Awakening Kiss (Watcher's Kiss Book 4) (15 page)

“Um, okay.” The ability to control lightning. How would that ever be a benefit?

“Get excited, girl!” Miranda grabbed her hand. “This power is so rare.”

Enza forced a smile. “I’m sorry. I don’t
feel
powerful. But…” She looked from Miranda to Rhys. “It felt natural. Like some part of me knew what to do.”

Admiration shone in Rhys’s eyes. “You might not feel confident yet. But the potential you’re holding on to?”

“Major bad ass shit.” Miranda nodded.

Enza dropped her gaze to her hands. “I didn’t exactly see bad ass in my future.”

“No one’s going to make you do anything you don’t want to do,” Rhys murmured.

“Exactly,” Miranda said. “But you should know how to control it, if and when you ever need it.”

Enza squared her shoulders. “That makes sense.”

“Awesome. And I need to go.” Miranda pulled her up into a hug. “I have some business to take care of. You did great, and when a storm comes up, call me.” She handed Enza a black business card. “If I’m not actively taking down some asshole, you’ll be my priority.”

Enza examined the gothic white script and wondered whom else Miranda would need to hand out cards to. “Thanks.”

Miranda gave Rhys a quick hug as well. “See you and the guys later.” She stepped through the French doors—no more tail on display.

Guess she doesn’t want that to show while walking down the street.
Enza turned to Rhys. “She was really cool.”

He nodded. “Thought you’d like her.”

Enza studied the small yard and tidy deck. One lone rosebush valiantly offered crimson blooms toward the sky.
Demons have a rosebush?
“So, what now?”

He skimmed his hands down her bare arms. “Whatever you want. I’m all yours.”

C
HAPTER
15

E
NZA
’
S BROWN EYES FLARED WITH
heat. Rhys heard her heartbeat accelerate when Miranda had teased about fertile times. Gods, he was glad Enza was as affected as he was. He couldn’t get the memory of her soft curves and moans out of his head.

“Could we go inside?” she asked. “I’d love to see the rest of your house.”

“Sure.” He opened the deck door for her and followed her into the kitchen.

She beelined for the oven and range, sliding a finger along the smooth metal surface. “This is top of the line. Really nice.”

“You have an open invitation to come over and use it.”

She shot him a coy smile. “Thanks.” Her gaze devoured the rest of the fancy room.

Some designer had undoubtedly been paid a lot of money to fill the old home with modern conveniences. But without someone to breathe life into it, the kitchen was just hunks of metal and granite. He watched her study the tall windows above the French doors. Sunlight filtered in through the leaves outside, playing across her features. So beautiful and now, for certain, in possession of incredible power.

He cleared his throat. “So, that’s the great room.” He gestured to the area that the kitchen flowed into, where the guys still played video games. “We use it for gaming, TV, and meetings.”

“Meetings?” She tilted her head.

“Yeah, each night we divide up the city and take an area to patrol. We sit with Rilan, our Elder, first and discuss any issues we need to watch out for.”

Curious eyes turned to him. “Was that what you were doing when I met you in the alley? Patrolling the section you got assigned to?”

“Yeah.”

She frowned. “So it was random that you were in that neighborhood that night? It could have been one of the others?”

He nodded, thanking the stars he had been the one to find her. “Lucky me.”

“Lucky me,” she said at the same time. She covered a giggle.

He crossed the small distance to her and took her hand. “Don’t cover up that sexy mouth.”

“I’m glad it was you,” she whispered.

“Me too.” Aware that his buddies could hear every word, he tugged her toward a doorway. “Let me show you my room.”

“Your room?” She followed him all of the ten feet it took to get where he needed. “Oh, wow.” She stopped abruptly behind him.

Just off the kitchen and great room area was the den with his computers and equipment. The three hard drives hummed in near-silence, while a police monitor flashed with red dots.

“This looks like it’s straight out of some hacker movie,” she murmured. “Are you sure I should be in here? I might short something out.”

“Everything has battery backups.” He pulled her close. “But I guess I shouldn’t kiss you in here, just to be safe?”

Her eyes dropped to his mouth. “Um yeah. Don’t do that. I mean, yes, do kiss me. But later.”

“You’re cute when you’re flustered.” He slid a hand down to her ass. He knew he was teasing, but she was too damn sexy not to touch.

“Mmm.” She let out a slow breath. “Can we see another room?”

“Hell, yes.” He steered her toward the dining room, another fancy-dancy room that didn’t get much use. “This is for show. We don’t even walk through here.”

“It’s pretty,” she said as he led her to the carpeted stairs in the foyer. “Maybe if you ever had a nice dinner or something.”

“Again, you have an open offer.” He gestured to cabinets stocked with china that he’d never seen used. “Though don’t ask me which side the water or wine glass goes on.”

She laughed. “I don’t even know that. I would take a guess. Or wait—search online.”

Descending, they emerged in the lower level hallway. “This is where we came in, from the garage. And this…” He pulled open a glass door. “Is our training room.”

She stepped in, eyeing the large space with its treadmills, weights, and blue mats for sparring. “Whoa. You fight with those?”

He followed her gaze across the room, to a rack of gleaming daggers and swords. “Yeah. Thanks to our accelerated healing, firearms don’t do much damage. Our bodies push the bullet out in minutes. The wound will close quickly.”

She gaped. “That’s incredible.”

“It also means that the only way to kill an enemy is through beheading or fire.”

Now her eyes went saucer wide. “Oh my god.”

“I know it might sound brutal. …”

“Yeah. It sounds
awful
.”

“But it’s the only way to ensure an opponent won’t harm anyone anymore.”

She swallowed. “You do that? It’s part of your job?”

“Yes. If we don’t curb the maniacs who seek too much power, things are worse for everyone.” He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “I know how it seems. But Torth doesn’t have a legislative system. Just good and bad forces. The assholes try to steal, manipulate, coerce, to gain the upper hand. The rest of us have to keep them in check. Any way possible.”

“Oh.” She frowned. “Do you ever get hurt?”

“Minor stuff, yeah. All the time. I got stabbed in that alley before I followed you into the portal.”

“What? Oh my god. Are you okay?” She reached for him, hands tracking along his chest. “Where? Did you see a doctor?”

He grabbed her hand and laid it over his heart. “I’m fine. It healed in a few minutes.”

Flattening her palm against the cotton of his T-shirt, she gazed up at him. “That’s amazing.”

Her touch was warm on his sternum, a sensation that he wanted to prolong. He caressed the back of her hand, noting each slender bone under her soft skin. “It comes in handy.”

“Can my body heal fast too?”

The thought of her being hurt fired his protective instincts to life. “Not sure. Have you ever been injured?”

“Hmm, nope. Never broken or sprained anything…” She paused. “Wait.”

He tensed. “Don’t tell me someone—”

“No, I burned myself in college.” She curled her fngers into his T-shirt, soothing him though she probably couldn’t guess the depth of his need to keep her safe. “We were making crème brulee. My torch was defective. At first, it didn’t produce a flame. I kept clicking it and then all of a sudden it made a huge one.” She lifted her hand and turned it back and forth. “It burned my wrist from here to here.” She laid two fingers on her delicate skin, three inches apart from each other.

“Shit.” He grabbed her arm and kissed the spot she’d indicated. No trace of a scar remained.

“It was only a first degree burn. I thought it would blister, but it didn’t. And then it healed the next day. I always thought I just lucked out that it wasn’t worse.” She raised questioning eyes to him.

“Not luck. That was your father’s genes.” And thank the gods. Maybe she hadn’t healed as fast as a full-blooded demon, but she’d recovered much quicker than a human. That assuaged his concerns somewhat. Though he still planned to do everything in his power to keep her out of dangerous situations.

Her gaze shifted to a point beyond him. “So, you know how to use all of these?” she asked. “Wow, there’s even a bow and arrows.”

“We’re trained to use any and all weapons.” He shot a glance to the plethora of firearms and steel at the ready.

“But we’re in the city. Wouldn’t some of those things stand out?”

“Yep. But Lash demons have another option. One we don’t have to carry.”

She tilted her head. “Oh?”

“Watch. All Lash demons can do this. And only us.” Drawing on his inherent power, he held out his free hand and summoned a spark of fire in his palm.

Enza gasped. “Oh my god. Is that real?”

“Yup.” Concentrating, he encouraged the spark to swell to a large flame, then to the size of a baseball. It bobbed gently, hovering an inch above his skin.

“It-it doesn’t burn you?” She stared with mixed wonder and concern.

“Nope. Not me. But whoever I choose to throw this at—they’re toast.”

“Ugh.” She made a face. “Sorry. I get it. Sort of. It’s just really violent.”

“I know.” He extinguished the fire, wishing for the hundredth time that she could ease into his world.

“You can call that up whenever you need to? You never run out of it?”

“Nope. So it’s useful in human cities, where we can only carry concealed daggers. And we can’t even have those, then we aren’t defenseless.”

Her gaze raked his chest. “I don’t think I’d ever describe you that way.”

“Good. Because that will never happen.”
Especially not where you’re concerned.
“Let me show you another room.” He took her hand and led her back to the hallway. Moving down the beige carpet, he went to the last door and pushed it open.

Enza stepped in. “Oh my gosh. What
don
’t you have here?”

He shrugged. “A pool.”

She quirked a brow but walked farther into the home theater, down the main aisle. Leather stadium seats formed two sections with enough seats for twenty people. “This is amazing. Where are the movies?”

He gestured to a rack of blue-rays on the wall. “Take your pick.”

She tapped a finger on her chin. “I’m guessing you guys have a bunch of horror or action movies.” Nearing the selection, her eyes widened. “No way. Rom coms mixed in with the guy stuff?”

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Don’t know who put those there.”

“Probably a guy who wanted to get laid.”

He snorted.

She made a cursory scan of the plastic cases, then walked to the first row of seats and sank into one. He joined her, pushing the armrest up and out of the way. “Want to watch something?”

“No.” She tucked her legs under her and leaned on his shoulder. “I still have questions.” Her tone was pensive as she toyed with an extra hair tie at her wrist.

“What’s on your mind?” He draped an arm around her, loving her soft skin.

“Will I have to go out and fight with you? Or with Miranda? She said you and she were predatory demons. And I’m one too, right?”

“Whoa, pretty girl. You used your power for the first time today and now you’re thinking about fighting?”

“Well. I don’t know. I don’t want to. I just wonder if I’ll have to. If it will be expected of me.”

“No. Not expected, because you’re half human. That makes you inherently weaker than a full-blooded demon. And if you did want to, you’d have to go through a training program just like everyone else.”

“Oh. Good.” A sigh of relief slipped past her lips.

“It would be a smart idea to go over some basic defense tactics, though.” He scrubbed a hand over his jaw.

“I can handle that.”

“All right. I’ll put that on your agenda.” He stroked a finger down her cheek. “What else?”

“Are there demonic dogs?”

He laughed out loud. “If these are your first two questions, I can’t wait to hear the rest.”

“What? I’m curious.” She shot him a sheepish grin. “And I thought you mentioned them back at The Arboretum.”

He cocked his head. “Good memory. There’s a species of canine called hellhounds. They’re huge and nasty and like to eat our demonfire.”

“Oh.” She scrunched her nose. “Like big wolves?”

“More like those horse-sized wrinkly black mastiffs you have here on Earth, but mean as hell. Luckily, their appearance is so distinct, you don’t come across them too often. They’re mostly on Torth.” He pulled his phone from his pocket. “Hang on…here.”

“Oh my gosh.” She leaned in to peer at the angry-looking hound on his screen. “That looks like it came from a comic book.”

“No comic, unfortunately. Hopefully you’ll never see one.”

“Torth is where you grew up?”

“Yep. And trained with the Watchers.”

“Do you miss it?”

“Nah. Home is wherever Arawn sends me.” But as he breathed in her sweet scent and held her close, he had the sneaking sense that his definition of
home
was about to change to something involving her.

That thought should have given him pause. But instead, it seemed damn natural. He traced a lazy circle on her bicep. “Anything else,
bella
?”

She pulled back to look him in the eye and a curious smile tilted her lips up. “What did you say?”

“
Bella
. Did I get it right?”

Her eyes lit with delight. “Yeah. You got it perfect.” She rested her head on his shoulder again, snuggling close enough to stretch her leg over his lap.

Italian for beautiful. Because she was, inside and out, and he wanted to be there for every detail she learned and every question she had about the rough yet striking supernatural world around her.