Chapter 666: Steam Union
Someone fired up the engine, the truck coughing once into the night before roaring to life. I heard others doing the same around us as I settled into the sagging seat jerry-rigged to the covered bed of the truck. My companion perched beside me on the curve of metal over the back wheel, thigh pressed to mine, one arm around the back of my seat while Raoul crouched, in perfect balance despite the roughness of the ride, his eyes glowing in wolfish intensity as the beast within him kept him stable.
"You're wondering who we are," Blondie said as casually as though we sat over a cup of coffee, not bouncing our way down a rutted track through the dark forest in a rattling death trap so loud he had to almost shout to be heard. I peeked out the open back, missing the light of the moon, even as a pair of headlights flared to life right in my eyes from a following vehicle. I looked away, squinting, catching the smile on the young sorcerer's face, the speculation.
The nearness of his lips.
Wanted to smack him for the sultry heat in his grin.
What was it with me and the boys who took me captive? My demon friend, Rameranselot, and I met the same way. And even though I knew we'd never be a couple, he was still smoking hot.
Not going to think that way this time.
Not.
"What gave it away?" Ah, sarcasm. The last refuge of my need for protective irritation.
He laughed, leaned in further, stretching his long legs out in front of him while I huddled and shivered and wished he'd put his arm around me rather than the back of the seat.
For. Warmth.
Sigh.
"My name is Piers Southway," he said. "And I'm with the Steam Union."
The-
"About time you guys decided to pull your hands out of your butts and take action." Wow, I really hadn't meant to be such a bitch, honest. But all the frustration of dealing not only with Yure but the Brotherhood for all this time without help or a sniff of interest from the so-called good guy sorcerers surged to the surface in a wave of temper catching me off- guard. My demon hit him hard in the chest with a fist of fire while my vampire slammed him back against the side of the truck.
Shaylee wanted to help, but I figured shaking the ground while we were in a moving vehicle in as bad a shape as this one might be a risky idea.
Raoul didn't react to the attack, except to bare his teeth in what looked like a nasty smile. So, I wasn't the only one to think the Steam Union dropped the very large spherical object, was that it?
Piers gasped for a breath, but, to his credit, he didn't fight me. Just kept his gaze level and soft as he fought for air.
"-not-my-fault." His eyes were beginning to bulge a little.
"Of course it's not." I smiled sweetly as my vampire tightened her hold, a waft of smoke rising from his jacket where my demon pinned him still. "It's never anyone's fault, is it?" I glanced at the silent, grinning werewolf. "What do you think, Raoul?" I sat back, my anger giving me the warmth I needed to speak without my teeth clacking together. "Buying it?"
More fang, a soft growl, shake of a head.
Yeah. Me either.
I let Piers go anyway, if only to avoid having an unconscious body to deal with. Or a dead one for that matter. Besides, he was right about me wanting answers and, at the moment, he was my only option.
"Okay, sorcerer boy," I said. "Spill your guts."
He drew three deep breaths before he could speak. "Trust me," he said at last, "I've been as eager to act against the Brotherhood as you. In fact, I've been lobbying to offer you aid for almost a year now."
So he said. The sincerity in his voice, the way he leaned toward me again despite what I just did to him, gave him at least enough credibility I didn't let my demon heave him out the back.
Yet.
"I take it your people had a breakthrough in their little moral dilemma to let me deal with their mess." Okay, my mess, too. But still. They were sorcerers, supposed to be the good guys, if Gram and Demetrius were to be believed. And I'd been acting alone for so long, without support, it was hard to just let go of my animosity.
"I convinced them to act," Piers said. "On your behalf. And on ours." He sighed, shrugged. "My people fear we are too weak to stand against our dark brothers. But your arrival, the rise of the maji and the coming of the prophecy, has finally convinced them we can't be complacent." He took my cold hands in his and warmed them. How was it he was so very warm and I was slowly turning into a Sydscicle?
"You're the reason we're here," he said, leaning over me, pale eyes intense. "The catalyst. But if we are to act as a people, it must ultimately be for our own good. So I thank you for giving us the impetus to take a stand where once we hid in shadow."
Well. If nothing else, he talked pretty. Sure did.
The truck slowed, gears grinding as we turned from the forest path onto a narrow lane. Snow began to fall, shining in the glaring headlights behind us as the engine roared before we slid to a halt. Piers almost ended up in my lap even while Raoul's balance wasn't affected.
Made me think of Charlotte. Miss her all the more.
"There are further answers waiting for you inside." Piers stood as the truck went quiet, the sound of doors opening and slamming closed following as the other two vehicles halted around us. He crouched under the short canopy of the tarp covering the back of the truck. His offered hand beckoned, small smile curving his mouth, blonde hair spilling over the dark fabric of his coat, the scent of him stronger now for some reason. My demon breathed it in and, for the first time since we met him, hummed happily. A familiar sound I'd only ever heard her hum with one other person.
Oh no, she did not.
She lifted my hand for me, reaching for him, the warmth of the memory of his skin on mine enticing if only because I was freezing.
Yeah, that was it. I was just cold and he wasn't.
Syd. Seriously.
Before my demon could reconnect our grip, I stood on my own, pushing past Piers, slipping out the back and into the snow. I was immediately doused in a fall of soft flakes, reminding me of Harvard and what I'd left behind only a few short hours ago.
The weekend seemed like it was years away.
And Liam.
Oh dear.
Time to focus on Charlotte and get my ass home before I could add another complication to my list of hot guys I really needed to avoid.
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