Harley paced the cement floor, her expression distracted as she pondered his words.
“Darcy.” She softly tested the name. “Regan.”
“They are very much alive and anxious to meet you.”
She continued pacing, refusing to meet his gaze. “Caine said there were four of us.”
“There’s another sister who I haven’t yet found. I suspect Caine knows where she is.”
She halted unconsciously close to the cage, her eyes troubled as she shook her head.
“No. I don’t believe you.”
Salvatore was a Were who firmly believed in grasping opportunity. Especially when that opportunity included a gorgeous female who set his blood on fire.
“Then believe this.” He reached through the bars, grabbing the straps of her sports bra and yanking her close enough to kiss her. A groan rumbled deep in his throat. She tasted of exotic spices and danger. He shivered as wild lightning streaked through him. “You’re mine,” he whispered against her lips.
For a breathless minute she softened against him, seemingly as indifferent as Salvatore to the painful silver between them. Then with a muttered curse, she pulled away, her eyes dark with alarm.
“Caine’s right. You’re a lunatic.”
With a glare that would have seared the skin off a lesser man, Harley stormed from the room and slammed the door behind her.
Lunatic.
Salvatore shoved his fingers through his hair.
He couldn’t agree more.
Harley reached the top of the stairs when Caine appeared in the hallway, a pair of faded denims riding low on his hips, his hair still damp from the shower.
“I heard the alarm.” His eyes darted to the door she’d just closed behind her. “What the hell is going on?”
Harley blocked the door, her emotions in an unpleasant jumble. And all because of that stupid Were.
Wasn’t it bad enough that he’d managed to make her question everything that Caine had ever told her? Not that she had ever been fully on board with Caine’s smooth stories. They had changed too often over the years to be completely believable.
But to use his kingly mojo or whatever it was to make her melt beneath his kiss.
It was despicable.
She lifted a hand and pressed it to her lips. They still tingled with pleasure. And they weren’t the only thing tingling.
It had to be that damned musky smell of his. It was some sort of Were aphrodisiac or something.
Stirring up her anger to cover the craving that still prickled through her body, Harley pointed a finger in Caine’s face.
“I warned you that your delusions of grandeur were going to get you killed,” she snarled. “Salvatore has dropped in for a visit.”
“Shit.” Caine’s face paled. “Did you get him? Is he caged?”
“Do you mean did I save your ass from certain death? Yes, I did.”
Caine glanced toward the closed door to the basement, his brow furrowed.
“I need to make a phone call.”
A phone call? Harley narrowed her gaze. The cur was acting strangely, even for Caine.
“Fine. I’ll keep an eye on the prisoner.”
Like a striking snake, Caine reached out to grab her arm. “No.”
“Why not?”
His smile was strained. “You think I would risk you being in the same room as a rabid Were who has sworn to kill you?”
“He’s locked in a silver cage. For the moment he’s helpless.”
“A pureblood is never helpless.”
Harley studied the too-handsome face. Caine didn’t want her near Salvatore. The question was, why?
“If you’re afraid he might escape, that’s all the more reason I should keep watch on him.”
The blue eyes glowed in the dim light of the hall. “I have curs to take care of guard duty. You have better things to do with your time.”
She shrugged. “Not really. Besides, I want to talk with the Were.”
“Talk to him about what?”
“Does it matter?”
His fingers tightened on her arm. “Of course it does.”
“Why?”
“I don’t want you exposed to the filth he’s bound to spew.”
Harley snorted. Like most nonhumans, Caine managed to adopt the social norms that flowed and changed with the passage of time, but every so often he showed his age. The older demons were even worse.
“Spew?”
The glow in his eyes shimmered with blue fire, revealing he was hanging onto his wolf by a thread. Curs were always at the mercy of their emotions.
“Salvatore is notorious for fabricating lies that hide his evil nature. The Weres would never have allowed him to stay in power otherwise.”
She yanked her arm out of his grasp. “Do you mean lies like the fact that two of my sisters are alive and well, and currently living in Chicago?”
Chapter Three
Harley watched the anger ripple over Caine’s face before he clenched his jaw and studied her with a wary gaze.
“You already spoke to Salvatore?”
“It was a brief discussion.”
“What else did he say?”
“He mentioned that far from wanting me and my sisters dead, he has been trying to save us.” She deliberately paused. “From you.”
His false laughter echoed through the hallway. “That bastard. He would say anything to save his worthless hide. You weren’t stupid enough to believe his lies, were you?”
“Of course not.” Harley smiled, able to lie with the best of them.
At the moment, she didn’t know what she believed.
She didn’t trust Caine. And she sure as hell didn’t trust Salvatore.
All she knew for certain was that she wanted answers.
“Good.” He brushed the back of his hands down her cheek, allowing his fingers to linger on the curve of her neck. “He’s dangerous, Harley. You need to stay away from him.”
“If he’s so dangerous, why don’t you just kill him?”
“And have every Were in the world wanting to nail my ass to the wall?” he smoothly demanded. “No, thank you.”
Yeah, right. She narrowed her gaze.
“Holding him captive isn’t going to make the Weres any happier.”
“Who will know that I’m holding him?” His hand deliberately encircled her throat. “He was alone, wasn’t he? I assume you would have mentioned if he had his pack of curs with him.”
Harley abruptly recalled the tiny gargoyle. After capturing Salvatore, he’d slipped her mind.