Page 31 of Of Flame and Fate
That said,damn, this is a pussy assignment. No way in hell is anyone going to go after Destiny.
She loses a little more plumage from her cowboy hat when she jogs awkwardly in place. “Sorry,” she says. “New boots and I have to break them in. Otherwise, I’m going to look funny walking in them.”
“Yeah, we wouldn’t want that,” I agree.
Aric starts to speak, stopping suddenly when Destiny switches to jumping jacks. “The guy at the boot shop told me this helps, too,” she adds when we all gape.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. Yeah, no one’s going after this little dickens.
“This is the best I can do,” Aric tells Gemini.
Gemini digs his fingers through his hair and steps away. He’s not quite on board. But I am. I have to be.
Destiny does a little shimmy and some odd movement with her hand, similar to what I do when I have an itch on my back and can’t quite reach it. “Babe,” I say, edging toward him.
He meets my face when I embrace his waist. It’s the first time today that I’ve had the chance to hold him close. He realizes as much, dropping his arms to circle my back. “I don’t like this,” he says, his thumbs brushing over my hips.
“I don’t either. But Destiny needs us, and we need her to help keep Celia safe.” I reach up to stroke the smooth hair of his goatee. “She’s not an easy target and she’s a friend.” He looks at me. “Okay, ally,” I clarify.
I peer around his large body to see what sort of boot-breaking-in-calisthenics she’s doing now. She stops in the middle of her toe-touches and offers me another enthusiastic wave.
My lips stretch into a smile and I wave back. This time, my smile isn’t forced. For all Destiny makes me nervous, and despite that I’ve often questioned her stability, she’s not mean. Another dismembered arm crawls away from its hiding spot under a nearby table. I crinkle my nose. Well, that is if you don’t piss her off.
“I can keep her safe, and me as well,” I assure Gemini, cringing as Misha’s vamps swarm the remaining body parts and tear into them like piranhas. “You know I can,” I offer, startling when I hear a wet crunch.
“It’s not that I don’t trust your strength, I just don’t trust what’s happening,” he tells me.
“I know,” I say, lifting up on my toes to kiss him. My lips meet his only briefly. He’s conceding for the moment, but he’s not happy about it.
He releases me slowly, turning back to our small group. Aric nods, but that’s all. I know he’s grateful for my help, yet out of respect for Gemini, he’d prefer not to involve me.
He kisses Celia’s cheek, whispering something I don’t quite catch. “Don’t worry, love,” she says. “Just do what you have to and I’ll see you tonight.”
She steps carefully away and toward Emme, except like always, Aric doesn’t appear to want to let her go.
“Emme,” she tells her when his hands finally pull away. “Why don’t we go back to Aric’s chambers? You can shower there and change out of these clothes.”
“I’d like that,” she says.
We grimace when she has to peel her sticky feet free from the floor. As she walks, her tiny flats make an odd squeaky noise. Christ, we didn’t clean her feet and she likely has vamp parts stuck between her toes. I’ll be sure to set her shoes on fire, too. What can I say, I’m a hell of a gal.
We march across the wood floors, avoiding the scuff marks created during the altercation and the mounds of ash from the now re-deceased attackers. I don’t know who the poor sap is assigned to floor mopping duties, but he’s going to fucking hate us.
My vision sharpens as we pass the cluster of supernaturals gathered closest to the door and my arm gives an involuntary jerk. There’s so much mystical energy, the communal power pokes at my skin and riles my arm’s magic. I think she sees them as competition. I only hope she’s wrong.
“Who are all these beings?” I ask Celia.
“Royalty,” Destiny answers. I hadn’t noticed her follow. “Oh, I’m sorry. Do you mind if I tag along?”
“Not all,” Celia says, shooting me a poignant look.
Oh, yeah, I’m supposed to be watching her. Tee-hee, silly me. “Just stay close to me, kid,” I tell her, making a show of standing in front of her.
I pause, glancing over my shoulder at Celia. “Wait a minute, shouldn’t someone be with you?”
She purses her lips. “Oh, they will be. Don’t you worry about that.”
The moment we step through the doors, wolves in beast form surround us, their four hundred pound bodies creating a wall. Their stares are alert and some lick their jowls, already anticipating what their enemies’ blood will taste like pouring from their fangs.