“I don’t want you to care.” Destiny snapped the words, her vivid eyes glittering, picking up the veins of lightning so that she looked dangerous. “I don’t want any of this.” She swept her hand to encompass all of them. The neighborhood. MaryAnn. The silent sentinel on the roof. Nicolae. Especially Nicolae. She wanted nothing to do with him. She hated him, hated the way his hands curved over MaryAnn’s shoulders.
Nicolae allowed his arms to drop to his sides. If Destiny made a threatening move toward him, he was certain he was fast enough to escape danger, but he couldn’t control Vikirnoff’s response to an attack on him. Do not hurt her. He couldn’t stop himself from warning his brother.
I am fully aware that if I attack, you will be forced to protect her from me. Vikirnoff was unshakable. She will not be allowed to harm you. Should she attempt to do so, I will divert her by attacking the human woman.
Nicolae sighed softly. “Destiny, come with me.” He held out his hand to her. “This situation is dangerous and belongs between us and no one else. Come with me now before something happens that neither of us can control.”
Destiny went pale. Her teeth bit at her lower lip. She glanced up at the owl, looked at Mary Ann. Took a reluctant step toward Nicolae. Another. Nicolae felt as if he could breathe again. He had known what she would think when he had made the decision to take MaryAnn’s blood, how Destiny would react, but he hadn’t counted on how painful his apparent betrayal would be to her. Seeing her suffer shook him more than he had ever imagined anything could.
Destiny looked at his outstretched hand, wiped her palm on her thigh, as if she were afraid to be alone with him. “MaryAnn, will you be all right walking home alone?” She sounded as if she were pleading with MaryAnn to save her.
“Perfectly all right,” MaryAnn said firmly. “You go with Nicolae and talk things out. I’m certain the very interesting bird will see me home safely.” She grinned at Nicolae, waved daringly at the owl.
Nicolae couldn’t help giving an answering grin. He liked MaryAnn. Who could not? There was something special about her. Her courage and loyalty set her apart. He could see why Destiny had settled in the neighborhood, drawn by this woman who worked so diligently for others; she was a woman of great compassion.
Nicolae took Destiny’s hand. He couldn’t say she held it out to him, or even met him halfway. He had to reach out, shackle her wrist and bring her hand to him. Lace his fingers through hers. But she didn’t pull away from him. A small victory, but one that he treasured. Her fingers were ice-cold. And she was trembling.
He didn’t make the mistake of tugging her to his side. He went to hers, standing close so that his larger frame sheltered her body from the wind. So that she could feel his body heat. So that electricity seemed to arc between them, crackling and snapping with a life of its own.
The owl flapped its wings, took flight overhead. The movement seemed to calm the wild winds. Even the white-hot whips of lightning faded from the dark clouds as Destiny began to relax.
Mary Ann reached out and, to Destiny’s horror, hugged her briefly before walking determinedly away. Destiny simply stood frozen in place, as still as a statue, unaware her hand was gripping Nicolae’s so hard that he was afraid she would pulverize his bones. She watched MaryAnn walk out of the alley with the owl flying just above her as if guarding her. Or stalking her. “He won’t hurt her,” Nicolae said. It was in her mind to try another attack on the owl. Knock it from the sky so she could be sure MaryAnn was safe.
“He only threatened her to stop you from attacking me.”
Nicolae stepped closer to her. “You have not fed.” It was an invitation.
“I don’t trust myself yet.” She looked up at him then. Studied his face with its dark sensuality, its sharp angles and planes. The eyes had seen too many centuries. Faced too many battles. He was a man who had been alone for far too long. “I can’t be what you want me to be.” She had touched his mind often. She knew his thoughts. Lifemate. She understood all the word implied. Everything. Lifemate. Something she could never be.