Gideon's Promise (Sons of Judgment Book 2) (26 page)

Her weight shifted from one foot to the other and she deliberately avoided meeting his gaze, but he knew he was getting to her.

“Valkyrie Devereaux doesn’t ... I’m a Harvester, a warrior, I don’t...” She growled deep in her throat and shot him a venomous glower. “I will not apologize!” She grinded her teeth, sucked in a breath. “But I will talk to her.”

Gideon bit back his grin. “That’s my girl.”

He hadn’t meant to say that, but it slipped out and she looked at him, her face completely void of its usual sneer. His hands trembled at his sides, fingers itching to lift and trace the gentle curve of her cheek. He ached to sweep back the loose strands, to slide his fingers behind the shell of her ear, down along her jaw to cup the base of her skull and draw her to him. Already he could feel the warmth of her body pressing into his. He could almost taste her mouth as he opened her lips with a sweep of his tongue. The heel of his foot lifted, bodily prepared to follow through with the fantasy.

She pulled away.

“I’m not your girl, Maxwell.”

Without waiting, without giving him even a second to gather his shattered heart up off the floor, she turned and disappeared down the hall.

G
ideon gave Riley and Valkyrie a week to patch things up, a week in which Riley remained barricaded in her bedroom and Valkyrie trained like she was singlehandedly responsible for saving the world. Magnus seemed to encourage her fierce need to pound her fists into something. The two were practically inseparable, which suited Gideon just fine. It meant he didn’t have to go hunting with her and didn’t have to listen to Magnus bitch that no one was taking the hunting seriously. It also gave him the chance to formulate a plan to get Riley out of hiding.

He waited until Octavian had left his bedroom before slipping inside without bothering to knock. Riley, perched on the bed, back against the headboard, a book in hand, looked up. Her crimson eyes widened at the sight of him.

“Gideon, what are you—”

“I’ve come to rescue you from the dragon, my fair lady!” he declared boldly.

Riley frowned, but there was a grin on her face. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“Women always say that,” he said as he stalked to the other side of the bed. “Then they beg me to stay.” He kicked off his boots and tossed himself unceremoniously down on the bed. The mattress dipped beneath his weight, molding to perfectly fit his body. “Wow!” he said, wiggling in deeper. “Your mattress is way comfier than mine.”

Riley laughed. “What are you doing here?”

He looked at her. “You almost sound like you’re not glad to see me.” He folded his arms beneath his head and closed his eyes. “But I know you are.”

She poked him with edge of her book. “You shouldn’t be here.” She hesitated. “I’m not safe to be around.”

“You’re such a martyr.” He yawned loudly. “I’m surprised you and Magnus don’t get along better.”

Riley gasped. “I am not being a martyr! I stabbed someone.”

Gideon shrugged. “I stab people all the time. Why do you think I’m not allowed around sharp, pointy objects? By the way,” he popped open one eye and squinted at her. “You didn’t even come to see if
I
was okay after
I
was stabbed and that was a week ago. Some sister you are.”

Immediately, her face transformed into one of horror and guilt. “I’m sorry! Are you okay?”

Gideon snorted. “Oh yeah, total monster. We should build you a cage.” He snatched the book from her and scanned the front cover. “What are you reading?
How to be a vampire: a guide for beginners
? Are you seriously fucking with me right now?”

If she could blush, he had a feeling she would have been as bright as her hair, but as it were, she yanked her book back and stuffed it under her pillow.

He, unfortunately for her, wasn’t ready to let it go.

“Are you kidding?”

She shoved him back when he dove to grab the book back. “Stop it!”

“Oh no, no, no, give it back!”

“I’m serious!” She was laughing and holding him back with her hands on his shoulder. “Knock it off.”

He drew back and looked at her. “I am appalled and disgusted right now. No, you know what? I am mortified for you. I want to die ... on your behalf.”

She broke off in another fit of giggles. “You are such an ass.”

He put up a finger. “We are so not discussing my fine ass right now, okay? We’re discussing your humiliating taste in...” He lunged before she could stop him and snatched the book. He dove off the bed. “Literature.”

“Gideon!” She scuttled across the mattress after him.

Gideon ignored her as he flipped to the first chapter. “Chapter one,” he read out loud. “So you’re a vampire—”

“I am going to kick your ass!” she cried, lunging off the bed.

Gideon bolted before she could grab him, all the while reading at the top of his lungs. “Do you thirst for blood? Does the sight of an open vein make your mouth water? Does the sun irritate and bother you? Despite what people might tell you, you
are
a vampire.” He couldn’t help it, he roared, doubling over.

“Give it back, Gideon!”

Wheezing as he tried to catch his breath, he held his arm over his head, keeping the book successfully out of her reach. She jumped and grabbed at his arm, but it was like playing keep away with a small child. It only further amused him. It was also evident she wasn’t using her full strength, or his arm would have been in torn pieces across her bedroom floor.

“Where did you even get this book?” he wondered. “I can’t believe Octavian’s letting you fill your head with this bullshit.”

She huffed. “Octavian has no say in what I read. Now give it back.”

He waved the book over her head. “Come on, little monkey. Jump for it.”

She glowered at him. “I will bite you. I swear to god I will.”

He grinned. “I love when you talk dirty. Tell me more.”

She made a face, but if she was trying to be intimidating and angry, it was badly executed behind the grin she was barely concealing.

“You are such a pervert,” she said at last.

He gasped in mock horror. “You toy with my naughty side and
I’m
the pervert? What would your husband say?”

“What would I say about what?” Octavian stepped into the room and looked from one to the other. His eyebrow arched when he took in his wife clinging to his brother’s raised arm while he held her book out of reach. “What’s going on here?”

“Your wife is trying to seduce me,” Gideon announced at once. “As your brother, I feel it’s my duty to inform you we’re running off together.”

Octavian arched a brow in dry disbelief. “Uh huh.”

“He won’t give back my book,” Riley grumbled, dislodging her hold on Gideon and spearing her hips with her tiny fists. “Kick his ass.”

Octavian looked at Gideon.

Gideon put both hands up. “She lies. I was merely picking it up after she dropped it.”

Riley reached to grab the book. Gideon yanked it out of reach, all the while watching Octavian with a look of utmost innocence.

Barely smothering his grin, Octavian stepped forward, snatched the book from Gideon and whacked him with it upside the head.

“Ow!” Gideon yelped.

Octavian passed the book to his wife, who whacked Gideon again on the arm with it.

“Jesus, this is an abusive household!” he muttered.

Snorting a snicker, Octavian moved to press a kiss to the side of Riley’s head. “You okay?”

Hugging her book to her chest, Riley shot Gideon a glower. “Fine.” She hurried to the bed and stowed the book away into the drawer of her nightstand. “Gideon came to tell me I was being a martyr.”

Octavian raised a brow at Gideon. “Did he now?”

Gideon shrugged as he made his way to the bed and threw himself down once more. “I did. Then I threatened to toss her over my shoulder and forcibly take her down to dinner.”

Riley frowned. “No, you didn’t.”

“Are you sure?” Gideon squinted at her. “Oh, well, that was next on my to-do list.” He snatched her pillow up and stuffed it under his head. “Mom’s been frantic and if I hear,
I hope Riley’s okay
, one more time, I might kill someone.”

Guilt darkened her face. Her gaze shot to Octavian who stood at the foot of the bed.

He rolled one shoulder. “I wasn’t kidding, Green-eyes.”

She looked back to Gideon. “I can’t go back out there. You saw what I did. I’m dangerous.”

“Well,” Gideon said before Octavian could open his mouth. “I can bring Valkyrie in here and she can stab you if that will make you feel better.”

“That is not going to happen,” Octavian said at once.

Riley chuckled wetly. “That actually might make me feel better.” Her smile faded. “She must hate me.”

Gideon snorted. “She’s a warrior. Getting stabbed is part of the job description. Besides, it’s not like you can kill her. I mean,
you
probably could, but she really can’t die by getting stabbed.”

Riley sniffled. “What if I did? What if I freak and kill Imogen. She’s not like you guys.”

“She is,” Gideon assured her. “She’s a veil creature. Superhuman living abilities.”

“It was an accident,” Octavian chimed in.

She shook her head. “It wasn’t. I knew what I was doing. I ...
wanted
to stab her. I wanted to kill her.” The muscles in her jaw tensed. “I couldn’t stop.”

Gideon eyed her a moment when an idea came to him. “I know how to fix this.”

Without waiting, he leaped up and left the room barefoot. He hurried to his parent’s office first and poked his head inside. His father was there with Reggie looking over a pile of books, but not the person he was looking for. Moving along, he jogged down to the kitchen.

His mother looked up from the vegetables she was dicing at the preparation table. “Hello darling,” she said. “Looking for something?”

Gideon poked his head through the order window and peered out at the empty dining room.

Not there either.

“Have you seen Valkyrie?”

His mother brushed the back of her hand over her brow, pushing back a loose coil. “Uh...” She frowned thoughtfully. “I think she’s outside with Magnus.”

Cursing himself for not putting his shoes on, Gideon hurried towards the back after throwing a thank you over his shoulder.

While the rest of the city was enjoying the last couple of hours of sunlight, Final Judgment was already painted in shadows as the sun vanished behind the towering wall of trees surrounding them. The air was chilly as Gideon hurried out the back door and around the house in search of his brother and Valkyrie. He heard them before he saw them.

They were both wearing black. Magnus in sweats and a muscle top with his hair tied back and Valkyrie in capri tights and a sports bra. Her hair was also pulled back in a high ponytail. They were circling each other with bamboo sticks. Leaves and twigs crunched beneath their feet, making the only sound for miles. Gideon jumped when the sticks cracked together; Valkyrie had swung and Magnus had deflected. Magnus pushed back, twisting the end of his stick and thrusting upwards in an attempt to knock the weapon from her hand. Valkyrie pulled down and thrust up with the other end, hitting Magnus in the wrist and pushing him back just enough to lunge. Magnus just jerked back when her stick whipped past his face.

Gideon watched them. Watched her. It never failed to amaze him how beautiful she was. Her body was in perfect balance with her weapon and her weapon was in perfect balance with her mind. It was like a dance. Every motion was fluid, effortless, like walking. She never faltered. Every hit resounded though the trees. Sweat glistened along her pale flesh and Gideon was overcome with a hunger that tore through him. It made him want to push her into a tree, lift her into his arms, and kiss her until she was moaning and melting and winding those endless legs around his hips. He wanted to tear away her clothes and sink home inside her. He wanted to feel her shudder around him, wet and hot. He wanted her to arch and cry out his name as he drove them both over the edge.

His gaze went to her right forearm. The skin there was flawless, smooth and taut, but all he could think was how badly he wanted his mark there, to see it and know she was his for always.

He must have made a sound, or maybe she sensed him, but Valkyrie turned her head and their gazes locked. She didn’t seem surprised to see him there, nor that he was watching her with the look of a starved predator. Her lips parted like she was about to say something when Magnus saw his opportunity and knocked her legs out from under her, sending her crashing to the dirt on her back. Her cry of pain made Gideon see red. He snarled and dove for his brother before he could stop himself. His arms locked around the other man’s waist and Gideon tackled him backwards into a tree. His hands closed around the bamboo stick and he twisted it out of Magnus’s grip. It was pitched aside.

The look of surprise on Magnus’s face didn’t register until the film of rage lifted and Gideon realized what he’d done. He hastily shoved away and brushed a hand back through his hair.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

Magnus only nodded that he understood before he went to get his stick.

Gideon hesitated before turning to the woman behind him. He could feel her eyes on him, feel her heat as though she were pressed against the full length of his back. He wondered if this was all some sick joke being played on him by the universe, bringing the object of his obsession so close, but forbidding him to touch. It certainly seemed like something fate would do, just to be a bitch.

“What are you doing here?” she asked, her voice unusually soft.

“I need you.” He hadn’t meant for the words to come out choked with longing, desperation, and all the desire pent up inside him.

He thought he heard her inhale sharply, but when he dared himself to meet her gaze, she was watching him with a brutally blank expression.

“For what?”

What could he tell her? What could he possibly say that wouldn’t make her turn away from him? Certainly not the truth.

“I need you to talk to Riley,” he willed himself to say at last. “She refuses to come out of her room unless you assure her you’re not angry with her.”