Anya Bast - Witch Heart

"Yeah. I'm thinking about them, too, but my primary concern is you at the moment, Claire."

"I will never forgive myself if harm comes to Theo and the others back at the cabin."

His hands slid up her arms, warming her. "You never forgive yourself for anything. You carry the weight of two worlds on your shoulders. Relax a little."

"You aren't the one to be giving advice in that area, Adam. Not with the burden of your wife's death on your heart."

Adam went rigid. "Let's not talk about Eliza." His voice carried a clear note of warning. He meant it, too.

Claire apparently hadn't heard it. She pushed up and leaned back against the pillows, crossing her arms over her chest. "Not talk about Eliza? Adam, I think it's long past time you talked of her. You can't go into the future wearing glasses that taint everything in the present by an event in the past."

He bolted from the bed and pushed a hand through his hair. "I knew I never should have told you about her."

"And what then? You'd have gone on without telling anyone? Just wearing that silly mask of yours to hide the guilt you feel over her death? Adam, it wasn't your fault."

"Claire—"

"If you don't let it go, you'll never have another relationship like the one you had with her." She paused, her lower lip trembling. "You'll never know love again, Adam."

Adam stopped and stared, the words on the tip of his tongue— but I do know love again. But he wasn't going to say that. Not now. Not when she was pushing so hard on issues he didn't want any part of.

Because while he had found love again — totally against his will — he knew he was still holding back. And, gods, he was terrified he'd lose that love again — not be able to hold onto Claire when she most needed him, not be able to protect her even though he felt like he'd been born to do that job.

Claire sat with the blankets clutched in her narrow hands, moonlight spilling in and bleaching the color from her already pale skin. Her dark curls hung around her shoulders like silk and her expression was tight, worried.

Adam whirled and stared at the door, wanting to leave the room with every fiber of his being. He couldn't. He couldn't leave her alone tonight — or at all. There was no escape from her words or the truth in them.

"Adam?"

He turned, realizing he'd been staring at the door for some time. He'd told her he'd stay and he must. The demons could show at any time.

But for the first time since he'd met her all he wanted was to get away from her. She said things he didn't want to hear — and would never want to hear.

Claire awoke to Adam's back. He'd slept that way all night. She knew because she hadn't been able to sleep much at all, falling into a fitful slumber only toward dawn.

It was funny how males— aeamon or Ytrayi —could just roll over and go to sleep after a heated disagreement. Emotions and tempers could rise and it mattered not a bit to them, they just fell right into uninterrupted snores.

She'd been up all night fuming.

What a stubborn man! And so maudlin, too. High-strung. That's what he was. He tried to put on this easygoing, joking face to the world. No one understood the emotional heart of the man within.

Emotional, yes, but he could still fall right to sleep after a fight.

She flopped onto her back and blew out a frustrated breath. He still held on to Eliza so tightly — to his grief and to all that imagined blame and responsibility. The ghost of Eliza wouldn't let him move on into other serious romantic relationships. Claire wasn't sure when she'd decided that maybe she wanted more from Adam than just sex, but at some point her feelings had changed, deepened. But maybe Adam only believed he had sex to offer her.

Maybe he was right.

Claire sighed as a weight settled in her chest. Turning her thoughts away from unpleasant things, which seemed to be most everything these days, she glanced out the window. She could tell by the pale, cold light filtering into the bedroom that the leading edge of dawn approached.

Well, she couldn't sleep another moment. It was time to get up, get dressed. Adam stirred beside her, coming awake. She shot from the bed, gathered her clothes, and went into the hallway bathroom. She'd leave the bedroom bathroom for Adam.

Claire didn't want to face him just yet.

She showered and dressed. Afterward, she eyed a drawer filled with unopened makeup packages. She picked up some eye shadow in shades of brown and held them up to her face. Then she tossed the package back into the drawer. She had no clue how to put the makeup on. Anyway, she didn't need to look extra pretty for Adam, and she definitely didn't need to look any more alluring to the Atrika. Claire studied her reflection. Adam apparently found her attractive just the way she was. Amazing, but true.

When she left the bathroom, she found Adam not too far away. He sat in the living room of the guest apartment, already showered and dressed.

He stood when she came into the room. "Ready?"

Wow, he'd spoken a whole word to her. They were making progress.

She nodded — not quite sure she was ready to speak a whole word to him yet — and they left.

Once they reached the main floor, the eerie sensation of Atrika nearby assaulted her. She stumbled and caught herself against a wall, the elium within her singing to brilliant life at the proximity of a more suitable host.

Adam caught her arm and steadied her. "Claire, what's wrong?"

She raised her bowed head and stared at him through stray tendrils of her hair. "Atrika."

Thomas came down the corridor toward them. "You have to get out of here now. Adam, take Claire and get out. The demons attacked Theo and the witches at the cabin and are undoubtedly on their way here."

They'd already arrived. They were somewhere in the Coven.

Claire went stock-still for a moment — perfectly panicked. They had to get out of here, to the car. They had to become a moving target so the demons couldn't jump to them.

Adam grabbed her arm and dragged her forward, toward the entrance of the Coven.

"How are the witches?" Claire yelled at Thomas, picking up the pace beside Adam.

"Injured. One dead," Thomas called after them. "Now go! Run as far you can, pick no destination so they can't track you. Just keep driving. Never stop."

Houses, she hoped Adam had remembered to fill the gas tank of the Challenger.

Tevan jumped right in front of them.

Claire screamed and Adam thrust her behind him.

"Get out of my way," Tevan bellowed.

Kai popped in behind them. He loomed over her, staring down at the shocked expression on her face and smiling as if he savored the encounter. The Atrika loved it when their prey was terrified.

She and Adam were cornered in the hallway. No way to go forward, no way to go back. Nausea rose to bite the back of her throat with sharp, bitter teeth. So this was the end, then.

Kai reached down and grabbed her shoulder. She didn't think, she just reacted… but this time she didn't reach for the elium. Magick exploded from her — air, earth, water, and fire. It was the first time in her life she'd managed to bring all four tendrils together at once. It snapped out like a thick, deadly whip, the cattails aimed at Kai and Tevan. The air around them pulsed once, made her ears pop, and then the world blurred.

When her vision cleared, Kai was on his ass in the corridor looking stunned. Claire was just as surprised, magick still tingling pleasantly within the center of her chest. She'd reacted straight from a place of fear and instinct, and she'd defended herself and Adam perfectly.

Adam yanked her hard down the hallway, past a shocked Tevan who had also ended up on his butt, and out the door to the car.