The Nymph's Curse: The Collection (91 page)

“I couldn’t stay, sweetheart. I had to go back to the Sisterhood and report what had happened. I had to protect you the only way I could—even if it meant leaving you behind.”

“I get it, but please don’t do that to me again, promise?”

He gave her a long look. The pain in her eyes made him want to promise he would never leave her alone. But right now, in the precarious situation in which they found themselves, making a promise like that would be easy—keeping it could prove to be impossible, since he was unlikely to make it out of these headquarters alive. Then again, she most likely needed some kind of reassurance, something that would let her know everything would be okay.

“I promise I’ll try to stay with you, no matter what it takes.”

She gave him a sideways glance, as if she knew how empty those words were.

There was a knock on the door. “Hurry up!” Devon yelled.

“What are we going to do about him?” Starling whispered.

“Are you still willing to seduce him? It may be our only chance to figure out what the hell is going on.”

“You won’t be jealous if I touch him?”

Just the thought made a fire roil up in his belly, but he tried to extinguish the feeling. “As long as you don’t try any of your
defensive maneuvers
that you used on me, we should be okay,” he said with a gentle wink.

Starling’s laughter was brittle. “Don’t worry. I only use those types of moves on the men I … care about.”

Jasper couldn’t help but notice her long pause. Had she wanted to say love?

He should have never let things get as far as they had last night. He’d once again failed in keeping her safe—he had put her heart and life in danger.

Goddamn it.

“We need to go.” He stood up and dressed quickly. “Devon is waiting. The sooner you deal with him, the faster we may get out of this hellhole.”

She followed his lead, but her smile disappeared. “Jasper, you okay?”

“Yeah.”

“Look, I don’t have to seduce Devon if you don’t want me to.”

“What?” Jasper jerked. “No, seduce him. You need to. You
have
to.”

“If you’re going to be upset about it, we can find another way.”

“I’m not upset because of Devon. I don’t give a shit about that asshat.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Let’s go,” Jasper said, trying not be too gruff. She couldn’t worry about him. She needed to concentrate on getting out. “Just find out where you can get the books and then how you can get out of here.”

“You mean how
we
can get out of here.”

“Right.” Jasper said, walking to the door and turning the handle. “We.”

Starling stepped beside him and stopped. She laid her hand on his stubble-ridden cheek. “Don’t forget that you made me a promise … I expect you to keep it.” She rose on her tiptoes and kissed him. He put his arm around her waist and put his other hand over hers on his cheek and then sank into the depths of her kiss.

She stepped back, out of his arms. “Let’s go.”

He pulled the door open. Devon waited for them in the hall.

“Here,” Devon said, handing them both black cloaks. “Put these on.” Devon slipped one over his clothes, tied a bow with the string under his chin, and drew the hood over his head. The hood dipped low, covering the man’s eyes and nose so that only his mouth showed. Devon slipped it back slightly on his head so he could look at them. “Make sure to wear your hood.”

He was trying to hide them once again. Jasper glanced at Starling and motioned toward Jasper, urging her to begin before someone had the chance to run interference. She nodded and stepped next to Devon.

“Where are you taking us?” she asked.

Devon sneered. “Wherever I want. Now shut up and put on your cloak.”

Starling slipped on the hooded cloak. Holding the edges, she eyed Devon. “Can you help me?” she asked, her voice syrupy sweet.

He frowned. “Why don’t you ask your lover? From what I heard, he seemed more than happy to give you a hand last night.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about, Devon,” she said, repeating his name, this time her voice even sweeter. She laid her hand on the man’s arm and stroked the black fabric of his cloak with her thumb.

“I know what you are doing, so you can stop,” Devon grumbled. His face was harsh and cold. He drew back from her touch.

“What? I’m not doing anything. I just need a little help with my cloak. Please?” She lifted her chin, making room for Devon to tie her cloak’s strings.

“You can’t seduce me. I’m above that,” Devon said. He took the ties under her neck and started to tie.

Jasper cringed at the sight of Devon’s hands so close to Starling’s exposed neck. One little move, one grab of the hair, and she would be gone. He inched closer, but stopped. He had to trust Starling and her ability. Even if that meant she was temporarily in harm’s way.

Starling reached up and touched the bare skin of Devon’s hand. “Thank you.” A strange energy whipped through the air, lashing against Jasper like a wave, strong and weak in its ebb and flow. His mind turned fuzzy, and for a moment, he was back in her arms the night before, his tongue flicking over the hard nubs on the tips of her breasts, kissing her bare skin as he worked his way down her stomach toward her hidden pleasures.

No. No. He had to concentrate. She didn’t love him. This energy wasn’t for him. He had to keep his wits. He couldn’t think about pressing his naked body against hers, or how warm she had felt against him, how wet …

He glanced over at Devon. The asshat’s face was slack as he stared guppy-mouthed at Starling. Above seduction, his ass.

“Devon,” Starling cooed, reaching up and running her fingers down the edge of their captor’s right ear and tugging on his ear lobe. “How can we get out of here?”

“You don’t want to leave me, do you?”

“No … But I need to know how to get out in case we are separated.”

“All the exits are being watched by Virginia’s men. You can’t get out without me.”

“Where are we going?”

“I can’t tell you,” he said, his voice as weak as his resolve.

Starling smiled. There was another wave of energy. This time the energy was steady, strong, and full of intention. Jasper slipped back into his thoughts of last night: her sitting on top of him, her long hair slipping down her shoulders, down her back as her hips rolled.

“Devon?” Starling’s voice pulled Jasper out of his lustful stupor. “Where are you taking us, baby?” she asked.

Jealousy bubbled up in Jasper’s core as she ran her hand down Devon’s arm and slipped her fingers between the asshat’s.

“We’re going to sanctuary.” Devon’s voice trembled.

“What is happening there?”

“I don’t know. Ms. Virginia wouldn’t tell me.”

“What do you know?” Starling touched Devon’s cheek with her free hand.

“I just got off the phone with Harper,” he said. “It looks like she’ll be coming down—turns out she has agreed to trade.” He gave Jasper a sickening sneer.

“Harper will be here? When?” Starling asked with a wheeze.

“We sent a man to the airport an hour ago. They should be arriving with the drugs anytime.”

“With the drugs?” Starling paused. “The GX 149?”

“What else?” Devon shrugged. “She’s agreed to exchange the rest of the drugs and the formula for your release.”

“For
my
release? What about Jasper?”

“There aren’t enough drugs in the world for Virginia to release him. She vowed that I would get my chance to kill him.”

Starling glanced at him. Her eyes were wide. “You can’t hurt him, Devon. Jasper is my bodyguard. You don’t want to upset me, do you?”

Devon didn’t answer. He blinked, almost as if he was trying to fight off Starling’s energy.

She must have noticed because she let go of his hand. Leaning in, she grasped Devon’s face with both of her hands and pressed her lips against his. Jasper tried to subdue his anger, but a grumble rolled through him.

Starling’s face pinched as Devon’s lips parted and his tongue moved over her bottom lip.

He couldn’t handle it. He pushed Devon back, out of Starling’s hands. “Back the fuck off.”

“Jasper! Stop!” Starling moved after Devon.

Guilt poured through him, dousing his rage. Why couldn’t he control himself? He was better than this. He
had
to be better than this. “I’m sorry, Starling.”

Devon looked dazedly out at Starling. “Are you okay, little bird?” he asked sweetly, still entranced.

Jasper exhaled with relief. “I’ll stop, Starling, but please don’t kiss him again in front of me. I know I agreed to you seducing him, but I can’t handle seeing it. I think your spell is rubbing off on me. I can’t control my anger.”

“Huh?” Devon looked over at him like he was a stranger moving in on his girlfriend. “Who are you?”

“What did you do to him?” Jasper addressed Starling. “He’s even dumber than usual.”

Devon looked at him, doe-eyed. “I take offense to that, man.”

“See what I mean?”

“Did he do something to hurt you, little bird?” Devon said, glancing over at him. “Do you want me to kill him?”

“Devon, who will be in the sanctuary?” he asked.

“What’s sanctuary?”

Starling stared at the stunned lump. “The kiss was too much.”

“Ya think?” Jasper shook his head. “You are going to need a little more practice with your
feminine wiles
.”

“Okay, old man.”

“As long as I’m
your
old man.”

“Of course.” She smiled. “In the meantime, what are we going to do with fish-mouth?” she asked, motioning at the slack-jawed Devon, who was staring blankly at her face.

“He isn’t going to be of any use to us unless you can take back some of your energy.”

“I barely know how to send out the energy. I don’t think I can get it back. It’s not like a boomerang.”

Jasper laughed as he opened the door to their room. “Then he is no good to us.” He pointed toward the bed covered in the love-wrinkled sheets.

“Devon, baby?” she asked in a mesmerizing tone.

“Huh?” He blinked as he stared at her. “Yes, little bird?”

“Can you stay here?”

The man nodded like an obedient love slave.

“Don’t leave and don’t tell anyone where we have gone. Okay?”

“Okay, my little bird.” Devon walked into the room and sat down on the edge of the bed. “I’ll stay here forever as long as you come back for me. Promise.”

“We’ll see, baby. Be a good boy.” Starling closed the door. “Now what are we going to do? I have no idea where to find the sanctuary.”

Jasper tugged on the hood of the cloak. “The good news is that now we have a way to move around without drawing too much attention.”

“We need to find Harper,” Starling said.

“If we get lucky, she’ll be in the sanctuary like she’s supposed to be.”

“Harper would never walk into this place without a plan. She’d never put us all in danger if she didn’t have something up her sleeve, especially if my dad knows what’s going on.”

“Who would she be working with?”

“Since you’re already here … that only leaves the Sisterhood.”

They backtracked through headquarters until Starling caught the rich scent of cooking meats and rice that wafted from the dining hall. She tried to recall the exact route she had taken from the elevators, but after so many rights and lefts, it was hard to remember exactly what direction she had come from. Before she could start formulating their escape, she needed to find Harper.

Virginia had the upper hand. After erasing Edward’s soul, it wasn’t hard to imagine all the vile things Virginia would be willing to do to get what the Catharterians wanted from Harper.

“Do you think she’s okay?” Starling whispered.

“Harper?”

“No, Virginia,” she scoffed with a nervous laugh.

“Harper’s fine. Knowing her, she’s probably got Chance at her side.”

“Do you think they’d let Chance in?”

“I doubt she would let them bring her down here without some kind of bodyguard.” He looked away, but not before she caught a glimpse of the worry in his eyes. The speed of his footsteps increased.

She hurried to stay beside him. “What do you think they would do to us if they find out that we are running around headquarters, or they find Devon in our room?”

“I think it’s better if we don’t find out.”

She tried to shrug off the feeling of malevolence that spread through her as they made their way into the dining hall.

Sitting at the far table was a group of men and women, making Starling forget about her dreams of food. The group of people looked up at them.

“What are you doing?” a man with a southern accent asked as he stood up.

Starling stopped and started to turn on her heel. They shouldn’t have come this way. They should have kept to the shadows and avoided anywhere they could run into the shifters. Her body tingled with fear.

Jasper laid his hand on the small of her back. “Just stay quiet,” he whispered, with a reassuring pat. “We’ll get out of this.”

The vulture man walked toward them. “Hear me? What’re y’all doing?”

Starling tensed, ready for a fight.

“We were just on the way to sanctuary. Got a little lost.”

“I’d say. And you guys are late. They started twenty minutes ago,” the man said. “Where y’all from?” he asked as he led them out of the dining hall through a far door.

“Idaho,” Jasper said.

“That’s great. Glad y’all could make it down for the meeting. This is a big one—could change it all.” The man glanced over at her. “Which way you gonna vote?”

What could she possibly say that wouldn’t draw the man’s suspicion? She swallowed back the lump in her throat. “There’s only one vote, am I right?” She gave a nervous laugh.

“Right. Right.” The man nodded. “That Virginia is a crazy bitch. We can’t let her get what she wants from the council.”

“You got that right,” Jasper said. “You have any idea how the voting is going to play out?”

The man walked them down a hall. “It’s hard to say.” He shrugged. “Right now she has a lot of support from the local group. They want blood for everything that has happened with the nymphs. But for the rest of us … well, you know.”