She squared her shoulders and walked away from the living room, away from Arand. “We need to get to work. Jessica said there was a box of blessed salt in here.” She dug though the box and pulled out the salt. “We need to pour a line of this around the house.”
“Sabrina.” Arand was behind her without her even hearing him move. For a big man he was incredibly quiet and stealthy when he moved. He put his hands on her shoulders and tugged her back against his chest. She resisted for a moment before allowing herself to lean on him.
The memories of her granny, coupled with the fear of what was to come, were wearing her down. All she really wanted to do was crawl into bed and cover her head until this was over.
“You said we needed to stay alive for a day. Twenty-four hours, right?”
She felt the brush of Arand’s chin on the side of her head as he nodded. “Yes. From midnight to midnight.”
She glanced at her watch. “Great, it’s not quite eight in the morning. That’s a lot of hours.”
“I know.” His breath whispered against her ear, sending goose bumps rushing across her flesh. Now was not the time to become aroused, not that her body was paying any attention to that directive. No, her traitorous body was tingling, every nerve ending totally alive with anticipation. Maybe it was the fact she knew their lives were on the line that made her want to jump his bones so badly. Or maybe it was simply the man himself.
No, not man, but a shapeshifting warrior of great courage and loyalty.
He moved closer and there was no mistaking the hard thickness that pressed against her butt. Arand was aroused too. Damned if that didn’t send her already aroused libido into overdrive.
“Salt,” she reminded him.
He brushed a kiss against the side of her neck and she almost melted into a puddle on the spot. Her neck was one of her biggest erogenous zones. “I’ll take care of it.” It took her a second to realize he meant he’d take care of putting down the salt and not her sex-starved body.
“Okay. Yeah, that would be good.” She cleared her throat and stepped away. “I’m going to burn some of this incense and fix us something to eat.”
Arand watched her, his big body totally still, like a predator poised to pounce. His dark eyes seemed to penetrate her bravado and, for a brief second, she almost threw herself into his arms. Pride came to her rescue. No sense in learning to depend on a man who wasn’t going to stay. She was on her own, except for her girls, that is. She could always depend on them.
Determined to ignore Arand and the way he made her feel, she pulled out containers filled with muffins and croissants. There were also apples, bananas and a container of melon slices. Looked like Tilly had realized they wouldn’t want to take time to cook but would want fast, easy food. A small block of cheddar, a bottle of juice and several bottles of water rounded out their food stash.
Arand put his long, muscled arm around her and she sucked in a breath, but he was only reaching for the box of salt, not her. She swallowed her disappointment, telling herself she was glad, that this was no time to indulge in hanky-panky.
The door opened and closed, almost silently and she knew he was gone. The air was different and the space emptier without him. “Suck it up and get over it,” she told herself. She grabbed the incense burner and set it on one end of the kitchen table and lit it. The sweet aroma immediately filled the air. Sabrina blew on the end of the incense stick until a bright ember glowed.
She wandered over to the kitchen window and peered out into the encroaching swamp. She caught a glimpse of Arand, the muscles in his back rippling as he moved, pouring a thin line of salt around the house.
As though he felt her gaze on him, he turned and looked straight at her. She couldn’t look away, caught in his potent stare. It was he who looked away first, and he continued his trek around the house, pouring a steady stream of salt as he went.
Flushed and extremely aroused, she turned away from the window and busied herself readying the food. Surely Arand would be hungry when he came inside. The guy hadn’t eaten in more than five thousand years.
Jessica waited impatiently as Tilly gave her staff final instructions. When she was done, Jessica held up her phone. “Can we call Jules now?”
Tilly nodded. “It’s still early, but he should be up by now.”
Jessica dialed the number she’d programmed into her phone an hour ago. “Come on,” she whispered as she waited for it to start ringing. There was one ring. Then a second. Was Jules still in bed? No matter. They couldn’t wait any longer.
“Girl, you’re up early this morning.” Jules gruff voice filled her ear and Jessica had never been so glad to hear it.
“I need a favor. We need a favor. Tilly and me.” Her knees were a bit wobbly so she sat in one of the colorful chairs, wishing she had a coffee. As if by magic, Tilly swooped in and placed a large paper cup in front of her. The rich aroma of coffee was like manna from the gods.
“Calm down, girl. Tell me what you need.” She could hear the clink of a dish and figured Jules was probably getting some breakfast.
“We need to borrow your truck.”
“What’s wrong with Tilly’s car?”
Jessica nibbled on her bottom lip, wondering just how much she could or should tell Jules. “Sabrina has it.”
There was a long pause on Jules’ end and Jessica held her breath, wondering if he’d loan them his truck without more of an explanation. “I’ll be at the store with the keys in about a half hour.”
Jessica released a huge breath she hadn’t even realized she was holding. “Thank you. Thank you so much, Jules.” She hung up and turned to Tilly. “Half an hour.”
Tilly nodded. “We need to stop at Granny Ledet’s on the way out of town. She has some protection amulets for us.”
Jessica nodded, more than willing to take help from any quarter. She sipped her coffee and pulled out her grandmother’s journal from her bag. She opened it and began to read, wanting to make sure she had all the knowledge she might need to help save Sabrina and her friend’s warrior.
Morning had dawned in North Carolina. Aimee Horner stifled a yawn as she started a pot of coffee brewing. It was strange to have a houseful of people after living here alone for so long. Roric, stealthy as the tiger that was part of him, slid behind her and wrapped his strong arms around her. “You snuck out of bed.” His tone let her know he was less than pleased by that discovery.
Aimee laughed and turned in his arms. “I needed coffee.”
Roric grimaced. “I do not understand how you women can drink the stuff.”
She laughed again. It was amusing to her that none of the immortal warriors liked coffee, all of them preferring tea. “Are any of the others up yet?” Marko and Kellsie and Araminta and Leander had elected to stay with them for a week or so. They all had a sense of impending doom, a sense that the final act of the curse was about to play out.
Aimee was incredibly thankful that they were all safe. It was hard to wrap her head around the fact that she and the other women were now immortal, a gift from their warriors. But the Lady of the Beasts was still out there, as was Arand. They had no idea where he was or what was going to happen with him.
They were almost certain they knew the name of the woman who was supposed to release Arand from his animal form and begin the final phase of the curse, but they had no idea when the event would actually happen.
There was no way they could descend upon the woman and tell her what was about to happen. She’d think they were all crazy. And there was always the outside chance if they approached her Hades might kill her outright. With only one warrior left to be set free, and three recent losses, there was no telling what Hades’ state of mind was.