“Yuck.” She cringed.
“Exactly.” I leaned forward and snatched my phone back before she could even see that I’d moved. “See? If I was starving, I wouldn’t be able to move that fast, would I?”
“How the hell would I know?” She shrugged, but there was a smile on her face.
Worth it. Easing her pain in any way possible was worth this struggle.
“If I was starving?” I pressed my palm against her lower back and yanked her against me. “You’d know it. Trust me. It’s not something a mate can hide.” The feel of her flush against me had me hard and ready.
Her lips parted, and she twined her arms around my neck. “I’m all sweaty.”
“Since when has that bothered me?” I lowered my mouth to hers and kissed her thoroughly. We were both breathing a little harder when I lifted my head. “I have to go out tonight. Be good.”
She rolled her eyes and ran her hands down my sides, blinking when she skimmed over my holstered Glocks. “Be careful.”
“Always am.”
I left her standing in the hallway and walked to the entry, where the voices grew louder. Hawke and Avi faced off on the Persian rug, flanked by two trainees—Thorne and Corbin—who looked like they’d rather be anywhere than in the middle of whatever was going on.
“Then you’ll just have to wait until I get back,” Hawke snapped, sheathing his dagger in the bands that crisscrossed his chest.
“I don’t have to do anything you tell me to.” Avi glared up at the giant. “If I want to go out and check on the families who have been attacked in this war, I’ll do it. I don’t need you by my side. I’m not defenseless.”
“No, you’re just the biggest fucking target for the Sons of Honor. Sounds like a real fine time to go traipsing about the town with only Olivia to protect you—” He turned toward the bodyguard, who waited halfway up the steps. “Not that I doubt your skill, Olivia, but we were both there the last time you two were overpowered.”
Ouch. My eyebrows shot sky-high, but I kept my mouth shut, watching to see how this would play out.
Olivia gritted her teeth but nodded. The vampire was alarmingly fast, and that gift was one of the reasons she’d been chosen as Avianna’s personal guard, but that didn’t mean she could overpower a group of the Sons when they were armed with Night Thistle.
“Those families deserve to have respects paid!” Avi’s face flushed red. “We’ve had two vampires slain in the past week alone! They’re going through absolute hell, and I can’t begin to imagine their suffering—”
“Because you’ve never suffered.” Hawke looked like he was going to come unglued at any second, which made me take a step forward. I wasn’t sure anyone in the world was safe from Hawke’s wrath when his control snapped, and Avi was in the line of fire.
“Hawke,” I warned softly.
“You’d rather I lose all of my compassion like you?” she challenged.
He sneered. “My lack of compassion is what has kept you alive for years, Princess. Whether or not you know it. Do us all a favor and stay on the fucking estate tonight so I can continue to keep you alive. If you’re hell-bent on seeing the families of the fallen, we’ll arrange it tomorrow night. Is that too much to ask? Too much of an inconvenience?”
“Fine.” Her chin rose in the air, a signal that I knew from my time with Valor meant her stubbornness had kicked in. “I’ll wait until tomorrow, if that suits you. And if it doesn’t, I’ll take one of them instead.” She gestured to the trainees behind them.
Hawke shot them a glare. They both stepped back.
“You’re not getting killed on my watch, Princess. I’ll be there.” He looked over at me, and the darkness in his eyes seemed even blacker than usual. “You ready?”
I swiped open my phone and hit the button to dial Xavier.
“This had better be good. I’m in the middle of someone,” the demon king answered.
“Right. We’re serving Marcus’s justice tonight.”
“When?” There was a distinct giggle in the background.
“Right now.”
“I’ll meet you there.” He hung up without another word.
“Let’s go, puppies,” Hawke snapped at the two trainees as he strode out the door.
“He’s insufferable,” Avi muttered, her face falling the second Hawke was out of earshot.
I looked down at Alek’s little sister. In some ways, Hawke was right. We’d worked tirelessly to make sure she’d never tasted more sorrow than she’d already been dealt. “Your compassion is your strength.”
Her pale blue eyes shot up to meet mine. “Olivia is skilled, and I am not without my own means of defense. If Alek demands that one of his assassins be at my heels whenever I leave the estate, then I’m going to respectfully request Benedict or Ransom. Hawke is…” She shook her head.