“Yes.” His voice was hoarse, but he sensed that most of his wounds had sealed shut during his shift. Unfortunately, it would take time to completely heal. Time he wasn’t sure they had.
“Let me help you,” Cassie murmured, slipping her arm beneath him as he struggled to stand.
“The vampire?” he rasped, his blurry gaze searching the seemingly empty cellar.
“He disappeared.”
Reluctantly allowing Cassie to take the majority of his weight as they stumbled toward the tunnel, he frowned at her vague response. “Which way did he go?”
Her arm snaked around his waist as they entered the tunnel, her lavender warmth wrapping around him. He sucked in the sweet scent, hoping to ease his wolf ’s rabid fury.
It didn’t matter that he logically understood Cassie was unharmed. Or that there didn’t appear to be any immediate danger. The beast inside him wasn’t going to be satisfied until those who dared attack his female were destroyed.
“No, I mean he disappeared, disappeared,” she said. “Poof.”
He frowned. Had the witch managed to befuddle Cassie long enough to make it seem as if they’d disappeared?
“That’s impossible.”
She shrugged. “Then he has made himself and his companions invisible.” She sent him a challenging glance. “Is that more possible?”
“The witch . . . ?”
“No, it was the vampire,” she stubbornly insisted. “He grabbed an amulet that was hanging around his neck and they all vanished.”
Christ. His head throbbed as he tried to accept the nasty leech could not only shape-shift, but could appear and disappear in the blink of an eye.
Just. Freaking. Perfect.
“The entire world has gone mad,” he muttered.
Cassie patted his shoulder. “Yes.”
“Are you humoring me?”
“Yes.”
Caine swallowed a sigh, too weak to conjure the proper outrage. In fact, it was taking everything he had just to put one foot in front of the other.
He clenched his teeth as they slowly made their way to the end of the tunnel, but glancing up at the opening, he was forced to concede defeat. There was no way in hell he was going to be able to leap five feet in the air.
“I can’t get out until I rest,” he grudgingly admitted.
Cassie moved so he could lean against the side of the tunnel, her expression one of calm determination. “I’ll go up first and pull you out.”
He scowled. “It’s supposed to be the other way around.”
“Why? Because you’re the male?”
“Exactly.”
She rolled her eyes. “Sexist dog.”
It was an accusation that had never been thrown Caine’s way before. Even when he was a cur he’d preferred women who were strong and independent, with a dangerous edge. Nothing kept a man on his toes like bedding a woman who might rip out your throat if you pissed her off.
But with Cassie . . .
He wanted to become the worse sort of cliché.
He wanted to build a perfect lair where she would be safe and warm and so comfortable she would never leave.
He wanted to hunt for their food and then stand guard, offering protection as she eased her hunger.
He wanted to hold her in his arms as she slept, feeling her soft breath on his neck and her heart beating steadily beneath his hand.
“I like having you depend on me,” he muttered.
She smiled, moving to place a gentle kiss on his lips. “Partners depend on each other.”
“Partners,” he breathed, ignoring just how perilously close the word sounded to mates.
Chapter 7
Cassie had learned a great deal about patience over the past three decades.
Being a hostage to a demon lord meant that she’d spent the majority of her life in dank caves. On occasion, she was allowed a television or books to help pass the time, but for the most part she’d had to endure endless days with nothing but her visions to distract her.
Still, it took all of her skill to urge the testy Caine out of the tunnel, using her strength to boost him up and then over the garbage bin. And then, ignoring his snappish complaints that he wasn’t an invalid, she’d managed to wrestle him to the waiting Jeep, loading him into the passenger seat before sliding behind the steering wheel.
Trying to hide the lingering weakness from his injuries, Caine wiped the sweat from his brow and sent her a frustrated glare. “What are you doing?”
She hid her smile. He wouldn’t be in such a foul mood if he weren’t healing.
When he’d first collapsed at her feet she’d been frantic with fear. What if he’d been killed trying to protect her? The mere thought had been like a brutal punch to her gut.
She couldn’t bear the loss.
It was that simple.
Wrenching her thoughts away from the destructive memory, Cassie instead turned to the task at hand. Whether he liked it or not, Caine was still weak and it was going to be up to her to take charge.
“I’m going to get us out of here,” she said, nibbling her bottom lip as she concentrated on locating the key that Caine always kept hidden beneath the floor mat and sticking it into the ignition.
“Can you drive?” Caine demanded.
The engine roared to life and she studied the knobby thing that she recalled she had to pull down to allow the vehicle to move forward.
“How hard can it be?”
“Shit,” he muttered. “Just wait. I’ll be fine in a few minutes.”
She managed to get into gear and pressed gently on the gas pedal, holding the steering wheel in a death grip as they eased down the dark, empty street.
“What if we were followed?”
“There was a masking spell that should have dampened our scent,” he said, his hand reaching to brace on the glove box as she began to pick up speed. “Besides, whatever is chasing us can’t be any more dangerous than you behind the wheel.”
“Very funny. I happen to be doing just fine, so sit there and be quiet.” She sent him a chiding glare, only to have her moment of victory ruined as the wheels hit the curb and they took out a stop sign. “Oops.”
“I guess we’re about to find out if I’m truly immortal.”
With a sniff, she turned her attention back to the road. “Keep it up and I’ll kick your naked butt out. Maybe Ingrid and her creepy twin will stop by and pick you up.”
He made a sound of disgust, but obviously accepting he was in no position to complain, he instead pointed toward the side street. “Turn left here.”