Dark Promise by Annika West

17

The hidden temple in Azores was supposed to be set into a mountainside overlooking a bay.

The problem?

Witches guarded this area like hounds. And that’s how I found out Adair needed me on his side for one other reason.

As a full-blooded faery, he was unable to enter the island without triggering a thousand magical alarms. Even with his incredible power, the witches would be able to track him to the hidden temple, and they’d discover the portal crystal easily.

He needed someone covert.

Someone naturally sneaky. Not to mention highly trained.

Someone with the tides of fate on her side.

In case anyone was wondering, yes, I was feeling very high and mighty at the current moment.

This plan might seem simple. Portal into the waters of the island, swim to shore, plant the crystal, and then leave.

There were a few speed bumps, however.

The island was warded. If they weren’t used to seeing Cuts and vampires in their territory, they would investigate.

If the temple was heavily guarded, there might be a spell that sensed me the moment I became visible inside. Or, they might sense the crystal and instantly remove it.

This was, as Adair had called it, a complete gamble.

But when had I ever worked on solid strategies?

Not often.

I would kick this mission’s ass.

Inwardly, I cringed.

Willow was right. I was totally using this new goal as a way to distract myself from everything Hux-related.

Was it for a worthy cause?

Absolutely.

But that didn’t really change the fact that I was throwing myself into perilous, world-altering tasks to distract myself.

And damn, was it working.

Just give me a few million Faery-trapped Cuts to save, and you know what? My teensy little mate problem didn’t feel so big.

My guts twinged as the memory of Hux invaded my high-and-mighty thoughts.

Yeah, I’m totally over it. It’s completely in the past, now.

Even my own thoughts were sarcastic and mocking. Great.

Oz appeared in my bedroom doorway, and I threw my cup of water at him.

He caught the glass, but the liquid splashed over his face and down his shirt.

He held it there, blinking in surprise.

“Nice catch,” I complimented with an evil smile.

“I’m very confused,” he said.

“Why?”

“Because…” He sidled over to my chair and sank to his knees, full of danger. “You don’t like me nearly as much as I want you to.”

Cheek against my arm, Oz rubbed his skin against mine like a cat.

I stared down, dispassionate. “You seem fine. Besides the fact that you probably killed your parents and definitely have been hiding from Hux.”

“Oh, baby, don’t bring him up like that. Not while we’re so close.” His teeth grazed my finger next.

“You really are playing with exploding acid, buddy.”

“I already told you I could beat him.”

“And yet you’d still fail at changing my little, fragile, womanly, vixen-like heart,” I crooned, patting his head.

He was trying to act all seductive.

If it had been Hux, it would have worked.

It wasn’t that Oz wasn’t beautiful. My stomach flipped just about every time he looked at me.

Because he looked like Hux.

The moment my brain caught up with my instincts, the reaction ended.

Oz just wasn’t the right person. He wasn’t my mate.

Everything, from my nerves to that little creak in my left hipbone, knew it.

And I hated that about me. What, now all of the sudden it couldn’t be attracted to other guys?

I squinted really hard at Oz. If I wanted to piss Hux off like the petulant blonde demon I was, then I should definitely do something like… kiss his brother.

“Why did you just gag?” Oz inquired.

“I’m sorry!” I said. “It’s not you, it’s me.”

His mouth fell open. “Did you just actually give me that line?”

“You’re gorgeous!” I defended. “Totally, completely gorgeous. Like, if we were strangers, and I saw you in a late-night L.A. alley, I’d definitely check you out for a full five seconds before running for my life.”

“High praise,” he drawled, unimpressed.

Then, the dragon shifter, whom I only just met, sat on the floor and leaned his head back onto my thigh.

The faux-seduction fell away like a curtain.

“To be quite honest, I’m not very attracted to you either.”

“Then why this?” I asked, gesturing to his extremely close proximity.

“I like you. As a person. I’m very open with who I feel comfortable and affectionate around. You feel like someone I’ve known a long time. From the very moment I met you. Huxley has always been the stoic one with personal walls ten miles deep. Not me.”

“Why doesn’t he know you’re here?”

“You know why.”

I sighed and relaxed against the chair. He’d basically just admitted to killing their parents. And yet, all I could do was reach out and pat his head.

What is wrong with me? Was I doing this to punish Hux?

It didn’t feel like it.

“I’m not a dog, but I’m willing to overlook that fact for the time being. That feels really nice.”

“Good boy.”

He shut his eyes and exhaled.

“It’s so weird,” I admitted. “But I’m really comfortable around you too. I know it’s hard to imagine, but I’m a pretty prickly person.”

It had even taken me a while to warm up to August. Nicest Boy of the Century August.

“You don’t say,” he mocked, and then peeked at me when I gasped. “You did just nearly throw a chair at me.”

“After you showered me with your shirt. So gross,” I added with a grimace. “Why were you wet again?”

“That hot vampire drowned me beneath a waterfall. I think she was hoping I’d die.” The wistfulness in his words should have been reserved for talking about a childhood crush, not a gothy woman who didn’t like hugs.

In fact…

I snapped, “Did you just say that with admiration?”

He frowned. “So what if I admired it? Not very many people can get the jump on me. In all honesty though, she likely can’t do it a second time. I’d let my guard down around her. Won’t be making that mistake again. Damn, Aster, focus.”

I’d stopped touching his hair again without realizing it. “You are so demanding, you know that?”

We stayed like that for several minutes in silence.

I tried not to think about how Oz was the reason for so much of Hux’s struggle.

The questions were practically bursting from me. Was he really the one who murdered his parents? If so, why had he sold all of his mom’s dangerous magical artifacts? Had he done it for the money? Had he owed some dangerous people?

Or was he just a shitty, selfish person who wasn’t afraid to mow everyone down?

“I can hear you,” he mumbled.

My hand paused. “Nope.”

He smirked. “Your thinking is very loud.”

Heard that one before.

“You’re imagining things, Mr. Murderer.”

His cackling laugher was the last thing I expected. But this hot dragon dude was now hunched over and laughing like a madman with tears in his eyes.

“Oh gods,” he gasped. “You are such a weird person, Aster. I can’t believe my brother kept you around without killing you. It’s fascinating.”

Willow took that moment to walk in.

She was in her black catsuit, just like me. Again, she didn’t have a stitch of her usual sexy goth makeup. “Are you two children ready?”

* * *

We portalled onto a ship on the Atlantic Ocean, just off the coast of the island.

It was just me, Willow, and Oz.

“Does anyone else feel wildly unprepared?” I asked as we climbed out of the cleaning closet and onto the deck.

It was dark and chilly. The salty, almost-winter air bit at my skin through my suit.

The crew was either sleeping or paid to not notice us.

We walked by rows and rows of shipping containers. About a mile out from us, lights blinked on the shore of the island. It was dark tonight, and really hard to make out the landscape.

“If I get swept away by currents, it’s all your faults,” I informed the team.

“No it isn’t,” Willow muttered, irritated.

Oz peeked around her, his blue eyes bright. “Did you want to swim?”

“How else would we — ooooh,” I sighed in understanding. He was a dragon who could partially shift. He’d be flying us.

I stretched my arms out. “Way to ruin Willow’s night, Oz. She was probably hoping I’d drown to death.”

“Okay! We have five minutes until the crew is finished with their dinner. Let’s get into the air, people.”

He removed his shirt and tucked it into the back waistband. A moment later, his wings unfurled behind him.

Hux’s wings looked like shadows. Oz’s were a lighter blue-gray, but even in this light, they were hard to make out.

“Ready, girls?” he asked with a devious grin. One arm looped around my hips, the other around Willow’s, and we were sky borne.

Too bad that’s when just about everything went wrong.