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I don’t want any part of that—but I want her.
My gaze slips from my fang marks to beyond Josie, beyond the pool, to the glass wall that lets the last drops of sunlight in, filtering through the overgrown foliage outside.
“It has been decades since I’ve felt the warmth of the sun on my skin,” I say, skirting my way past a lie.
“Then what are you waiting for? There’s only a little daylight left.”
“What if it didn’t work?”
“What if it did? You’re never going to find out if you don’t take a little leap of faith.”
Our eyes lock and we both sense the deeper meaning beneath her words. She’s right.
I take a tentative step into the light, squeezing my eyes shut as my skin comes into contact, waiting for the searing pain of my flesh being burned from my body.
It doesn’t come, and a smile spreads across my face as my eyes slip shut in serene contentment. I spread my arms out as if I could embrace the sun and the heat clings to me.
“How is it?” Josie asks, her smile just as big as mine.
“Exquisite.” I’m so caught up in the brilliance of this long-awaited moment that I don’t notice the other presence in the room.
In a blur of motion and a gust of air, I’m thrown from my feet. Josie screams my name as I narrowly avoid taking a dive into the pool.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
RUNE
The sun chars my skin, but it’s nothing compared to the burning rage igniting within me. Fintan fed on Josie. What’s worse is that I feel her within him. Her blood—her very essence—flows through Fintan’s veins and it’s driving me wild with the need to stake my claim on her.
Finn skids to a halt a few feet away, his eyes taunting me with their blood-red tinge. “What in the ever-loving hell? Have ye lost yer head?”
“So much for relaxing,” Josephine sighs.
The seared skin on my arm flakes away, new skin already taking its place beneath. “So much for being brothers,” I snap.
“We’re not wolves, Rune. Think with yer brain, not yer cock.”
I bark a laugh. “That’s rich coming from you. The air is thick with sex and desire.” My accusing gaze flicks to Josie. “From both of you.”
Josie doesn’t look at all ashamed. “We shared a kiss or two and a little feeding. Isn’t that what Unity Witches are meant to do? Isn’t that the exact reason we’ve been bound?”
I turn my glare on Finn. “We agreed to wait… to test the unity bond together. You just couldn’t hold yourself back, could you? You thought you could bring Josie down here, get her alone, and no one would notice.”
“Rune, I—”
I raise a hand. “Stop. I don’t wanna hear it, Finn. We have no idea why the ribbon connected all three of us to Josie or what it means. What if it was a first come, first served, deal and now that you went ahead, you severed the other connections?”
His expression falls. “I didn’t think of that—and I certainly wouldn’t have fed from her if I had. Ye know that.”
“For someone as smart as you, this was incredibly fucking stupid and self-centered.”
“I wasn’t thinking.”
I know how hard the pull has been for him, but I’m not ready to forgive him just yet. That doesn’t mean I’m not still curious. “Did it work, at least? Now that her blood flows through you, have you become a daywalker?”
“I think so. Ye interrupted me in the middle of a test run.”
I pick off a flake of crispy skin from my shoulder and let it fall to the floor. Pushing Finn knocked him into direct sunlight at the end of the pool and he looks unharmed. “Your skin isn’t turning into BBQ chips, so that’s a good sign.”
