All The Wrong Signs
A Week Later

The next week went by faster than I had been ready for it, too. Petra had taken Lakyn back home, but Blaze and I remained in Wales. I wasn’t sure if we stayed to watch Kyler or if Blaze was preparing me for a possible war between him and his cousin Gregar.

I had only gone with Blaze once to check on Kyler and I swore I’d never go again. The poison was doing exactly what Blaze said it was. It was slowly melting him from the inside out. His screams of pain echoed through the cave walls. His fingers were a gooey mess and you could see the bones of his fingertips.

Kyler pleaded with us to kill him the entire time we were there. Part of me wanted to tell Blaze just to get it over with. Hadn’t he suffered enough? But then I’d think about the centuries his family had held Blaze captive. I’d think about all the things they did to him. While it might not have been Kyler who originally captured Blaze, he would pay for the mistakes of his ancestors.

Since that day, I pushed Kyler to the far back of my mind. Blaze only checked on him once a day, usually in the morning, before heading out to talk to other demons. He never said it, but I knew he was preparing for war.

Today marked a week since he had rescued me. Today was the day he announced his intentions.

He usually returned to the hotel before lunch. It was now after 4 and I hadn’t heard a word from him. In our time together, I worked on being able to tug at our connection. It made me feel better when he would give a tug back, letting me know he was ok.

My bags were packed sitting by the door. We were heading back to America today. I missed my dogs. I’m sure Petra and Lakyn were taking good care of my babies, but I’d never been gone away from them this long.

Hearing a pop, I looked up, frowning when I saw Petra and not Blaze appear. She winked at me. “Don’t look so disappointed. Blaze has been held up…”

“Is he ok?”

Petra gave me a stern look. “Riley, I’ve told you, Blaze is more than capable of taking care of himself. If I was worried about him, I wouldn’t be here.”

Shutting my laptop, I stood up, walking over to my bags and stuffing it in. It had taken all morning to get caught up on my work and I was lucky I didn’t miss any deadlines. “He could be moving me for my protection,” I said over my shoulder.

Petra snorted. “If he thought you were in danger, he would move you himself.”

I didn’t doubt her words. Blaze had gotten pretty protective of me. It was like he thought I was a piece of glass. I mean, I was compared to him, so I guess it was a fair assumption.

“Are you taking me and my bags?” I asked, turning to face her.

“What bags?”

Turning back to the door, I rolled my eyes. “Show off.”

Petra giggled, “come on. I have things to do.”

“Dont you mean people to do?” She had confided in me that the guy she had been seeing was an old friend of Blaze’s. She swore me to secrecy knowing Blaze would go all big brother on her if he found out.

“He is with Blaze,” she said, avoiding my eyes. “If things go bad. He will fight with him. Once upon a time, they were like brothers.”

I frowned. “What happened?”

It should have been obvious. “Blaze was captured, and the world forgot him.”

Walking over to Petra, I grabbed on to her arm, closing my eyes. I wasn’t a huge fan of transporting. It made my stomach queasy. With one quick pop, we transported out of the hotel room in Wales and into my living room.

Luna and Shadow were both barking and trying to jump up on me like they hadn’t seen me in days. I guess they hadn’t. I tried my best to pet each of them equally as I walked to the kitchen to get them a treat to calm them down.

“If you are good, I’m going to leave. Lakyn said call her if you need anything.”

I nodded. “I’m good. Thank you Petra.”

She smiled, “it’s what I do.”

As she disappeared, I walked to my room and started unpacking the bags that were waiting for me at the foot of my bed. I had talked to Lakyn almost daily, and while she didn’t blame Blaze for what he did, she was still sad. She had lost the only family she had.

Speaking of family, I had to call Hollie. She had been blowing up my phone and threatening to catch the first flight out if I didn’t answer her. I had been able to hold her off through text, but I knew I needed to call her and let her know that I hadn’t fallen off the face of the earth.

Came close, but I was still standing.

Sighing, I sat at the foot of the bed and hit her name in my phone. It didn’t surprise me one bit when she answered the phone gripping at me. “Riley. What the fuck? What is going on?”

“Hey Hollie. I missed you too.”

“Oh no, ma’am,” she said. “Don’t give me that. I’ve been worried sick.”

Guilt ate at me. I couldn’t tell her the truth. She would never believe me. This was one thing I’d have to keep hidden from her. “I’m ok Hollie. Really. I just went on a trip and…”

“And you didn’t think you should tell me!” Hollie let out a deep breath, and I knew she was trying to calm herself. “Where did you go? Who was with you? Riley, what is going on?”

I looked up, seeing Blaze in the doorway. My mouth dropped. He was in armor. Or I guess it was armor, demon armor. He even had a sword at his side. He winked at me, “are you going to tell your sister about me, little witch?”

A smile appeared on my lips. “I’ve met someone Hollie. I think you would like him. He’s almost as sarcastic as you.”

Hollie choked on whatever she was drinking. “Met someone? What do you mean, met someone? How did you meet someone? You don’t even leave your house, Riley.”

I sighed. “I met him when I was out with my friend Lakyn one night. We’ve been talking, but I didn’t want to tell you in case things didn’t work out.”

Blaze looked amused at my words.

“So he took you on a trip?” Hollie asked. “You didn’t elope, did you?”

Her words made me laugh. “No stupid. He took me to his family home.”

Hollie paused. “And where exactly is that?”

“Wales,” I said.

“Wales?” Hollie repeated. “Like overseas?”

I laughed, “duh. That is where Wales is.”

Blaze tilted his head, popping his neck, catching my attention. “I just wanted to let you know I’m ok.”

“Are you happy?” Hollie asked. “Don’t lie to me Riley.”

“More than I’ve ever been in my entire life, Hollie.”

“I love you Riley.”

I smiled, “love you too. Sisters for life, right?”

“Always.”

I loved my sister. She might get on my nerves, but our bond was strong. “I’ll call you tomorrow, ok.”

“Promise?” she asked, sounding like me for once.

“I promise. Love you.”

When I hung up, I frowned at Blaze, who was now wearing nothing but jeans. “Put your armor back on. It was kinda sexy.”

Blaze snorted, “kinda?”

As he walked toward me, I stood up, going to him and letting him pull me into his arms. “So?” I asked. “Are we at war?”

Leaning down, he kissed my lips. “I am currently at war, yes. You are not.”

I made a face. “We are a team. Don’t forget who saved your ass barely even a week ago.”

Blaze looked down at me, unamused. “Say that again?”

Looking up at him, I shrugged. “I saved you. You can try to deny it all you all you want, but we both know it’s true.”

Shaking his head, Blaze pulled me roughly up against him. “You might have helped a small bit.” I went to argue back with him, but seeing the smirk on his face, I burried my face into his chest.

Blaze ran his fingers through my hair. “It won’t last long. Gregar is quickly losing support.” Kissing my forehead, he leaned down, whispering in my ear. “I’m not worried about him. You shouldn’t worry about him either.”

I couldn’t help but giggled thinking of Petra’s earlier words. “You know I hear you are kind of a badass.”

Standing up straight, I swear Blaze puffed his chest out some. “Oh, yeah.” He chuckled, “you know I am, actually. I thought you would have been aware of that from the first time you saw me in that tattoo parlor. My good looks must have distracted you from the danger lurking beneath the service.”

“Yep,” I said, shaking my head. “That must have been in.”

“Have you eaten?” Blaze asked.

“I have,” I said, knowing he would be happy. “I ordered room service a little before Petra came to get me.”

“Good,” Blaze said, backing away from me. His eyes seemed to wash over me and I wondered if he was looking for any signs that my food was going to work fattening me up already. The past week, he had made sure I ate 3 meals a day, despite me telling him I wasn’t a breakfast person.

“I guess we wait?” I asked Blaze.

He nodded. “I’ll be in and out a lot. If you need me, all you have to do is tug hard Riley and I’ll come. I feel you, every single time you reach out. You’re growing stronger.”

“I guess it’s the food,” I said, failing at my attempt at being funny.

He shook his head, “let’s go watch tv.”

“What you want to do boring human stuff?” I asked.

“I’ve had a long day and there is nothing more that I would rather do than do boring human stuff with my human.”