"I just hate having to see you be with her," Casandra pouts, glaring at me again. Her eyes are so pretty. Tristan pulls her closer and plants a soft kiss on her mouth.

I finish my coffee and nod at the waitress as she stops by for a refill.

"It's a dangerous little game you're playing, brother. Before you know it you'll be saying we can never kill her," Casandra says when the woman leaves.

"Not never...just not now. She's too valuable. She's the key to our future...to everything."

"I still don't like it. Our kinds don't mix. This is way too risky."

"There's one of her and five of us. I'd say we're pretty safe. Once she gets us into Thiberoux, it's ours for the taking. And once it's under our control there is no stopping us." Tristan's voice rings with confidence.

"If you say so." She doesn't seem convinced but the tension in her face has eased some.

"It's almost over, my love. Soon we'll be done with her. We'll wipe out her world and her kind, and reign victorious as we are destined to do."

Tristan holds out his hand as I step off the boat. "So, what'd you think?" His blue eyes sparkle with pleasure, and my mouth widens in a smile.

"It was perfect. Amazing. Thank you for taking me out today." I fall into his embrace and welcome his soft lips on mine. Tristan is such a good kisser. Was Kieron as good? I can't remember.

Tristan pulls his head back, his arms still firmly wrapped around my waist. "So you really enjoyed yourself?"

"Yes, very much so. This whole day was wonderful. I really needed it...just being on the water, you and me...I felt so at peace. Thanks again."

The smile on Tristan's lips doesn't reach his eyes. "Anytime."

Chapter 12. Lucky.

I slam the gla.s.s down on the counter, shattering it. "You know what? I'm sick of it. I'm sick of having my mind messed with by demons who have no right to be roaming around in there. Do you hear me, Bones? Sick. Of. It!"

"The whole Bar hears you, Lucky," Bones says with an exasperated sigh. He begins rubbing my shoulders, but I shrug him away. "Well, that's the tradeoff for having psychic powers, Luck. You know that." He returns to his drink. "It's a two-way road. The messer sometimes becomes the messee."

"It's total bulls.h.i.t. There aughta be a law-"

"If it makes you feel any better, she was able to get me too. 'Course Aria can get anyone she wants, whether they're psychic or not. Don't feel bad." He nods to Gyan, who wipes away the broken gla.s.s and sets down a fresh drink in front of me.

"I don't feel bad, I feel p.i.s.sed off. There's a big difference." I narrow my eyes in the direction of the door and hope Aria is reading the hateful thoughts I'm sending her way right now. It's been two nights since she first stopped me from going after Kieron, and twice again now she's thwarted my plans.

"But she's helping us. Realistically, she's probably saving both our lives-"

"Yeah, so she says. But how long do we have to wait? Every minute we sit here doing nothing like a couple of scaredy-cat chicken-s.h.i.ts is another minute that Kieron is being tortured...or worse."

"She says we're going soon. Just relax. And save your energy. Don't waste your strength being mad at her. Save it for the Hlbafa."

"Whatever," I mutter, drumming my fingernails on the top of the bar. "I'm just so d.a.m.n sick of her..."

"Aria?"

"No, the other annoying nightmare in my life. And yes, Aria, too. I know it's Liora's fault that I'm more susceptible to demon mind-games. If it wasn't for her pathetic existence...first the Altrumina, now Aria-"

"Don't take it so personal, Lucky. This is what Aria does. Why're you so upset? It's not like she made you do something stupid-the opposite, actually. She's looking out for us. She's on our side. I'd say we got pretty lucky, if you ask me. Now we might actually stand a chance, unlike before when we were guaranteed Dead Demons Walking."

I hate to admit it, but deep down I know he's right. I'm just livid that I could be so easily manipulated. I despise feeling so defenseless and helpless. It's unnerving to know I'm not in control of my own mind and thoughts, reduced to a mere puppet at the mercy of another.

But my foul mood is compounded by the fact that tonight I woke up feeling even worse than usual. I don't know what the h.e.l.l is going on lately, but every time I wake up I feel drained and sluggish. Even though I've been ingesting almost three times as much Energy as usual, I still feel weak by the end of the night. Not exactly how I want to be while prepping for the toughest fight of my life.

"You know what Aria told me?" Bones asks, his voice quiet as he glances around. "She told me that the reason she wants to help is because she was able to see how much you care for Kieron. She was able to feel your feelings. She'd never experienced anything like that before, and it really affected her." He gulps and looks away.

"I'm glad she's gonna help, but she needs to move the h.e.l.l out of my head," I grumble. "I really have no interest in being her little brain b.i.t.c.h."

"So what're your plans for tonight?" Bones asks, changing the subject. He finishes the last of his beer and sets the gla.s.s on the counter. Then he stands up and flashes me a mischievous smirk. I roll my eyes and glance around the room. It's obvious what he has planned.

"Nothing special." I sigh and twirl a lock of hair around my finger. "Tormenting, I guess."

"Oh yeah? Anyone special?"

I halfheartedly swallow my last sip of Energy-vodka and get up. Part of me just wants to go back to sleep. "There's a new guy down in Charlotte. He likes locking blonde co-eds in his bas.e.m.e.nt. Then he kills them after he's done having his way with them."

Bones raises an eyebrow. "What do you have in mind for him?"

I shrug and look away. "Suicide, I guess. Hanging...or maybe have him blow his brains out. Maybe jump off a tall building..."

"Why you wanna let him off easy like that?"

I ignore his question and stare straight ahead as we exit. I feel Aria's eyes on me as we pa.s.s, but I dare not look in her direction. That doesn't stop her, though. Just as Bones and I cross the Bridge of Kings and reach the outer forest of Dryndara, her voice rings loudly in my mind.

"Tomorrow."

I glance at Bones, confused. "What're you doing?" I thought for sure he'd shift into a h.e.l.lhound and take off toward a Portal, but instead, he's walking beside me as I head into the forest.

"Where're you going?" he asks.

"To my secret spot." I've never taken Bones to my special place high in the hills overlooking the lake of Adonni. Only Kieron's been there. Now, as I look at Bones' sweet face, I remember a promise I made to myself awhile back. I decide not to spend what might possibly be my last evening torturing stupid Sapies, but with my best friend, in my favorite place.

"Wanna come?" I ask.

His eyes light up, and he nods.

Bones doesn't run nearly as fast in his human form as he does as a h.e.l.lhound, so I have to go slow. Together we sprint through the thicket of golden branches and emerald leaves. Guided by the illuminating glow cast over our path by Illyria's triple moons, we head up the hillside, toward my private sanctuary. When we reach the top, I wander to the edge of the cliff and sit down, looking out at the enchanted valley below. The sirens are singing tonight...haunting, soothing melodies that calm my soul. I lean back on my arms and stare out at the abyss.

"It's nice up here," Bones murmurs, making himself comfortable beside me. My mind flashes back to the first time I brought Kieron here. It was an unthinking, almost instinctual action, and it surprised me. In all the years I'd known Bones, I'd never brought him up here, but for some reason I wanted to show Kieron right away. Guess that shoulda been my first clue that the rules were different as far as he was concerned.

Bones snuggles closer to me, and we both let our minds drift in silence, listening to the harmonizing, alluring lullabies below.

"I can see why you like coming up here," Bones whispers after a while. "You're much calmer here...much more at peace. I can actually feel it, the difference in you."

I let out a long sigh and meet his honey-brown gaze. "Yeah. I think it's the sirens' songs. Just hearing them makes me feel all warm and soft inside. Happy."

Bones chuckles softly and runs his fingertips up the length of my bare arm. "Ever notice how you seem to be susceptible to the charms of every demonic creature out there other than me?"

I hide a guilty smile and look away. If only he knew just how susceptible I am-correction, was-to his seductive allure, he'd never say that. Until Kieron arrived on the scene, Bones was all I thought about.

"How do you know I'm not?" I tease lightly.

"Because believe me, I've tried. If my powers worked on you...if I had my way...you'd forget all about him and be only with me-"

"Bones..."

He holds up his hand. "I know, I know. You love him. I get it. I don't need to hear it again."

"I do love him," I whisper. "But I also love you. You know that."

"Yeah, but not the same way you love him. You only care about me like a brother."

I shake my head. "No. That's not true. I've always loved you more than that. I just can't-" I bite my lip. I can't believe I just let those words slip out. Don't rock the boat, Lucky.

He turns his body to mine, resting his hand on my hip, pulling me closer to him. "Can't what?" he whispers seductively.

I close my eyes and bite my lip. Oh, who am I kidding? Not only has the proverbial boat already been rocked, it's capsized and is rapidly sinking to the bottom of the ocean, pulling me down with it. It's time to tell him. He deserves to know. He's willing to risk his life to help me, and who knows...maybe I won't even survive the rescue attempt. Maybe neither of us will.

It's now or never.

"Bones," I say, looking deep into his smoldering eyes. "I love you. I've always loved you. You are the most special demon I've ever known, and the nearest and dearest to my heart. Of everyone. Ever. If I was just me...how I'm supposed to be, not this broken, lesser version of myself, then you would be the one for me. No question. But as I am...It's too difficult...I can't do it..." My voice breaks off and I look away, unable to continue.

"What is?" he asks gently, cupping my chin so I'm lost in his gaze once more.

"Loving you. Letting myself love you. Being with you on that level...physically. I-I've never been with anyone like that-"

"You're a virgin?" Bones' left eyebrow rises just the slightest bit.

"Well, yeah. It's no big deal really, and I don't care about that aspect of it. I just know that if you and I were together, really together, and then every night I had to see you be with other women the way you were with me..." I lower my head, remembering the suffering I endured watching him make love to dozens of women while I was under the Altrumina's wicked spell. How much it hurt. How sick I felt.

"...It's not my fault," I quickly add. "Or yours. It's hers. You know how her emotions infect me. It's a Sapie curse."

"Lucky," he breathes. "Don't you know there's a difference? Don't you know that if I was with you, it would be because I want to be with you more than anything? Because I love you? Because I only feel really complete when we're together, and that other part of me is just for my survival? So that I can exist...to be with you?"

My heart slows to a crawl and the pounding in my ears drowns out the sirens' singing as he moves to within mere millimeters.

Bones loves me, I know this. But only as much as one demon is capable of loving another. And it's nothing compared to what I felt from Kieron. For whatever reason, Kieron's love makes me feel whole, while my feelings for Bones constantly tear me apart.

But there is another truth I cannot deny. Most likely, we won't survive much longer. At least I won't. And although I'm okay with dying, do I really want to leave this world-and my body-without knowing what it's like to be with Bones? To feel his love inside me and rushing through me the way so many others have? After all we've been through together, don't I at least deserve that? And if by some crazy chance we do survive and our insane rescue attempt is successful, then I can be with Kieron, and seeing Bones with other girls won't hurt as much, right?

I'm as weak as a recovering drug-addict being offered a fix. I know it's bad for me. I know I shouldn't indulge. I know the consequences could be disastrous.

I don't care.

I don't care if I'm being foolish and self-destructive. I don't care that I'll regret it later. I don't care that Bones' love for me could never be enough. He can never be mine. His heart will never belong to only me, no matter what he says. The best I can ever hope to be is one of the thousands of women he showers his affections on, regardless of whether he wants to do it or not. And believe me, he wants to.

Right now, I don't care.

His warm, soft lips cover mine before my eyes are even closed. My mouth responds to his, and our breaths and movements instantly synchronize as one. The intense heat of his body lulls me to a state of submission. His fingers caress my skin in a sublime dance of seduction, but this time I know there's no stopping his masterful caress, even if I wanted to...which I do not.

"Bones," I breathe in his ear as I run my hands through his luscious bronze locks, pulling his head closer to mine.

"Lucky," he moans softly, covering my face with his hot kisses as his hands deftly unlace the back of my halter top. He flings it aside, and a wave of ecstasy washes over me as he presses his bare flesh on mine. Still kissing, I struggle to take off my boots while he unb.u.t.tons his jeans. I let out a muted giggle.

"What is it," he murmurs in my ear, one hand stroking the side of my breast.

"I can't get these d.a.m.n boots off," I whisper.

Bones c.o.c.ks an eyebrow and flashes a half grin. "Allow me."

He slides down the length of my body and nimbly removes my knee-high boots, one by one, setting them aside before giving each foot a quick, tender rub. He fingers my leather pants, and before I know it, he's peeling them off my body. He slowly makes his way back up, kissing my calves, my thighs, my abdomen. He slides his half-naked body the rest of the way and finds my mouth once more.

My body yields to his. He removes his own jeans, revealing his magnificent manhood, and I cannot help but gasp. I've seen Bones nude countless times. But never like this. Never as the virile G.o.d he's Created to be.

"Know that I love you," he whispers in my ear as he gently slides himself inside me. I gasp with pleasure as he fills me up. I feel him in every inch of my body...from the top of my head to the tips of my toes.

Every thrust brings me to point of near explosion, and ecstasy floods through me, tingling my senses, firing my nerves. Bones' eyes lock on mine as he takes me deeper and deeper with his rhythmic movements. For what feels like hours, Bones makes love to me on my mountainside retreat. I don't ever want him to stop, but eventually we collapse in a tangled, sweaty embrace of blissful satisfaction. With one arm still under my neck, Bones washes my face with gentle kisses. "Do you know you are the most beautiful creature I've ever seen?" he whispers, nuzzling my ear.

"So are you," I whisper back, tracing a finger over his moist, golden chest.

"I love your eyes."

"I love your smile," I purr.

"I love your hair, your skin, your taste..." He covers my mouth with his again, and soon he's making love to me once more. I'm so lost in euphoria I barely notice the triple moons merging as one. Bones skillfully brings me to the brink of ecstasy and holds me teetering on the edge, before sending me tumbling over the other side in a delirious state of otherworldly bliss. I smile as I wrap my legs around his torso and bury my face in his neck, savoring his musky, masculine scent.

"I love you." I've never felt so contented...so wonderful inside.

"And I have always loved you," he whispers back, stroking the side of my face. He looks deep into my eyes and straight into my soul.

I glance up at the sky and let out a small groan. "I have to go. Can't imagine this would go over too well with you-know-who."

We are both fumbling to put on our clothes when Bones glances down at me, almost shyly. "Are you...okay? I didn't hurt you, did I?"

I finish dressing and stand up, throwing my arms around his neck. "Nothing has ever felt so good in all my life. So right. So perfect in every way."