“What happened?” Her words were spoken on a breath.
Her chest heaved, pushing against the fabric, so very tempting. He wouldn’t even chastise himself for thinking this way. Of course, he noticed them. He was a man, after all. Even though he was three-quarters Ancient, that didn’t mean his testosterone suddenly vanished.
Her back was against the wall, her eyes on his. His were on her face, her cheekbones, her lips. They stayed on her lips. He put both hands on the wall, trapping her, then closed in.
“My fucking wolf attacked Vayne while she was in my mind. He damned near killed her. Magnus is saving her life, but I don’t see how I can stick around. My wolf hates me and my brothers’ wolves love my wolf, so it seems I’m the odd man out.”
“You’re leaving? Just like that? You don’t want to find out if someone else can come up with something?”
At that moment, the only thing Asa wanted was to find out was what her lips tasted like. What she felt like in his arms. He was mesmerized, watching her lips, the way her violet eyes were fixed on his face. His heart raced as he lowered his head closer to hers, wrapped his hands around her cheeks. He caressed her bottom lip with his thumb, then placed his lips on hers.
The world disappeared. His life, his wolf, his problems, his brothers, their wolves, the Ancients, all of it. Gone. Vanished.
There was him.
There was her.
There was no one and nothing else.
A sigh came out from between her lips. His tongue—opportunist that it was—took that moment to slip between the seam and explore the taste of her. Summer. She tasted like summer on the water, with the sail up, and the sun shining down on a warm deck.
“Asa,” she whispered against his mouth. He swallowed the sound of her.
“Hmm?” His hands dropped to her shoulders then down, along the sides of her, to her hips. He pulled her close to his body.
Emme took his face in her hands. “You’re leaving.”
She said it so matter-of-factly, like she knew it already. As though she was in his head. He didn’t want to answer her. He clenched his jaw. Not telling her was killing him.
Running her fingertips behind his neck, up his scalp, she said, “Don’t go. Let’s figure this out together.”
He pulled away from her, scrubbed his face with his hands. “My fucking wolf tried to kill Vayne. Who else is he going to kill? Me? You? My brothers?”
She took his hands in hers. “Give it another chance.”
He wanted to ask her not to go. To tell her he’d be back after he figured something out. That his wolf might kill her, or his brothers, or her sister. He wanted to tell her he’d like to spend time with her. There were so many things he wanted to share with her. “I—”
The door opened. Omar stood before them. “Vayne’s going to make it. I have another plan.” He entered and closed the door behind him.
Asa frowned. “What plan?”
“Do you trust me?”
Odd question, coming from a man he met for the very first time a short while ago. If that. Then again, he was his grandfather. That should count for something, shouldn’t it? But, why hadn’t Omar searched for his grandsons all this time? Merely to protect his daughter from being found? Asa could relate; he would do the same for his brothers if it meant saving their lives. Still, there was something about Omar that made him believe in the man.
“Yes, I trust you.”
Omar smiled, the expression softening his hawkish features. “Good, because I’ll do what’s best for you and your wolf.”
“You can’t hurt my wolf. If you do, my brothers’ wolves will blame me. They’ll kill me. Or maybe they’ll do the same thing to my brothers that mine is doing to me. My brothers’ wolves feel strongly about this.”
“Understood. As does my wolf. As do I. He does not want harm to come to your wolf, and I do not want harm to come to you. Do this with me. Trust me.”
Asa’s options were limited. “Okay.”
Omar glanced at Emme pointedly.
“I’ll go wait with Eira,” she said, taking Omar’s cue.
“Thank you,” Omar told her, his tone gentle. “This is not for your eyes.”
Asa kissed her on the cheek, whispered in her ear, “I’ll be back soon. Hopefully, this will be sorted.”
She slipped out and closed the door behind her.
Chapter Eighteen
Emme headed out of the room, walked halfway down the dark passageway toward the room where the rest were congregated, but stopped. Her back against the wall, she leaned there, letting it buttress her. She raised her hand to her lips. Her fingers trembled. That kiss. When his lips touched hers, it was like his soul was reaching into the depths of her to find her soul.
How could a kiss do that? How could a man make her feel this way? She glanced back at the room he was in with Omar. She didn’t know Omar. And Asa obviously hadn’t known him for long. Was he trustworthy?
She trusted Asa. And he trusted Omar. He’d be fine. She pushed off the wall and started to walk toward the room with the others but froze. She couldn’t leave him to do this alone. She thought of the blood she’d seen on Vayne.
She turned to glance at the door to the room Asa was in. Then at the door she was heading toward. Then back. She flipped and headed back to Asa. She opened the door.
Asa and Omar both glanced up at her in surprise.
“I’m not letting you do this alone,” she told him.
He didn’t speak a word; he didn’t have to. His face said it all. He held out his hand.
She took it. “We’re in this together.”
“Let’s go.”
Omar led the way. Farther and farther, they passed the entrance where they’d first entered Quake, then kept moving.
“Where are we going?” Asa asked, still holding her hand.
A flood of emotions surged throughout Emme. Ones she hadn’t ever felt.
“Witch’s section,” Omar said, not breaking stride.
They followed, down one passageway, to another, a left turn, then a right. Emme noticed the theme of the colors had changed from blue to red. Range’s words returned to her. Quake is open to witches, shifters, vampires, and elementals. Each supernatural type remains segregated inside. They enter through specific colored doors. Shifters use the blue door. The green for vampires. Black for elementals. The red is for witches. And now the theme was red.
“Getting closer,” she whispered to Asa.
He squeezed her hand.
Moments later, they came to an entrance which had a bead curtain instead of a door.
Omar pushed the beads aside. “This way.”
The beads revealed another passageway.
“It’s amazing that this place takes up the whole city block,” Asa said. “Talk about being able to hide in plain sight.”
Emme had been thinking that this city block sized building was the type of setup which would be perfect for Valkyrie to hide, until she remembered she didn’t intend to join the Valkyrie again. Not while Eira had a bounty on her head.
“Here we are.” Omar opened a door, ushering Asa and Emme in with a nod. Once inside, he turned to a dark-skinned brunette with long curly locks. Donned in a black full-length formfitting dress, she was seated at a two-top round table, with an empty chair before her. “Adina. This is Asa. We need your help.”