The Killing Season (10 page)

“Leave it, Sin,” Coldcrow said, voice low with his eyes on his food.

“Bite?” I set my fork aside and glanced between Sin and Killian. Like Coldcrow, Eve and Haze kept their gazes locked on their dinner. Nyny put her head in her hands and groaned.

“You hadn’t heard?” Killian’s smile turned wolfish, his dark eyes capturing every beat of my thrumming pulse in my neck. “Luke was bitten today.”

Bitten
.

“Why didn’t someone tell me?” I demanded, surging to my feet and sending my chair rocking. Abigail flinched, and Killian put a soothing, controlling hand on her shoulder, his fingers making divets in her flesh.

“Why would anyone need to tell you?” Killian asked innocently.

“He’s my friend.” At my word choice, his head cocked to the side. He was baiting me, but I couldn’t stop now. “I deserve to know.”

“Ollie,” Eve said. “It’s not that bad. He’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

The tone of her voice told me to sit down, to shut up. I was toeing a dangerous line, but screw the line. Luke was hurt and no one had told me. Something vise-like clenched in my gut. Bitten. Hurt. I nearly trembled from my desperate need to see him, from my rage at not being told, from my—

But I raked a hand through my hair and forced myself to sit down, though my legs shook with the effort. Killian continued to watch me like a hawk, disappointment obvious in the thin press of his lips. Eve gave me a subtle nod from across the table, so slight I’m sure only I saw. Numbly, I picked up my fork and continued eating, though the venison tasted bitter in my mouth and my stomach churned with every bite.

Nyny said ’swangs were matriarchal. The females claimed their males for mating, even marked them up to show all the other aswangs they were taken. The territorial and possessive females showed primal, single-minded devotion to their mates. Those same instincts flowed through my blood as well, which made me consider the possibility I’d claimed Luke.

I wanted to shudder at the ridiculousness of claiming someone. It was simply not
human
. While normal conversation resumed around the table, I kept quiet, feeling Sunny’s occasional concerned glance. Instincts or not, crazy or not, I had to see Luke.

When Eve rose and dismissed herself, I waited another ten minutes before I stood. “Everyone have a good night. I’m going to bed.” I ignored my strangled voice and stumbled toward the door.

“Sleep well, Ollie.”

Killian’s words made me shiver. I forced my legs not to sprint up the stairs, because I knew he watched my every step. I took my time, letting my hand trail up the banister to hide its shaking. Only when I was on the second floor did I run.

In the hallway, Hatter stood outside Luke’s door with Eve, who’d brought up food from the kitchen. Her gesture nagged at me, but only because I hadn’t thought of it first. They both looked up as I started down the hall, and Hatter instantly cringed. With a darting glance at the door, he hurried forward to meet me halfway. When I tried to step around him, he grabbed my arms and held me in place. Eve stopped beside him, her lips pressed into a tight, unflinching line.

“Hatter. Move,” I growled. My eyes never moved from Luke’s door.

“Come on, Ollie-o. You know you can’t go in there.”

“Why not?” I demanded.

Hatter made a frustrated sound in the back of his throat. “Cut me some slack, okay? You can’t. The bite is too fresh. You need to give the guy some time to calm down.”

“I can handle him.” I tried to jerk out of his hold, but Hatter held tight.

“Listen. I know that, but Killian can’t find you in there. He’ll use any excuse to kill you.”

Killian wouldn’t dare. I was too valuable to Fear University, but I couldn’t tell Hatter that. “Please,” I said instead, choking on the word. “What if a ’swang bit Sunny and you couldn’t see her?”

Hatter flinched. He was pale and drawn, exhausted. Eve didn’t look much better. “I can’t do it. Luke made me promise. Made me swear it. No matter what he says right now, I can’t let you in.”

I blinked in surprise. “He’s asking for me?”

“Changes nothing. If I let you in there, the line will be drawn in the sand and Killian will come after you. Are you really gonna make Luke kill his father so he can have you? Because it’ll come to that point if you go in that room.”

“I’m not asking anybody to kill anyone. I just want to check on him.”

Hatter groaned. “Just wait until you’re both back at Fear University. Not here. Not right now.”

“I can distract Killian,” Eve said, speaking up for the first time.

“How?”

But Hatter instantly said, “No, you are
not
doing that.”

I glanced between the two of them. Eve took a deep breath and squared her shoulders. The shine in her eyes diminished slightly, and I knew that look. I knew exactly how she meant to
distract
him. “Oh. No. Hell no. You don’t have to do that. I don’t care if Killian knows. Dean won’t let him hurt me. I’m protected.”

“You’re not,” Eve said, sounding exhausted. “Killian hates Dean. He follows no one’s orders.”

“But he can’t just ignore the president of the university, can he?”

Hatter snorted. “Dean can’t really punish Killian any worse.” He raised his hand with the missing finger and gestured around at our surroundings. So I wasn’t the only one to guess Killian was in exile out here.

“Go, Ollie,” Eve said. “You should be with him, and I can give you the night free from Killian.” She leaned in closer to me and whispered so only I could hear, “Luke won’t hurt you. He would rather die than do that, okay?”

Something in the way she said it, like a memory was hidden deep in her words, made me ask, “Were you ever at Fear University?”

“For a while. Until I had to leave early.” Her words stole my breath. The rumors Sunny had told me about back when I first arrived at the university flashed through my mind. She’d said a girl had to leave school early when Luke accidentally hurt her after he was bitten. Like she sensed my thoughts, Eve reached out and grabbed my wrist, tight enough to capture my attention again. “He never looked at me the way he looks at you,” she whispered. “You’re different to him. He wouldn’t do anything to hurt you.”

Before I said anything else, she stepped back and headed down the hall toward the stairs. To Killian. I swallowed the bile rising up in my throat. She’d been with Luke, and the look in her eyes told me she still had feelings for him. Maybe still loved him. I had no idea why she was doing this, why she was helping me. Either way, I owed her big.

“Get over here.” Hatter unhooked a bottle of disinfectant spray from his belt that I hadn’t noticed before in my frenzy. He sprayed my hands and clothes, the air and hall around us, like he was erasing as much of my scent as possible. I choked on the thick waves of pumpkin-scented death by Febreze.

“Is he that bad?” I asked, swatting at the air in front of my face.

He snorted. “This isn’t even that bad. The ’swang barely got him. If he’d been bitten a couple of times, deep bites, I don’t think an ocean could keep him from you.” He took a deep breath. “At least now I can get some sleep. Go on then.”

I simply nodded, Hatter’s words ringing around in my skull, and walked toward Luke’s door. I wondered if they’d sedated him. It would explain why the room remained so quiet, even while Hatter, Eve, and I had talked. With each step I took, I battled with the stifling compulsion working its way up my throat. I should just wait until tomorrow. Too many people would be at risk if I went inside his room right now. Eve was sacrificing too much. But even as I thought it, I hated it. Every fiber in my being demanded that I see him
now
. If he was out of it, nothing would be hurt by me just going to check on him. I’d just look and make sure he was okay. See him with my own eyes. I would be able to breathe then, and maybe I would have enough time to go find Eve and stop her from going to Killian.

If I was right, and this was my ’swang instinct flaring up, I seriously felt sorry for the full-blooded female ’swangs.

Breathing heavily through my nose, I gripped his doorknob and slowly twisted. Like a silent whisper, the door swung open and I stepped into his room before I told myself no.

His scent, caramel and cottonwood, sweat and the metallic tang of blood, hit me like a punch to the gut. I blinked, trying to get my eyes to adjust, and glanced around. No sounds came from the room. With a frown, I stepped farther inside. When my eyes finally adjusted, I made out the shape of Luke’s bed and scanned the tangled, twisted sheets, searching for a hint of his tan, scarred skin. Nothing.

The bed was empty.

Warm air exhaled onto the back of my neck, making my hairs stand on end.

A hand clamped over my mouth, stifling my gasp. An arm wrapped around my waist and jerked me back into a solid, unyielding chest.

Killian
, I thought.
Killian is in here and he’s going to kill me
. The hand on my mouth craned my neck back and thick scruff raked along the sensitive skin between my neck and shoulder, smelling me. I stared at the ceiling, panicking and trying to breathe.

“I knew you would come.” The deep, whispered voice, like gravel, instantly soothed me. I smelled caramel candies and knew.

I relaxed, sinking into Luke’s hold. He rubbed his face against my neck, his arm around my waist slipping under my shirt and raking up my ribs. My breath hitched in my throat, but he didn’t release me.

Against my lower back, I felt how painfully hard he was.

His teeth scraped lightly over my injured collarbone, abrading the skin just enough to send a flicker of warning heat down my arm. His hand under my shirt slipped up higher and cupped my breast, his thumb circling over my nipple until the heat filling me was all about desire and not pain.

His touch was the first I’d had since we were together at Fear University. I’d missed it. I’d craved him. And his hands on me now were like a long drink of ice water on a hot day. I couldn’t contain the sheer relief that washed over me. I told myself to treasure this moment, because I didn’t know when I would get another.

He crushed me harder against his chest, arching me farther into his grip.

His silence unnerved me. The way he kept smelling and stroking me, like he’d forgotten what I felt like, sent a slice of nerves rippling through my stomach. He raised his mouth to my jaw, his breaths washing over me, stifling me.

“You have to stay. Your clothes smell wrong.”

He hooked a finger in the waistband of my jeans and panties, shoving them both down at the same time. The cool air of his room hit my bare legs, causing my skin to prickle. He had me half naked by the time he released his grip on me.

“Luke,” I whispered, “wait. Your—”

Silently, he tore my shirt down the front and ripped it off. Without an answer, he picked me up and carried me to his bed. I tumbled onto his messy, tangled sheets. “Hang on—”

He pulled a blanket over us and laid half his chest across me, pinning me to the bed. His nose returned to the crook my neck, his hardness pressing between my legs. His weight wasn’t unbearable, but it pressed me farther into the bed. Trapped me. His arm cinched around my waist to tether me against him.

“Luke,” I sighed, blowing a piece of hair out of my face. “What the fuck?”

But he’d already fallen asleep. His deep, rumbling breaths were so heavy, so sweet, I couldn’t help the smile creeping across my face. I put my arms around him, angling my cheek against his thick, silky black hair, and fell asleep too.

* * *

I woke a few hours later, right after midnight when the base hung suspended in an eerie, grave-like silence. I heaved and shoved my way out from under Luke’s weight. With a ripping snore that had me grinning like a fool, he rolled over and I slipped free. Since my shirt was ruined, I jerked on the first one I found on the floor along with my pants and shoes, my switchblade still safely tucked inside my right boot. I crept to the door, keeping my steps silent, and eased out into the hall.

Only every other sconce remained lit, each single bulb casting barely enough light for me to find my way to the stairs.

I moved lightly on my feet, a weight on my chest lifted. Maybe even a hopeful giddiness stirred in my heart. After last night, I’d proved to Luke I could deal with him when he was bitten; I could handle him. I deserved to be there with him when he was hurt, not shut out on the other side of the door.

He thought we were too screwed up to be together, and maybe he was right. But I liked our kind of screwy. It was just the right mixture of dark and twisted, sprinkled with the perfect amount of crazy. As I walked, I smiled, thinking of sleeping with him, his body’s heat warming me, cocooning me. It’d been the best night of my life.

At the stairs, the stained-glass window cut bruise-colored shadows across the mahogany stairwell with just enough light for me to see the thick banisters curving down to the entry below. I paused and held my breath to listen. I heard it again, the whisper of a sound that had caught my attention seconds before.

An icy breeze slithered across my skin. Slowly, I turned, my eyes tracing a path down the stairs, across the entry, and to the front door, which stood wide open. Snow and moonlight seeped through the security room like silver blood spilling across the floor. My sleepy thoughts tumbled and spun together until I realized, with a gasp, that
both
doors were open. Open to the outside. To the aswangs.