“Faith.” I’m already walking for the door when Dad speaks. I turn to find him standing, his good eye following me closely, and his brows knit in concern. “Watch out what you’re getting into. You’ve spent your whole life running from guys like that, guys likeme.We’re not clean, no matter how much you try to shine it up. You go down that road, you better be ready to get understanding, real quick.”
“What are you trying to tell me?”
“If you can’t look past my sins, don’t fool yourself into thinking you can live with theirs.”
“Good night, Dad.”
20
FAITH
The first oneI spot when I come downstairs is Blade, talking with a big, blond guy who’s tied his beard into little braids and looks ready to go raid the English countryside at dawn. Nicky would like him.
Blade’s obviously the most complicated choice, but right now all I need is somewhere to be alone, and a familiar face to watch over me. And while Blade and I aren’t exactly in full agreement of things, I trust him to keep me safe. He’s proved that much.
He looks up, eyeing me curiously when I stand right by his chair. “What are you—”
“Do you have a room or something here? Please.” I feel all jittery inside, and my brain’s going bad places.
The blond chuckles. “When a woman asks that kind of a question, you say, ‘Yes, ma’am’.”
Blade gives him a brief look, but when he turns his attention back to me, he looks suspicious. “Why me?”
“Because you’re the first one I found, and I really need somewhere to be safe.Please.”
Alpha or Ripper would be safer choices, but I’m drawn to Blade. Maybe because of what Dad said. Blade’s probably the most dangerous of the three. They’re all capable of violence, but Blade feels flat out deadly.
“This way.” He puts his hand to the small of my back and guides me down a corridor off the common room.
His hand is warm, but maybe it’s just me feeling chilled, like I’m coming down with a flu. I hate it. It makes me feel so weak and helpless.
“Almost there,” his voice crunches.
We turn a corner and then stop at a door. He opens it for me, then locks it behind us.
Dad has a whole apartment up there, and Blade’s room is just a little studio. It’s got plenty of room for one person, though, and right now I like that I can see everything at the same time. It feels safer. I pass through his orderly and spartan sitting area to sit down on his bed. I squeeze my hands between my legs and try to focus on not going over the edge. “Can I sleep here tonight?”
“Why? Didn’t your dad offer you space at his place? It’s bigger.”
“He did. I turned it down.”
“And came to me?” He takes off his jacket and hangs it up, then gets to unfastening his wrist sheaths.
“It’s not like I planned it. You were the first one I saw, remember?” Maybe it was a mistake to ask Blade. We still have unresolved business, but I can’t keep running away from everything. “Should I be afraid of you?”
“Yes,” he says flatly.
“Why?”
“Because I’m fucking dangerous, Faith.” He pulls off his shirt, but doesn’t make a move towards me. He leans against the doorframe instead, watching me closely, with his arms crossed over his chest. Even with his knives put away, I don’t doubt him. “Alpha and Ripper? They’re no scouts, but they can pretend. It comes naturally to them.”
“But not to you?”
His body is more scarred than I realized. I’ve never seen him so clearly without a shirt on. A lot of them are covered up by his tattoos, or worked into them. There’s a brightly colored Chinese dragon that wraps itself around his left arm, and its scales and fins are part ink, part white scar tissue. It’s breathing a stream of fire down his forearm following the scar of what must’ve been a terrible cut. The work is exquisite, but you’d think he’d tried to block a machete or something.
His torso is covered too, with a nasty white splotch on his shoulder. Whatever Blade’s history is, it really put him through the wringer. A particular tattoo stands out. It’s another dragon, but this one is more serpentine. It looks familiar.
“You want to fuck or something?” he asks bluntly.