“Liar,” I told him.
And for once, he didn’t argue.
CHAPTER FIVE
ASHER/ GAEL
ASHER
The ghost of Gael’s kiss lingered on my lips, hot and maddening, even as my brain screamed at me to get a grip.
My gaze fell to his mouth, and I cursed myself for how tempting it looked, even now, with his infuriating smirk tugging at one corner.
This is a mistake. A big, massive, stupid mistake.
Yet, my voice betrayed me. “Kiss me again.”
The words were out before I could stop them, low and rough, as if some hidden part of me had wrested control.
Gael’s smirk deepened, his dark eyes flashing with amusement and something darker, more dangerous.
It made me want to punch him, or maybe grab him and?—
Before I could act, Gael’s expression shifted. The humor drained from his face, replaced by sharp, predatory tension.
His body moved with inhuman speed as he grabbed my arm and yanked me down.
“What the?—”
Two bullets zipped through the air where our heads had just been, embedding themselves in the wall with a crack.
Heart pounding, I rolled to the side, craning my neck to see the source of the attack. My stomach dropped.
Two hunters, both of them familiar, stood near the warehouse entrance. Guns drawn, their faces hard and resolute.
Recognition hit me like a gut punch. I’d seen them that morning at the pub. I should’ve known they’d come back to the warehouse.
But this? Guns blazing, no questions asked? My jaw clenched as understanding sank in.
They’d decided I was a traitor.
I wasn’t sure what to feel about that, anger, guilt, or maybe nothing at all.
After all, it wasn’t hard to see why they’d come to that conclusion.
If I’d walked in on myself locked mouth-to-mouth with a vampire, I’d have had questions too.
“Friends of yours?” Gael asked, his voice edged with mockery as he crouched low beside me.
“Clearly not,” I muttered, the bitterness sour on my tongue.
“No talking our way out of this, then?” Gael asked.
“Not a chance.”
One of the hunters, Jackson, shouted, “Step away from the leech, Asher! Don’t make this worse than it already is.”
I didn’t respond. Words wouldn’t change the fire in their eyes, the grim determination written in every line of their bodies.
