Deceived (Burned Book 2) Read online

  I could see the idea forming in her mind before she opened her mouth, but it was too late to stop her. "Are you seeing anyone?"

  I groaned and smacked my forehead. Zak chuckled. "Not at the moment. I'm crushing hard on someone who's in a complicated situation right now so I'm not available." He winked at Tanya to soften the blow.

  Tanya didn't catch on, but Kyra was sharp as a tack. She smirked, shooting me a knowing look over the rim of her glass.

  "I thought I'd find you guys down here." Daniel tumbled into Tanya's lap knocking her empty glass over. It rested harmlessly on the table. She giggled, a flush turning her face beet red. Kyra's earlier admission was the elephant in the room.

  "Hey, Tanya, Ari." His eyes widened when they noticed Zak and swung back to mine, rife with questions. He leaned over the table and kissed me on the cheek. My heart raced as I swallowed the lump in my throat. I figured Zak would be long gone by the time Daniel arrived. Time must have gotten away from me.

  Tanya shoved him off her and onto Kyra's lap.

  "Hey, baby." He growled, wiggling his eyebrows. The change in Kyra was dramatic. The pinched, tense expression she constantly wore slipped, replaced with a radiance that almost hurt to look at. Their eyes met and held. You could feel their connection as if it were a physical force.

  "It's time for me to get going." Tanya rose unsteadily and gripped her purse, wobbling on her heels. I waved Patrick over, his eyes sharpening as they lingered on our newcomer. I squelched the sudden desire to explain, knowing he'd report this to Alejandro.

  My heart pounded, but I brushed my unease away. I could have male friends; Daniel was a perfect example.

  "Do you need a hand?" I asked thickly.

  "No, I've got Patrick. He'll help me into a cab." She leaned most of her weight on him and patted his chest. His neutral expression never wavered. This was becoming routine for him. "I'll see you party animals another night. Zak, it was great meeting you. I'll think about your advice."

  "Nice that she'll consider yours even though it was basically the same as mine." Kyra glowered.

  "It's the title." Zak winked at her. "I see it all the time."

  "Advice?" Daniel scrunched his face. "Is that jerk cheating on her again?"

  I nodded, my cheeks heating as I tried not to think about Kyra's earlier comment about Daniel.

  I shifted my focus to Zak. He raised his eyebrows but didn't ask. "So Zak, now that you've met my friends I suppose I won't be seeing you around."

  "Not at all. Your friends are great." His arm moved behind me on the booth. The warmth seeped through my skin, stained me with an unwanted desire to sink into him, his heat, his realness. Tingles multiplied, spiraling from where his arm barely brushed the skin of my neck. My breath struggled to flow through my lungs, as if they suddenly forgot how to function.

  My focus was drawn by the gravity of his lips, the bottom slightly fuller than the top. What would they feel like against mine?

  "Ari." Daniel's sharp warning broke through my trance.

  Reality intruded as the din from the restaurant returned, invading my senses. It seemed louder than before, almost painful to my ears. My eyes darted around the room, searching, but Patrick was nowhere to be found. Thankfully.

  Zak's eyes were heated, as if he knew the thoughts that had filtered through my mind.

  Daniel stared pointedly at me, a scowl twisted his lips. "What are you doing?"

  I didn't know. I was floundering in untraveled territory. The draw to Zak was strong, the more I was near him the worse it got. This was dangerous for both of us.

  Complicated, indeed.

  I cleared my throat and straightened, moving away from his delicious warmth. I chanced a look at Zak, the heat in his eyes hadn't faded.

  A knowing grin quirked his lips. There was no denying it now; he knew I wanted him. But wanting and having were two totally different things.

  "Thanks, Daniel." I exhaled a shaky breath.

  "Ari's boyfriend," Daniel chuckled, finding both the word and my gratitude amusing, "owns this building, and the restaurants, and—well everything in it." He glanced between me and Zak, emphasizing his point.

  "Oh." Zak leaned back, looking around the opulent restaurant before meeting my eyes again. The heat was banked. "I don't mean to cause trouble."

  "It's okay." I cleared my throat, my heart finally back to its normal speed.

  "Don't worry. It's Sarah you have to watch out for. Tanya, eh, she's kind of clueless." Daniel relaxed into Kyra so close it was hard to tell where one ended and the other began.

  "Sarah's the woman who joined you for lunch when I first met you, right?"

  Daniel groaned. "She's already met him?"

  Zak glanced back and forth, following the conversation closely. "I'm not going to get you in trouble am I, Ari?" He frowned, his eyes troubled.

  "No. It's fine. We're just friends." If I could have seen lies on myself, this one would have been a bright one, flaming even. "I told you it was complicated."

  My eyebrows furrowed as I toyed with his question. Was spending time with Zak eventually going to lead to trouble?

  Things were complicated. My relationship with Alejandro wasn't normal, there was no disguising the fact. I had little say in where we were headed, and few options. It's not like I could leave him if I was unhappy.

  There was no leaving Alejandro.

  My best option was to wait around for the inevitable discard as he replaced me with a newer model. He was immortal after all, and I wasn't.

  Chapter Eight

  "I don't know, Daniel. I like her in a weird sort of way, but I don't trust her." The warmth from my tea banished the chill that winter's sudden presence had thrown at us. While fifty wasn't exactly winter temperatures, it was freezing to a Floridian's thin blood. Mine included.

  "Why? Has she lied to you?" My head whipped around at his question, cautious eyes weighed his body language. I reviewed our conversation in my head. His question was normal, he didn't know. I relaxed back into the leather couch, nauseous with the fleeting adrenalin rush.

  "No."

  "Has she done anything that would make her untrustworthy?"

  I frowned, struggling to pinpoint what it was that left me with that exact feeling.

  "No, but—"

  "But what, Ari?" His voice was thick with irritation. "She's just not good enough for you or something?"

  "It's not that. Maybe she's just not good enough for you?" I tossed back. My lips pinched. "There's just something … something not right about her."

  His cerulean eyes, normally light and full of laughter, flashed with anger. A flush spread across his cheeks, his nostrils flared.

  "She seems like she's tough and unfeeling, but it doesn't mean she is. She's had a brutal life. She's just better at walling herself off than most."

  I knew Daniel's story, how he'd been on the streets. What he'd had to do to survive. For him to say someone had a rough life, it must be bad. Really bad.

  "I don't know what it is exactly. I just feel like she's hiding something."

  "Just because someone doesn't want to share every part of their life with you, doesn't mean they aren't trustworthy," he snapped, sloshing tea over his mug as he set it down hard on the side table.

  "I know that." I mulled it over, struggling to determine why I had a problem with her. There was nothing more than a vague sense of unease that I always felt with her. I sighed deeply. "I'm sorry."

  Never one to hold onto his anger, he blew out a breath and dabbed at the spilled tea with a napkin. "It's not your fault, Ari." He held my free hand between his. "I know how difficult it is for you to trust people. I appreciate that you are trying to be friends with her."

  "She's fun, if a little crazy." I nudged him with my shoulder. "Which makes her kinda perfect for you."

  "I think so." Concern fluttered across his face. "But what are you doing with that guy?"

  "Zak?" I sighed heavily knowing I could be honest with him. "I'm not sure
there, either. I like him. He seems to like me, strange friends notwithstanding." I glared at Daniel. "I know I'm with Alejandro but there is just something about this guy that makes me want to be near him, you know? No matter the risk."

  "I do." His eyes softened. "Kyra makes me feel like that—someone worth taking risks for. I thought that I was happy before she came into my life. Now I know I am."

  "I'm not pursuing anything with him or anything. I'm not stupid. We are both adults. We can just be friends."

  "Yeah, right," he snorted. "Looked that way the other night. Especially considering you were in Alejandro's restaurant. Classy."

  I blushed. "We didn't do anything."

  "No, but you were staring at each other all goo-goo eyed." He made kissy noises. I swatted him, grateful for the lightened mood. But he sobered. His eyes were pinched with worry as they met mine. "Not smart."

  My heart plummeted. "Fine," I mumbled, deflated. "I won't see him again."

  "That's not what I meant at all." He leaned in close, the heat from his arm warming mine, reminding me of the other night. Of Zak. But without a trace of the tingles that Zak's touch brought. "It's good to have friends. Especially when you are surrounded by people that aren't really people, and you forget that there really are nice guys out there. Normal guys. Ones that don't have some ulterior motive or secret agenda."

  The weight on my shoulders was heavy, but the one on my heart was worse. This life I'd so eagerly welcomed wasn't what I'd expected. Not really.

  "I'm not saying to get rid of him." He couldn't hold back the sigh that escaped. "I think he'd be good for you. What I am saying, is to be careful. You'd never forgive yourself if something happened to him just because you were being stupid." Daniel's eyes sharpened. "For God's sake don't flirt with him in Alejandro's building. He's got eyes everywhere. Just keep the guy out of the whole mess. It's safer that way."

  Finally relaxing back into the couch, he kicked his foot onto his knee, draining what was left of the tea in his mug.

  "What about you? You brought Kyra into the family."

  "That isn't the same at all, and you know it." His clenched jaw was heavy with his disappointment for the comparison. "Your guy is totally human, no super powers, no nothing. Just one hundred percent Hottie McHotterson. Kyra is different. She's able to hold up her own against just about anything. She is…" he paused, searching for the right word to use. "Badass. Her powers bring something to the House. So, she's an exception." Daniel's eyes narrowed. "Don't even consider bringing this guy in."

  "No way," I snapped, disgusted at the thought.

  "Good." He sprung to his feet. "I've got to bail—time to earn my keep."

  "Yeah, me too. It was nice meeting for tea, especially just us. It's hard to catch up with my best friend when he has his tongue jammed down someone's throat all the time."

  "Hardy-har-har." He rolled his eyes. The tension in the room lightened a little. "I can't help it, she's hot. But you're right, catching up is nice." Grabbing his bag from the floor next to the couch, he brushed a gentle kiss on my cheek. "Later gator." Lithe and graceful, he glided out of the cafe.

  I lingered, finishing my tea. I hated that we'd had words. We were never cross with one another and rarely disagreed—unless it had to do with Kyra or being turned.

  Unease chilled along my skin and my heart tripped and stuttered. Both of our lives were balancing on an unstable foundation; one nudge and our carefully constructed world would collapse.

  Then where would we be?

  Chapter Nine

  I pressed my back into the wall, as if I could disappear if I leaned into it hard enough. Even if I could get as far away as the other side of the room, I'd take it. But no. I had to stand right where I was, up close and personal with the man strapped into the chair in front of me.

  Seeing lies didn't work over a distance, nor did it work electronically. There was no option to watch this through a closed-circuit television or listen through the phone. I wish it did. It would have made my life easier. I had to be within eyesight. Live and in person.

  Everyone's attention shifted with the opening of the door. The dark haired man secured to the chair swung his head up like he'd been slapped. Sweat dripped off of him, staining every crease and fold in his clothes. Not that it would matter. He'd be dead soon and wouldn't care.

  Kyra's nose wrinkled when she strode in after Alejandro, forehead creased in confusion. I watched the dawning knowledge creep into her eyes as she realized what was about to happen. The horror seeped in and shutters slammed into place, blocking her expression, creating a mask of indifference. One she often wore. No one else in the room had witnessed the chink in her armor. I was the only one whose eyes were focused on her and not the powerful vampire that swept into the room before her.

  "Raoul." Alejandro's voice dripped with false disappointment. "I thought you knew better."

  "Sir, I don't know what you mean."

  They all started out like that. I didn't even need to tell Alejandro the lackey was lying.

  Naïve in their devotion, their strength. They thought they would escape. That their lies would protect them, that their false words would stay hidden. I didn't even know why they tried. No one got away with duping Alejandro.

  "You wound me, Raoul." He clutched his hand to his chest in an exaggerated, theatrical motion. Alejandro enjoyed toying with them, an orca tossing a seal before ripping its head off. "I know everything. Make it easy on yourself. Tell me now and you won't have to suffer." Torture wasn't something he enjoyed; it was too messy and undignified. On the rare occasion that the truth was exposed with a simple confession, the offender was dispatched quickly. A gift for their admission.

  However, the other two vampires in the room, the witnesses, they enjoyed it. I'm sure it was part of some deal that Alejandro had struck with the pair. They acted as witnesses at every interrogation, their sly smiles and dancing eyes made me want to flee the room almost as quickly as the screams of the offenders.

  Raoul, unfortunately, fell into the stupid category.

  I breathed in deeply, steeling myself for what was about to happen.

  Kyra was strung as tense as a bow. She thought she'd seen the dredges of society in her role as a PI, but she'd only begun the descent. Before this was over, she'd count herself among them. But how deeply would she embrace it? Would she fall too far and snap?

  I should have asked myself why I hadn't.

  How much further did I have to fall before it was too far?

  "Fine. You've chosen the hard way."

  I could almost feel the other vampires' excitement at Alejandro's words. I refused to look their way, focusing instead on Raoul's skin. Searching for any telltale designs.

  "Kyra here is unique." She jerked, focus sharpening at the mention of her name. Alejandro waved toward her. "She's able to make you talk without lifting a finger. But you'll feel it. And it will hurt. Badly."

  His eyes stared into Raoul's. "Consider this your last chance."

  "Sir, I don't know what you're talking about." Blue and silver arches crossed with slashes appeared on his face. I nodded to Alejandro.

  "You know exactly why you are here and what you've done." He paused for effect, a puppeteer on stage.

  "Kyra, I want you to practice your control. Show me what you've accomplished since our last session. I want one digit only. Let's go for the first segment of his right index finger." An expectant grin lifted his lips. "I want to see how much you've learned."

  She swallowed thickly. Her focus zeroing in on Raoul's hand.

  "What's she doing?" Raoul cried out, his voice trembling with pain. He ground his teeth together as the knowledge solidified. His lips pinched, turning white from the pressure.

  Since his wrists were bound to the chair arms, the effects of her power were clear. The smoke rose, the nauseating scent of burning flesh filled the room. He fought against the ropes holding him in place, skin chafing on the tight rope. Blood dripped onto the floor as the rope
rubbed and grated against his skin.

  I refused to look around. I didn't want to see the rapt attention of the other vampires, nor did I want to see Alejandro. I didn't want to remember he was like this. I honed in on Kyra, watching her closed expression. The focus. The occasional spark of something in the depths of her eyes.

  She was a curiosity, an enigma.

  Kyra was more than what she claimed to be. I think that's what had my back up. She was deceiving without being fake. Her words rang with truth, but it's what she wasn't saying that brushed against my instincts and got my hackles up. My powers recognized something false about her, without her truly being false.

  But I couldn't point to something and say—ah-ha—that!

  It was an interesting problem for me. So I watched. Waited. And prayed that Daniel wouldn't stumble with her when she fell.

  Because falling was inevitable.

  ***

  Back straight, I forced myself to appear confident. Normal. I pushed myself in the courtroom, my anger making me more relentless than usual.

  With the first telltale glow, I picked apart the witness' statement, dissecting every sentence as if it were a frog splayed on the tray in biology class.

  I was ruthless, and the prosecution had no problem pointing it out.

  "She's badgering the witness, Your Honor."

  "Ms. Anthony, if you cannot restrain yourself from attacking the witness, you shall be removed from this courtroom and held in contempt." Judge Adkins's eyes flashed daggers at me.

  "I apologize, Your Honor," I ground out between my clenched teeth.

  I felt his sigh. He would love to stick me behind bars for an evening.

  "You should have considered that before you attempted your A Few Good Men impression. I'd watch myself, counselor."

  Pressing my lips tightly, I blocked any additional words from escaping. But I refused to back down, my eyes never wavering from his.

  "Fine," he conceded. "We'll break for lunch for an hour and a half." He slammed his gavel. The sound reverberated in the courtroom, ominous and final.