Page 17

“Yes.”

“Is your heart made of stone?”

He took a step closer, his gaze searching mine. “Lucifer gave us the ability to understand emotions, dove, but we were created fully formed, full-grown warriors. Emotions of our own weren’t necessary or wanted. Tender emotions are a hindrance in battle and are especially unnecessary, and not something we were exposed to. But loyalty and courage, he gave us a deeper knowledge of, and we seemed to have developed the ability to feel them over time, along with anger. So, to answer your question, probably.”

Not something he was exposed to? A life without love or tenderness? I didn’t want to imagine what that was like, and I hated the idea that Warrick had never experienced it.

And if there was ever a reason not to let myself give in to this thing between Warrick and me, he’d just given it to me. The male was as cold as ice, but I’d been right, he wasn’t entirely emotionless. I’d sure as hell felt and seen his anger. “So what about Jane?”

“We may be soulless, but we aren’t total monsters. We want Jane to be with her family as well. She deserves that respect. We’ll move the body, take her to Roxburgh, away from Linville. She’ll be discovered there.”

Soulless? Jesus. The revelations just kept on coming. “Thank you. I appreciate that,” I said, feeling unsteady. I felt every emotion, acutely, and seeing Jane like that…it was affecting me. Deeply. I couldn’t imagine looking at a scene like this and feeling nothing. Did she have siblings? Sisters? Brothers? I thought of my mom, of what something like this would do to her.

Warrick’s thick, calloused fingers slid under my chin, surprising me. He tilted my head back and brushed his thumb across the apple of my cheek. “You have dark circles under your eyes, dove, and you look pale. You took a lot of venom?”

I pulled away and took a step back before I did something stupid like lean into that touch. “I’m fine.” He knew about the tasks and the trials I had to complete, because the last one had required blood, mine, a lot of it. I hadn’t told my family about the trial, I hadn’t wanted them to see me hurt if I lost. I’d battled the witch chosen for me by the witches’ council, and I’d won, but I’d passed out afterward, and he’d found me by my truck before Ren could get to me. Thankfully, I hadn’t passed out in the woods.

He’d brought me here and hadn’t let me leave his room until I told him what was going on and where the thorn-covered-vine tattoos on my arm had come from.

He eyed me now, not believing my bullshit one bit, and suddenly, I would have given anything for a hug. For Warrick to wrap those massive arms around me and hold me against his massive, solid body, to hold me up like he had when I’d been hurt. Because I was scared, and that made me feel so fucking weak.

This task was going to take me places I didn’t want to go, that I wasn’t sure I could go, but had to anyway. And I was terrified I’d fail.

Stop it.

I mentally kicked my own ass. My family was depending on me to do this, to succeed. There was no time to indulge in self-pity. I didn’t have that luxury.

And letting this male close would be a serious mistake. I couldn’t afford any of those, or to lean on anyone. I had to do this myself.

I took a step back. “I’ll contact Rebecca and tell her I couldn’t find Jane, that the other girls said she’d stopped coming here. I don’t know if she’ll send the police here or not, but it’s the best I can do.”

“We’ll make sure she can’t be traced back to us.”

I didn’t know how he was going to swing that and I didn’t really want to. With Warrick, that could mean anything. They were hellhounds, created by Lucifer, and as far as I could tell were completely without conscience. “I need to leave.”

He moved back in, getting far too close. “Stay.”

“Maddox and Edric are possessed by evil spirits and there’s a dead girl on the bed beside us. I think you have your hands full right now,” I said and took several steps toward the door.

His nostrils flared and his shoulders bunched like he was about to pounce, like he was going to chase me down if I tried to leave. “I’d rather they were full of you.”

“Because you want to sleep with me, right?” I said because he didn’t get it. He seemed to be incapable of getting it.

His gaze bore into me. “No, there would be no sleeping, only fucking.”

“You’re consistent, I’ll give you that. As tempting as that wonderful offer is, again, I’ll have to decline.” I was starting to think that it wasn’t that hellhounds were incapable of emotion, but more they were ruled by anger and lust, so much so, there didn’t seem to be room for anything else.

“You’re angry with me,” he said, actually looking confused.

“Nope.”

“You are. I don’t like it.”

“You’ll get over it.” I strode to the door. “Keep Maddox chained, and I’ll get everything I need to perform an exorcism. And I recommend keeping the women out, the bar closed, and shutting down the garage until this is resolved. The spirits target you because you make excellent vessels, so keep to yourselves.”

He nodded and licked his ridiculously tempting lips. “When will you be back?”

Too damn soon. “In the morning. It’ll take me some time to gather everything.”