Her voice entered his mind. Oh, Brann, you feel so good.
You do, too. But this is a bizarre experience, holding you and kissing you while knowing I’ve done this hundreds of times before.
It’s amazing.
Reluctantly, he drew back. “But we have work to do.”
“We do.” Juliet turned away from him and actually shook out her hands and fingers. She then glanced at him and smiled. “You get to me so quickly, you know.”
He loved that she’d said that to him. He loved her dark blue eyes, her freckles and her mischievous smile. He wanted to take her back to her small office and bend her over her desk again.
But other things were much more important. “We have Mary to think about now.”
“Yes, we do,” she said.
With difficulty, he let her go. She lowered her chin and blinked a couple of times, then turned away from him.
Fergus landed once more on the patio and dipped his chin to Brannick. He immediately turned toward the canal.
Brannick felt a strong pull within his chest as he watched the wolf, a sensation similar to the way the dreamgliding memories arrived. Only this wasn’t a dream, but it definitely felt very fae.
As he stared at the shifter, he realized he was once again experiencing an instinct more in keeping with the alter fae community than with his vampire self. He turned back to Juliet. “Fergus should come with us.”
A frown deepened between her arched brows. “The wolf?”
“You sound surprised.”
“It’s just that he can’t create an invisibility shield like you can. He’s not a vampire.”
Brannick glanced at Fergus again, but he felt the same pull as before.
Fergus was a powerful man and ally. His mane of hair went all the way to the middle of his back. The wolves, especially the alphas, grew their hair out long and wore braids to hold it away from the face. Although, he’d seen some with leather straps across their foreheads.
His alter instincts continued to warm up but with a fae tone rather than the cold, direct manner of his vampire nature. “Juliet, I can’t explain why, but Fergus needs to be with us as we hunt for Mary.”
Juliet caught his arm with her hand. “I’m feeling it too, though I’m pretty sure the weight of my conviction is coming from you. You seem to be reacting more like a fae than a vampire.”
He held her gaze tight to his. Something similar had happened between Vaughn and Emma, this odd transference of powers. He’d watched Emma levitate when she’d never done so before, and she’d had Vaughn’s complete skillset while doing it.
Now here he was with Juliet. She’d used a vampire shield while on the bridge and had later taken on some of his physical strength to bring him to the second bedroom.
“You know what amazed me? I can recall how you carried me to the other room. I still find it hard to believe, even though I told you to do it.”
He watched her lips curve. “Would you like me to show you how strong I am?”
“I would.”
She moved over to stand next to him. “Drape your arm over my shoulder.”
When he did, she caught his forearm from behind and locked it in place. “Now, slowly ease your weight onto me.”
He didn’t want to hurt her. The muscles he carried could do damage to such a willowy female. But as he began to relax and transfer his weight to her, damn if she didn’t hold steady.
Even she seemed surprised. “I can do this better than before. I mean, I doubt I’d ever be able to pick you up and carry you around, but can you feel the strength I can take on?”
“I can.”
He removed his arm from around her shoulders and stared at her for a long, difficult moment. He felt uneasy suddenly. He knew what had happened to Vaughn and Emma. The couple was engaged, for Christ’s sake. A witch and a vampire.