door between rooms. “I’ll tell him it can’t be you.”

Zachary frowned in confusion for a few seconds before it dawned on him what the hell she was talking about. By the time he caught up with her, she was dialing Storm’s number on the phone beside her bed. He quickly took the phone from her hand and slid it back into the cradle.

Tiara froze staring at the phone he’d taken away before slowly lifting her gaze to lock with his. “What are you doing?”

“It can be me,” Zachary stated firmly. “Angelica was my partner, but only for PIT jobs… not in any other way.”

Tiara felt heat rise in her cheeks being so close to him. “Are you sure?”

“Do you want it to be me?” Zachary’s voice was horse but he refused to touch her if she didn’t want him to.

Tiara bit her bottom lip not wanting to admit to him that she did want it to be him, “Storm wants…”

“Forget what Storm wants,” He reached up and touched her cheek with the back of his finger to see if she would flinch… she didn’t. “No one should take that decision away from you.”

Tiara felt hope swell in her chest and she couldn’t help when that hope lit in her eyes giving her away.

“That’s what I thought,” Zachary let his hand drop from her cheek and his voice hardened. “I told Storm he didn’t have a right to order you to let someone touch you.” He turned to leave.

“Storm wasn’t wrong… because I don’t have a mate,” Tiara pointed out feeling better about her plan of only picking one lover. “If I don’t choose someone, then when the hunger hits… it will choose for me. Myra told me that the hunger will consume me because it’s fighting to keep me alive. It’s not something I can run from. I need a lover until I find my mate.”

Zachary had stopped walking the moment she spoke, but he didn’t turn around to face her. He was half tempted to just grab her temples so he could look into her mind and see what she was thinking… to see if she wanted the same thing Myra had. He knew that his alter ego was bleeding through his personality in an attempt to solve this problem for him.

Finally turning around, Zach gripped the tall bedpost to keep himself firmly rooted to the spot. “You want to survive. I get that.”

Tiara felt herself shrink back from not only the look in his eyes but the tone of voice he was using. He was angry with her… and if she thought about it, she couldn’t blame him for being mad. She’d just hinted that she wanted him to be a stand in until she could find a mate. In his eyes she was saying he’d be good enough until she found someone better. She didn’t want to give herself away like that, so what gave her the right to ask him to do the same thing?

Zach gritted his teeth when her hand inched toward the phone. So, she thought to call the whole thing off did she? In two long strides, he was standing over her with the phone once again in his hand.

“Let’s make a deal that will help the whole team survive this,” Zach offered his voice still tight with anger. “Tonight we do as Storm suggested. Like you said, I don’t have to be inside of you for you to share the breath of life. I’ll be able to protect you better and it will give you more time to choose your lovers.”

“Fine,” Tiara raised her chin defiantly, not liking the fact that he’d reminded her to put the team first. “It’s a deal.”

Zach leaned down a little closer to her before righting himself and leaving the room. If he didn’t leave, he would end up making a fool of himself and taking away her choice of who would be her first lover.

Chapter 8

“I thought you would want to know,” Ren said right before putting on his sunglasses and teleporting from the office.

Ren teleported to an alley in the middle of downtown Los Angeles and readjusted his jacket before walking to the end of the alley. Stepping out into the direct sunlight, he mentally growled wondering what in the hell Storm was thinking about. He’d ordered Ren to stay away from the main clusters of demons congregating in mass numbers and stick to picking off stragglers as they popped up.

He couldn’t understand why Storm was giving the master demons more time to grow stronger. It was now that they needed to strike rather than wait. If they waited much longer, the power levels would go through the roof.