All of those new components made it difficult to follow her toward potential danger when he wanted to seize her and run, hide her away from every single threat. But that wasn’t an option. His soul belonged to a complicated woman and that meant living with fear that harm might come to her. To stuff her in a safe room and stifle her spirit was tantamount to throwing a sheet over a parakeet’s cage. He’d learned his lesson in making her helpless once. He’d lose her by trying it again—and that wasn’t an option.
“So do we actually have a plan?” Tucker asked to his right. “Or do we just kick down the door of Enders and start swinging?”
The slayer shrugged. “The marriage decree could probably get me in the door alone—”
Elias cut her off with a reflexive growl.
Roksana sent him a smirk over her shoulder. “Alas, the old ball and chain is opposed. I have a standing plus one now. It’s very annoying.”
“They think you’re a traitor, Roksana,” Elias said patiently, though the closer they got to the underground slayer club, the less calm he felt. “Walking in there alone is dangerous.”
“Yes, and there is no way I can disprove that theory by walking in with two vampires.” She stopped in the shadows and crossed her arms. “Unless, I don’t walk in. Perhaps I am dragged?”
Elias stared. “Already I don’t like this.”
“My mother told me the slayers are eager to mete out their own punishment for turning on my own kind. Why not give me to them?”
“Let me get this straight,” Elias started, a storm of denial gathering in his sternum. “You expect us to knock on that door and hand you over, just to buy us a meeting with Tilda?”
“Yes, but it’s only a bluff.”
“I still don’t like it.”
“No one knows I’m in possession of the marriage decree. For all they know you won the poker game. Thanks to your little fire problem, there are no witnesses from that night.” She smoothed the pleats of her dress. “You have come to Enders to trade the decree for Tilda’s game piece. I am a pot sweetener. A show of good faith.”
“When did you think of this plan?” Tucker asked, putting up his hand for a high five. “There’s twists, there’s turns. It’s dope.”
Roksana completed the high five. “Thank you.”
Elias ground his back teeth together. “And once you’ve been handed over? Then what?”
“Refuse to hand me over to anyone but Tilda. That will get all of us into the famous back office and then…” She cocked a hip. “I’ll just find a way to bargain my way out.”
“You expect us to play it by ear when it comes to your life?” The contents of a nearby trash can ignited, painting the dark alley in an orange glow. “You have seriously underestimated my instinct to protect you, Roksana.”
“You are protecting me. Don’t you see?” She settled a hand on his chest and rubbed it in a slow circle, peering up at him through her eyelashes. “This way, I don’t have to go in alone.”
“Are you trying to flirt me into agreement?”
“Maybe.” Her blue eyes teased. “You are such a flirt magnet.”
Even though she joked, the need to claim her tightened his groin. Again. His hunger for his mate was a constant, replenishing fountain and he loved, craved, burned to banish every last remnant of his mate’s doubts about them. They were not welcome. He would surround her in his devotion until she accepted it without question and he’d make her scream with pleasure as many times as it took to convince her. They were each other’s and no one else’s. “Do we need another minute alone, baby?”
Tucker used a hand to cut the air between them. “Guys. I am literally right here.”
Roksana stuck her tongue out at Elias and he vowed to make her put it to good use later. “Tucker gets the merit of my plan.”
“And suddenly I regret reminding you of my presence,” Tucker muttered, before giving Elias an elbow in the side. “Come on, E. Once we’re inside, if you think she’s in actual danger, just burn the joint down, you lovable pyromaniac, you.”
“You have to be convincing or this won’t work,” Roksana said, scrutinizing him carefully. “I am a means to an end for you. Nothing more than a passing irritation. Can you pull that off?” She dropped her voice to a whisper. “Please? I need you.”
Those four words wound through his ribs like a greedy vine.
My woman needs me.
Elias paced away, pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers. His mate’s instinct wasn’t something he could turn off and on. He embodied all the protectiveness of the man who’d met and fallen for Roksana in Vegas, but the call inside him to make it known was loud and unceasing. Having his claim on her soothed the beast, but denying that claim? He could already hear the bars rattling, the caged animal pacing back and forth.