Bloody fucking werewolves. Leave them alone with your female for one second, and they're running off with them.
Aiden flung the door open and strode into Luukas' apartment. He could see Luukas and Nikulas through the glass walls of Luuk's office, deep in conversation.
"Lucy! I'm home!" he called.
Two heads swiveled his way.
"Aid?" Nikulas ran out to greet him, grinning ear to ear. "It's about fucking time you got here, Princess." Pulling Aiden into a giant bear hug, his voice was overcome with emotion. "It's good to see you, man."
"You too, you bloody Estonian bastard," Aiden choked out, hugging him back.
Their reunion was interrupted by a deep growl coming from the vicinity of the office doorway. Aiden let go of Nik to look around his shoulder.
His eyes went wide. "Bloody hell..."
"Whoa..." Nik said at the same time.
Luukas was standing just outside his office, breathing hard. His fists were clenched at his sides, his fangs were fully extended, and his burning gaze was zeroed in on Aiden.
Nikulas pushed Aiden behind him and held his hands up in a calming gesture.
"Luuk? Bro, it's ok. It's just Aiden. You know Aiden. You turned him yourself way back when, remember?"
Aiden peeked over his shoulder. Luukas' eyes seemed to blaze right through Nik and straight into him, and the message he saw there chilled him to the bone.
"That's not Aiden," Luukas snarled.
Aiden slowly stepped out from behind Nikulas.
"Aid, man..."
"It's all right, Nik," he whispered. He felt Mojo turning around in his hood, and held his breath until the little rodent settled down again.
Now was not the time for one of his hissy fits.
He contemplated the vampire who had saved his life by giving him a new one, shocked at the changes in him. This male before him had little similarity to the one who had found him that day in the muck of the battlefield.
Aiden tried to reach through his bond to Luukas to reassure him, but...funny...he couldn't seem to find it. Actually, he didn't feel the blood bond at all anymore.
Because of what Luukas had gone through? Or himself?
Maybe if he explained. "Luukas, mate, it is me. I swear it. I've just got a bit of a pest problem going on."
Luukas lowered his chin and his upper lip lifted into a snarl.
Nikulas grabbed Aiden's arm, stopping him from saying anymore and called, "Keira!"
The bedroom door opened and Keira and Emma came out.
"Aiden!" Emma exclaimed happily.
"Hey, poppet," he greeted her quietly without taking his eyes from Luukas.
"Keira," she said. "This is Aiden!"
Keira's answering smile was cut off when a loud hiss filled the room. Only then did she notice Luukas.
"Oh, shit," she breathed. "I've got him!" She went towards Luukas, calling over her shoulder. "I've got him. Get Aiden the hell out of here, Nik."
Nikulas reached for Emma's hand. "Come on, sweetheart. Come with us."
They started backing away as Keira lifted a hand and touched Luukas' cheek, murmuring to him soothingly. After a moment, his crazed eyes found her face, and he blinked.
Aiden wasted no time, but took advantage of his distraction to hightail it out of there, Nikulas and Emma close on his heels.
"Come on, let's go down to our place," Nik said.
"Already been there, mate. I'd prefer to go anywhere else."
"Um...ok." Nik and Emma exchanged looks. "The bar down the street?" he asked.
Aiden headed to the elevator. "Smashing idea."
While they waited for it to open, he ran his eyes up and down Emma. "Emma, love, you're still just as scrumptious as the first time I saw you."
She started to roll her eyes but stopped just in time, glancing up at him awkwardly. "Um. Thanks."
He chuckled to himself as a low growl came from Nikulas. The elevator door opened, and they all stepped inside. Nikulas pulled Emma behind him and stood between her and Aiden, keeping a close eye on his friend.
"Ah, Nikulas, mate. This will never stop being fun for me."
Emma giggled as Nik attempted to look like he did not just act like an overbearing, possessive male. "And you're still a pain in the ass Brit, but I'm very glad you're back."
Once they were settled at a table at the bar and had drinks all around, Aiden finally allowed himself to take a deep breath. He eyed his glass of whiskey. "What I wouldn't give right now to have the ability to get bloody pissed." Picking up the glass, he downed it in one swallow and called for another. Swallowing that one down as quickly as the first, he looked up to find Nik and Emma watching him warily.
He cocked an eyebrow, and they both looked away uncomfortably.
"I see you know about my demon," he stated blandly. "And obviously, so does Luukas." Reaching into his hood, he cursed as he pulled Mojo out and set him in the middle of the table.
Nikulas sat back in his seat and Emma giggled as the little rodent huffed and jumped around, threatening each one of them in turn.
"What the fuck is that thing?" Nikulas asked.
"It's a hedgehog," Emma told him, putting her hand down for him to investigate. "Haven't you ever seen a hedgehog?"
He looked up at Aiden. "Why the fuck is it in your hood?"
Aiden gave a long-suffering sigh and took a sip of his new drink. "I have no bloody idea."
Nikulas watched Mojo for a minute and then closed his eyes and shook his head. Opening them, he leaned forward again. "So, Grace filled us in on everything that's happened, including what Leeha told you."
"Did she tell you about the spell?"
Emma stopped tickling Mojo's nose. "What spell?"
Unzipping the rucksack, he pulled some food out for Prickles and tossed it on the table, and then handed Emma the parchment.
She took it from him gently, excitement shining from her eyes, but her smile turned to a frown when she looked it over. "Can you read this?" she asked Aiden.
"Nope," he told her. "I was hoping you could."
"Let me see," Nik reached for the paper. "Wow. This is some ancient sorcery happening on here. Where did you get it?"
"Grace's parents had it. They passed it on to her when they died."
"Does she know what the spell is?" Emma asked.
Aiden shook his head.
"Speaking of Grace..." Nik began.
"No," Aiden cut him off. "We're not having that discussion."
"I just find it pretty damn interesting that you ran straight to her when you got here, instead of coming to Luukas' first."
Aiden took another sip of his drink and lied through his teeth. "I figured you would be there, being that you live there and whatnot."
Emma pushed Mojo's scattered food back into a pile for him. "I think she has a thing for crazy Brits."
Aiden paused with his glass halfway to his mouth. "What makes you say that?" he asked a little too casually before taking a sip.
She looked over at Nikulas. "What were her exact words when you asked her to describe the guy she was with? Oh, yeah. Something along the lines of 'dude, the guy was so hot he nearly made my clothes spontaneously combust from ten feet away, so I let him use my phone'...something like that."
Aiden scratched his head. "She said that?" It certainly sounded like something she would say.
"Among other things," Emma teased with a grin.
Nikulas narrowed his eyes at her and wrapped his arm around her waist to slide her closer to him. "Stop teasing him. I'm the only male you should be teasing," he grumbled.
Aiden left them to their bickering and ordered another drink. What he wouldn't do to feel the effects of all the alcohol he was consuming so he wouldn't have to feel this hollow ache in his gut.
How was he ever going to face Grace again after the way he had acted? But he hadn't been able to help himself. When he'd followed her scent to his apartment and saw that huge male looming over her, he'd just...lost it.
He'd better be careful. People were going to start to think he was a tad off his rocker.
While Nikulas whispered something to Emma that had her entire face turning red and her breathing pick up, Aiden sighed and watched a couple of blokes hitting a cue ball around the pool table. He was just about to tell his friends that he would be fine if they needed to go get that out of their system when the door opened.
His eyes were immediately drawn to the exquisite female standing just inside. A frown marred her smooth forehead as she unzipped her light jacket and her green eyes searched the room.
She found him just as Nikulas said, "So, about this demon..."
"Later," Aiden told him.
Grace made her way over to the table. "Hey, you guys," she said to Nik and Emma. "Would you give us a minute? Please?" A smile lit up her face and her eyes filled with tears when she noticed Mojo. "Hey, little dude," she greeted him as she rubbed his cheek with a finger.
"We'll just go hang out at the bar," Nik said, grabbing Emma's hand and pulling her out of her seat.
"Be nice," she told Aiden, looking at Grace pointedly.
"I'm always nice," he responded. When was he not nice?
"Mm hmm." With a last look of warning, she let Nikulas lead her over to the barstools.
Aiden indicated the chair across the small table from him. "Sit. Please. Would you like a drink?"
"No, thanks. I'm good." She sat and twisted her hands together on the table, the nervous gesture belying her words.
"How'd you know I was here?" he asked.
She grabbed his glass and took a sip of his whiskey, setting the glass back down in front of him. "Keira told me she thought you all may have come here when you didn't show back up at Nik and Emma's."
Before he could ask her anything else, she blurted out, "You were supposed to come with me...when we left the shelter," she clarified. "You were supposed to come with me."
Downing the last of his whiskey, he slammed the glass down onto the table, startling Mojo. He ignored the little beast. "So tell me, poppet. Would that be before or after I was ripped apart by the hoard of possessed vampires that was waiting for me?"
"They weren't supposed to be there," she insisted. "The deal I made with the box wasn't supposed to go down until dusk the following night. We couldn't foresee that they would come up with the idea to start digging."
"The deal you made with the humans when you snuck out while I was sleeping?"
"Yes."
"When you snuck out, scaring me half out of my wits, and then lied to me about the reason why when you returned?"
"Yes," she whispered.
"A secret you kept from me, just like all the other things you've kept from me?
She had the decency to look ashamed. "Yes."
Huh. He hadn't really expected her to admit it. His sharp mind stashed away that comment for a later date. Possibly to blackmail her into giving him more kisses.
"Tell me again why I should believe you now?"
She gazed up at him with large, sad, watery eyes, and he had to grip the bottom of his chair to keep from pulling her into his arms and comforting her.
"Aiden, I'm so sorry. I didn't know what else to do. We needed to get out of there. So I snuck out and made a deal with the Suits. I would give them the box, and they would allow us to leave unharmed. They were going to come up with something to keep the demons away for a few minutes just as the sun went down." She rubbed her temples with her fingers. "I didn't know what else to do!" she emphasized again.
"You could have trusted me to help you."
She gave him a sad smile. "Yeah, well, I just wanted to say I was sorry. And I'm glad you made it back home in one piece."
"I did. Thanks to some friends of mine showing up."
She nodded, and then stood up to leave. "I'll take Mojo up to the apartment. Thank you for taking care of him."
He grabbed her wrist as she scooped him up off of the table. "Don't go."
She looked at him with surprise.
He should be angry with her, and he was. He should want nothing at all to do with the little liar, and he didn't.
Besides, he'd make a horrible husband.
His mind told him to cut his ties with her now, before it was too late. Before he took that step that would make her bound to him, and he to her, forever. And if she was anywhere near him, he would take that step, and very soon.
Aiden let go of her. He didn't want a mate. He had a demon. It was way more predictable and far less dangerous than a female.
Yet he couldn't seem to convince his heart and soul of that. They craved her like nothing else he'd felt before, or, he somehow knew, ever would again.
Truth was, she hadn't done anything that he hadn't done in the past, abandoning him to his fate like that. Wasn't that exactly what he had done to his family? She at least had had a better reason.
And he was happy when she was with him. Life was short. He only had another few hundred, or thousand years or something. Why waste it?
"Or better yet," he stood and threw the rucksack over his shoulder. "I'll come with you."
Getting Nik's attention at the bar, no easy feat when he was caught up in his mate, Aiden indicated for him to pay for the drinks and gave a wave.
Nik lifted his chin and winked and smiled once he saw why Aiden was leaving.
Bloody Estonian bastard.
Aiden sighed. He was never going to hear the end of this.