Dreams of a Dark Warrior

away from the halfling.
    When his legs grew restless and his shaking intensified once more, he leaned his head back againstthe wall to stare at the ceiling. This wasn’t nearly as punishing as it’d been earlier, but without her in his arms, it was worse for him.
    Need her.
He gnashed his teeth, struggling to keep his legs still—
    Suddenly Lothaire shot upright, out of breath and patting his chest from neck to waist. His face was drawn and clammy with sweat.
    Declan narrowed his eyes.
The vampire just dreamed of my torture, experienced it.
    When Lothaire’s red gaze fell on him, Declan murmured,
“Fuckin’ choke on them. …”

FORTY-TWO

    R egin woke in a rush. She’d been dozing against Thad again, who still snored beside her.
    Throughout the night and morning the two of them had slept on and off, recuperating as they waited for some of the battles to die down.
    Rubbing her gritty eyes, she glanced around. She saw lots of torture instruments but no torturer. Chase and everyone else were outside the room.
    When Thad began nuzzling her neck, pressing his opened lips against her, she smacked him in the back of the head. “Don’t go vamp on me now!”
    “Whaa!” He shot upright, his fangs sharp. “Where am I?”
    She glanced at his fangs, then down. “Oh, my gods, when do you
not
sport wood? There are bathrooms in the back, so go burp the worm or whatever.”
    Blushing furiously, he muttered, “I-I’m really sorry.” He pulled his T-shirt lower. “I don’t know what’s happening with me.”
    “You were either about to bite me or kiss me or both. Not a chance, kid! You’ve got better odds with Natalya—and those are looking up at zero.” At hismortified look, Regin exhaled. “Look, I had a rough night, and I’m taking it out on you.”
    “I get it. It’s cool.” He scrubbed his hand down his face. “So, uh, Natalya’s
totally
out?”
    “Yeah, Brandr cockblocked you. Sorry. But one day, you’ll find someone nonpoisonous. … ” She trailed off when Natalya came down the steps from the outer door.
    Thad shot to his feet, finger-combing his hair.
    “Wakey wakey, eggs and bakey,” the fey chirped as she strolled into the room, looking rested and relaxed. “Come on, it’s high noon, and we’ve got a boat to catch!”
    And clearly, you got laid,
Regin thought with a spike of jealousy. When she got back to New Orleans, she’d take a lover. No more being faithful to Aidan.
    She’d take two. Hell, there was that pack of leopard shifters that’d been sniffing around her.
I’ll lift tail for every single one of them.
    Regin rose, every muscle in her body protesting. “I’m taking a fiver.” She scuffed toward the lavatory she’d found.
    Natalya ruffled Thad’s hair with her knuckles, discomfiting him even more, then followed her inside.
    As Regin rubbed water on her face, Natalya hopped up on the next sink over. “So how about those revelations from last night! I suppose they’re hampering your revenge plans. Because of the whole Chase-didn’t-order-your-torture development.”
    “Just means he gets to live.”
    “Well, the important thing is that I got
my
revenge.”
    Regin tugged up her shirt to dry her face, then peered at her injury.
    “Your skin’s completely healed,” Natalya said, her tone impressed.
    “There was a lot of lightning last night—it helps. I’ll be as good as new in a few hours.”
    “But you’re not glowing.”
    Regin shrugged. “It might not come back.” Her mother’s had been forever dimmed. After Wóden and Freya had rescued her from the vampires that killed everyone in her village, her skin had never glowed as it once had. And it’d been covered with vampire bite scars.
    I learned to count by them, never knowing how much I was hurting her.
    “Oh, here”—Natalya stood, reaching into her jacket—“first time I’ve ever had women’s lingerie in my pocket that wasn’t my own.” She handed Regin her bra. “Though it probably won’t be the last.”
    Regin slipped off her shirt to don it, vowing to burn these clothes when they got back.
    Natalya pinched her own cheeks, then vogued in the mirror for a few poses. “So, what are you going to do with Chase now? Not going to soften toward him at all?”
    Last night, Regin almost had when he’d revealed his scarred skin to her—and when he’d been suffering through withdrawal.
    He’d been off to the side by himself, silently shaking in the dark.
Going through that alone …
    Then Regin