With a human in charge, there’d probably be chaos, deserters and takeover attempts anyway.

“And everyone is…eager to meet Aden,” Riley went on, “to discover his plans for the clan.”

Eager. Yeah. Right. Sorry, Aden, she thought, suspecting he would balk when he heard. Looks like you’re gonna have to take one for the team.

“Now that the life and death issues are out of the way, you’ve gotta tell me. Are you okay?” Riley cast her a concerned glance. “After everything you witnessed…I’ve been worried.”

“I’m fine, I promise.” And she was. Yes, at the ball she’d seen humans reduced to nothing more than living plates of food by the bloodsuckers. Yes, she’d seen Aden fight and ultimately kill one of those bloodsuckers by burning him as he’d burned Vlad, and then stabbing him where he was most vulnerable: his eyes. And yes, those bloody images might haunt her for the rest of her life. But she was alive, thanks to Aden and Riley, and everything else kinda stopped mattering when compared to that. “So, are you okay?” she asked. He was a warrior and she had probably insulted him by even asking, but she needed to hear him say it.

“I am now,” he replied, and they shared a smile. A smile that melted her like ice cream in the sun. Okay, so. Remind him of the rest of the “life and death issues” so you can concentrate on something else. Like cleaning Riley’s tonsils. “It’s probably a good thing nothing’s going to happen with the vampires for two weeks. We have a meeting with the witches to attend. Or rather, Aden does.” Ugh. She hated even thinking about those witches. How powerful they were. How uncaring. How she would literally die if Aden didn’t make it to that meeting.

Several days ago, those witches had cast a spell over them. A freaking death spell. If, in the next five days, Aden failed to attend some sort of meeting with them, Mary Ann, Riley and Aden’s girlfriend Victoria would die.

That simple. And that complicated.

No one knew where the meeting was being held or even where the witches were staying. Which made it impossible to meet with them.

Maybe that had been their intention all along.

Stomach churning again…

And yet, the prospect hardly seemed real. They had cursed her with death if Aden failed to attend their meeting, yet Mary Ann felt fine. Healthy, whole, as if she had decades ahead of her rather than days.

Would her heart simply stop working? Or was she fooling herself? Would nothing actually happen, the spell just a joke? A means of terrifying her?

She’d spent all last night researching witches and spells and ways to break those spells. The information differed, depending on the source. The source she most believed, however, was Riley, and he said spells, once uttered, sparked to unbreakable life.

The muscles in Riley’s hand twitched, returning her drifting mind to the present. “Believe me, I haven’t forgotten the meeting.” His voice was toneless now.

Trying not to scare her? Too late. Even though the prospect didn’t seem real, she was still scared out of her mind. He believed in the witches’ power completely. Which meant he honestly believed everyone in their group would soon die.

“Any idea where that meeting will be held?” she asked, even though she knew the answer.

“Not yet, but I’m working on it.”

So frustrating! Not that she was frustrated with him, of course, but with the entire situation.

“It’ll be okay,” Riley said, as if sensing her growing upset. He probably did. He could read auras, and therefore emotions. “We’ll figure everything out. I promise. I would never let anything bad happen to you.”

She trusted him. She did. More than anyone else in her life. He never lied to her. He gave her the facts, straight up, unvarnished, no matter how harsh they were.

Finally they reached the wall, though they weren’t even close to the gate, and stopped. Without a word, Riley leapt to the top of the seven-foot structure, his graceful movements making the jump look seamless. Grinning, he leaned down and offered her a hand.

Even that, she had to use all of her strength to reach—and she probably looked like a spastic rabbit, hopping up and down as she stretched to connect with him. Yet the moment she clasped his fingers, he pulled her the rest of the way effortlessly.

“Thank you. For everything,” she said as she balanced on the ledge. “And not to change the subject, but do you think Tucker will be okay?”

Tucker. Her former boyfriend. They’d rescued him from the Vampire Ball, where he’d been the night’s snack of choice.

Riley jumped to the ground on the other side. Again, the motion was seamless, the impact of landing barely registering. “He’ll survive. Unfortunately,” she thought she heard him add with a twinge of jealousy. “He’s part demon, remember?” He held up his arms, waiting for her. “Demons heal faster than humans.”

She’d done this so many times she didn’t hesitate; she, too, jumped. He caught her and settled her to her feet, letting her slide down his beautiful body, their gazes locked together. Her palms lifted and flattened on his chest. His heart was pounding. As was hers.

“Demon. As if I could forget.” That demon blood was the only reason Tucker had dated her. She’d calmed him, he’d confessed after their breakup. A breakup he had fought. Not because he loved her, but because he’d craved more of the calming, as if she were a sedative. Maybe she was.

Sometimes she wondered if that was why Riley was with her. Because she calmed him, too. He was a supernatural creature, after all, and her presence alone had to soothe the brutal, ferocious beast inside him.

If so, she would still want to be with him. She was already addicted to him, enjoyed his wildness. But she would still wish he wanted her for her, not for what she could do. Still. She could always content herself with the knowledge that she now soothed rather than drained, as she’d done to her own mother.

“You look sad,” Riley said, head tilting to the side as he studied her. “Why?”

Thoughts of her mother always brought melancholy, but that wasn’t the reason for the emotion he was sensing. “I’m…” What could she say? She didn’t want to lie to him, but she didn’t want to admit her fears, either. That the girl she was might not supersede the ability she possessed. She’d seem needy and her self-esteem low. Are you? Is it?

Without warning, Riley swung her to the left. She yelped as her entire world spun. Her back was suddenly pressed against a tree trunk, though she wasn’t jarred in the least. Strong hands had padded the collision, so much so she wouldn’t have known anything was behind her if not for her inability to move away. Not that she wanted to move away.

Riley pinned her completely in the next instant, caging her in, his hands at her temples.

“Are we under attack?” she managed to say. Had something—or someone—threatened them? Had—

“You’re beautiful, you know that?” he said, voice husky.

No threat, then. She melted. “Th-thank you.” Though she wasn’t sure she agreed. She could maybe be called “cute” on her best days. She just, well, she had a baby face. A little rounded, dimpled. Olive skin like her mother—the only attribute she did like—and light brown eyes. “So are you. Beautiful, I mean.”

“I am not.” Said with disgust, though his eyes were as bright as emeralds. “I’m manly.”

A laugh escaped her. “Manly. Definitely. I don’t know what I was thinking, calling you beautiful.” Exquisite was a better word for those rough features. “Forgive me?”

“Always.” He leaned down, his nose at her throat, and sniffed. “Have I ever told you how good you smell? Like sugar cookies and vanilla.”

“That’s my lotion.” Was that breathless voice really hers?

“Well, your lotion is going to get you nibbled on.”

That had been the plan. “Yeah?”

“Oh, yeah.”

His head rose, but only slightly, and their noses touched at the tip. He was breathing heavily, and so was she, so every time she inhaled, she scented him. She might smell like cookies, but he smelled like the forest around them. Wild and earthy and necessary.

She cupped his nape, her other hand returning to rest just over his heart. The beat was faster now, so fast she couldn’t keep count. His heat enveloped her like a winter coat, keeping her toasty warm, just as she’d known he would.

“Riley?”

“Yes?” That single word was a low, rumbling growl.

“Why are you attracted to me?” Oh, God. Had she really gone there? And yep, she’d sounded needy.

“Fishing for compliments, darling? Well, I can play. I’m with you because you’re brave. Because you’re sweet. Because you care about your friends. Because every time I look at you, my heart beats out of control, as you can probably feel, and all I can think about is being with you longer.”

“Oh. That’s nice.” A silly reply, but she didn’t know what else to say. He’d just rocked her entire world. And now she wanted to rock his. “Kiss me.” Inch by inch, she closed the distance between their mouths.

“My pleasure.” And then their lips met.

Automatically she opened for him, letting his tongue thrust inside, and it was like being struck by lightning. Electrifying. So good. He tasted as good as he smelled, just as wild, just as earthy. Just as necessary.

His fingers slipped under the hem of her T-shirt and settled on her hips, branding the sensitive skin there. He urged her away from the tree and closer to his body, and she eagerly followed that urging. So good, she thought again.

This was their second kiss, and it was far better than the first. Which she wouldn’t have thought possible. That kiss had consumed her. This one lit her up and burned her all the way to her soul.

They stood like that, lost in each other, for several minutes, still tasting, hands wandering—though not daring too much—and utterly enjoying.