Its from the spell, isnt it? Theyd never been able to keep secrets from one another.
Lorelai shook her head stubbornly.
It cant be. Weve both cast thousands of spells and nothing like this has ever happened. Lorelai looked as though she might cry when she looked at the blood on Arias arm.
I think it might be, Lori. She couldnt sugarcoat it, not even to save her sisters feelings. Her intuition was telling her that this creature was cued into her specifically, and she had a sinking certainty that it was an unwitting result of the lust spell.
Let me go look through Grans diaries. Lorelai set her chin, as if she knew that her sister would argue. If I made this mess, then I need to clean it up.
No. Arias voice was firm, and she made sure that it was loud enough that Declan would be able to hear her outside. I dont want this thing anywhere near you.
It would be best for you to go upstairs, Lorelai. Declan was in the room so quickly that Aria blinked, startled. Once upon a time shed been used to the speed with which he moved, but it had been so long. Go to bed. Well talk again in the morning.
Do you think shell be safe up there? Aria asked.
Lorelai grumbled and insisted on at least dragging the box of Grans diaries out of the back room. She placed a stack of them on the counter for Aria and the men to flip through.
Well be able to hear her. Theyd also be able to reach her in time, Aria knew, if anything happened. Or at least, Declan wouldshe didnt know about Adam.
The werewolf entered the shop as Lorelai passed through the door to the stairwell which led upstairs to the apartment that the twins shared. He paused to lock the door behind him, and to draw the blinds over the glass.
In his hand he held a coffee cup from McDonalds, the only fast food joint in the small town.
I thought you might need a boost. He handed the steaming cup to Aria. The heat seeped through the thin cardboard to singe her fingers.
She was floored by the thoughtfulness of the gesture.
The reserves that she had built over the years began to melt.
Did Lorelai have any insight into your assailant? Declan raised an eyebrow at her, and she squirmed under the intensity of his stare.
She wanted him again, damn it. She wanted them both, even though shed just had them.
She couldnt have them. They didnt know what they were doing.
She remembered a mention of something similar in one of my Grans old books. Aria gestured nervously to the pile that Lorelai had left on the table. Aria recognized the look in Declans eyes.
He wanted her, too.
She didnt know if she had the strength to resist him.
Did she have any idea of why? One look at Declans face as he crossed the small space between them told her that he already had a pretty good idea of the answer, and she wondered how much he had overheard with his vampire hearing.
She couldnt, just couldnt, admit that her twin had cast a spell to get her laid.
Its to do with a spell. Aria kept her tone deliberately vague. She was distracted as Declan stalked the remaining distance between them, then lifted her onto the counter.
With one quick movement hed unsnapped her jeans and his own and was pressing his cock against her entrance. She was already hot and wet, and all of her common sense fled as, without any warning, he seated himself inside of her.
Declan! Arias voice echoed off the walls of the shop as she clung to his shoulders and looked over his shoulder at Adam. After what had transpired between them, she knew it was ridiculous to feel embarrassed that the werewolf was watching.
Dont stop on my account. Though the werewolf continued to chew on his late dinner, he watched with avid interest as Declan caught Aria around the waist and began to thrust, hot and fast.
I just cant get enough of you. Declans fangs extended as he set a merciless pace. Arias fingers slid from his shoulders to claw at the counter, trying to find something, anything, to grab on to. I never could.
Though her heart quickened with guilt, she was too far gone into the pleasure to do more than moan as Declan brought her to a quick, brutal climax with the press of his thumb on her clit. She felt him flood inside of her himself, his tongue swiping over the tips of his fangs as he came.
Panting, Aria winced as Declan slid from between her legs. What the hell had that been?
She blinked in amazement as Adam filled the space Declan had vacated. He pushed inside her more slowly than Declan had, his passage eased by the vampires pleasure.
Declan. With wild eyes Aria looked at the man who had once meant so much to her. He was zipping his jeans, but possession sparkled in his eyes.
Mine, he seemed to be saying. Youre both mine.
Aria barely had a moment to catch her breath before Adam began to move, seating himself inside of her again and again with long, hard strokes.
She came before he could even move his hand between her legs, her flesh so sensitive by that point that every little move was painful and still full of pleasure.
As her flesh clenched around his cock, Adam thrust one last time and grunted, his heat filling the depths of her belly.
Arias elbow knocked one of her Grans diaries off the counter as Adam withdrew from her heat. Flustered, she slid from the counter, straightening her hair, her clothing as she bent to retrieve it.
Holy goddess. It had fallen open to the page with a pencil drawing of the shadowy figure.
Her Gran had always taught her that there were no coincidences in the world. This page was important.
With trembling fingers, she held it out so that the two men could see.
Declan looked at her, his face expressionless.
There are no coincidences. His words were low, but she realized at once that he was repeating something shed often said to him.
No, there are not. She turned the book back to face her, reading aloud.
At times a spell will multiply by three, despite the practitioners intentions. When this occurs, there needs to be darkness to balance the light, a payment for the pleasure. In my experience, this took the form of a man, a demon of sorts who nevertheless had no mind to call his own. His purpose was to track the one who benefitted from the spell, to eliminate him or her. To erase one is to erase the other. Though this shadowy figure seems to threaten, he is, at the bottom, simply the universes way of again balancing the scales.
Shit. Aria could think of nothing else to say.
Indeed. This was all that Declan said in reply.
Should we...I dont know. Should we go hunt it down? Shed be damned if she was going to let some shadowy by-product of a spell haunt her. With a pang she realized that killing it would mean that the spell would be brokenAdam and Declan would realize that they didnt actually want her.
They would leave.
It was the right thing to do. Apart from the fact that she couldnt live with a demon stalking her every move, she couldnt live her life as a lie.
Although neither of them had told her why they were really here. And she couldnt bring herself to ask.
Swallowing thickly against the flood of emotions that the realization brought out, Aria looked up when Adam stepped in front of her.
The werewolf sniffed the air and nodded.
I dont think well have to go hunting. I think its going to find us.
Chapter Four
Declan studied Aria in his peripheral vision as the three of them made their way down the street to the towns only all-night, non fast food diner. Hed thrown her off-balance when hed placed her on the counter and touched her, but hed meant to do just that.
It wouldnt be long before she realized that her sister was wrong, that a demon birthed from a spell wasnt what was hunting them. He wouldnt be at all surprised, in fact, if shed already figured it out.
But he knew her better than she thought, even after all these years. If she discovered why he had really left her, that hed sacrificed his freedom to save her, shed rip out his hair strand by strand.
Hed always loved her violent side.
Hed have to tell her eventually, he knew. And shed never forgive him for the decision hed made. Because when the Capitol had come to him three years earlier, when theyd told him they required his precognition services, they hadnt given him a choice. If he refused, those he lovednamely Ariawould die.
If shed known, she would have insisted on coming with him. And the Capitol would have sucked her dry, feeding on her magic until only a brittle shell remained.
So hed left. And now, because his senses had pulled him back toward her, he had placed her in danger once again.
This time was different, though. This time he wouldnt leave.
* * *
Sitting in between a vampire and a werewolf did nothing to diminish Arias lust.
The last thing shed expected after theyd found her Grans diary was to be dragged to Stellas, a diner shed come to since she was a child. But Adam hadnt been able to track the scent of the demon.
I can smell it, all around, but it doesnt lead anywhere. His frustration was apparent and made Aria long to stroke her fingers through his hair. And I need a decent meal if were going to be facing down a demon.
Aria hadnt wanted to leave Lorelai alone, but Declan had pointed out that the demon was attuned to Aria and no one else.
Its going to come after you. Lorelai will be safer away from you.
Aria knew better than to argue with him. Declan was alpha to the core and would never dream of leaving her in danger, and she could already tell that Adam was cut from the same cloth. So here she was, picking at a plate of French fries while Declan sipped from his flask on one side of her, and Adam ate everything on the menu on the other.
How are you holding up? A faint residue of scarlet painted Declans lips as he sipped from his metal flask. His eyes watched her every move. Youre not eating.
I dont normally eat a meal at four in the morning. Her tone was waspish and she knew it. Willing herself to calm down, she managed a tight smile. Im fine. Im more irritated than anything.
I dont normally eat a meal at four in the morning. Her tone was waspish and she knew it. Willing herself to calm down, she managed a tight smile. Im fine. Im more irritated than anything.