Taken by the Blood God (Devil Springs #4)

Chapter 15

Chapter

Fifteen

Minerva

I didn’t wake up where I’d gone to sleep.

Instead of hard ground and grass beneath me, there was a comfortable mattress. I was barefoot and wore only my shirt, underwear, and socks. I shifted, lifting a hand to my chest. Oh, and my damned bra.

I knew exactly where I was without opening my eyes. I was back in the hotel room. A sneaky blood god had portaled me back to the room after I had fallen asleep and put me to bed like a six-year-old child.

I kept my eyes shut and let my senses spread out around me. The room was empty, save me. I lifted my lids to find the room still dim, but there was sunlight leaking around the edges of the curtains. Groaning, I sat up, looking around for my backpack. When I turned my head, I saw that someone had set my cell phone on the nightstand and plugged it in to the charger.

Not that it mattered since I didn’t have international service. I couldn’t call or text anyone. But maybe I could hook up to the wi-fi here in the inn and message Ally to let her know that I was all right. If that didn’t work, I’d have to cast a quick spell. I preferred to conserve my magic, but I knew she would be worried.

Wait, how had he plugged in my phone? I didn’t have a voltage adapter in my bag. I followed the cord back and saw that it was a completely different charger than the one I brought with me. Maybe he borrowed it from Gerald. Or had Gerald go out and buy it for me.

I hoped he hadn’t done that because I would feel bad. I wasn’t even sure how we were paying for this stay. I should probably go downstairs and give the front desk my credit card.

After a shower and a cup of tea.

All of that would have to wait until I found a particularly irritating blood god, though. Because he shouldn’t have brought me back to the hotel, undressed me, and put me to bed. He had no right.

Just as I threw back the blanket to get out of bed, a portal swirled into existence in the middle of the room, and Talant stepped out.

I didn’t even stop to consider that I was half-dressed. I jumped to my feet and stalked over to him as the portal closed behind him. Even in the dim room, I could see that he looked fine. Fresh as a freaking daisy.

“What the hell, Talant?”

His only answer was to push a paper to-go cup into my hand. “Here’s some tea.”

I had to take the cup because he was already letting it go. The scent of freshly brewed black tea hit me, making my mouth water. It smelled delicious. Unable to resist, I took a sip. Caffeine would give me the energy to tear him a new one. The flavor hit my tongue, and I had to bite back a moan. It was lightly sweetened and brewed to perfection.

Talant walked over to the window and threw open the curtains, revealing another bright sunny day. There were people dotting the beach already, so it must have been late morning.

I squinted at the light, lifting a hand to shield my eyes until they adjusted. When I lowered it, I realized Talant’s eyes were locked on the lower half of my body. Which reminded me why I was so pissed at him.

“First, where are my pants, Tal?” I asked.

He gestured behind me, and I turned to see my pants tossed over the back of the desk chair. I stomped over, put my cup down on the desk, and snatched them up. As I wiggled into them, I glared at him.

“Why are you angry?” he asked.

I was suddenly lightheaded. Probably because all the blood had rushed straight to my head, threatening to make it explode.

“Why am I angry?” I repeated.

The same chill I felt yesterday crawled from my fingertips, up the back of my hand, to my wrists. I knew without looking that my hands were encased in ice.

“I’m angry because you brought me back to the hotel while I slept, all but stripped my clothes off me, and then left me here with no way to contact you or anyone else! What in the hell were you thinking? How would I have known if something happened to you or if you needed help? You could have ended up in that damned prison right next to your brother!”

I looked down to zip and button my jeans, missing the look on his face at my words.

“You were worried about me?” he asked.

I looked up. His tone was strange.

“Of course! You were out there, a few hundred feet from a place protected by magic so dark that it is fueled by human sacrifice. Not just one, but probably several. No back up, no way to contact me or anyone else, nothing. And you left me here, without my passport or a working phone. You didn’t even leave me a note telling me where you were! For all I knew, you rescued your brother while I slept and abandoned me here.”

By the time I was done ranting, I’d managed to work myself up even more because I was thinking of all the things that could have gone wrong while I was unconscious, miles away from where he was.

A brief scream escaped my lips when he lunged toward me, his hands clasping my upper arms. He jerked me into his body, knocking me off balance. I grabbed onto his waist, gripped his shirt in my fists.

“What is wrong with you?” I asked.

I wasn’t yelling anymore but whispering. His face was only inches from mine, and his eyes were a strange mix of amber and red. The heat coming from his body intensified. A light sweat broke out all over my body.

His gaze moved over my face, from my eyes down to my mouth and back again.

“No one has worried about me, or my safety, in over a thousand years, Minerva. No one cared if I still existed or not. I could have faded away into nothing beneath that mountain, and the world would have continued as though I’d never been. I thought…”

His fingers tightened on my arms, a sharp bite of pain. I knew I’d be bruised later. I gasped, flinching, and he loosened his hold on me immediately, moving his hands from my arms to my waist. He took a deep breath, closing his eyes. When he opened them again, the deep red in his irises was gone, leaving only a dark gold color behind.

“I’m sorry I worried you. You’ve only been back here at the hotel for a couple of hours. No one went into the building or came out. It’s just as quiet as it was all night long. I was perfectly safe.”

I pinched his side, which made him wince. “Fine, you were safe. You still undressed me while I was unconscious. Not cool, Tal. Not cool at all.”

His expression was perfectly sincere when he said, “I wanted you to be comfortable.”

Though he wasn’t smirking, I knew he was being a smartass and pinched him again, this time on the other side of his waist.

“Dammit, witch. Stop pinching me.”

“You’re lucky all I’m doing is pinching you, considering you took my pants off while I was passed out,” I hissed.

“Would you be less angry if I said I kept all the lights off and it was completely dark in here?” he asked.

“No, because I know damn well you can see just fine in the dark. You’re a god, not a human.”

“Okay, then I apologize for undressing you. I promise I didn’t really look until this morning.”

I rolled my eyes and lifted my hands to his chest, shoving him back. “Why don’t I believe you?”

He smirked but released me.

I walked back over to the desk and picked up my to-go cup. I wanted to drink my tea before it got cold. It was too delicious to waste. Not even for righteous anger. After a few sips, I lowered the cup and asked, “No one entered or left while you were there?”

He shook his head. “If it weren’t for the wards and the death magic hovering around the building, I would think it was completely abandoned.”

I considered that for a moment. “I think we should wait another night before we go in.”

Talant’s jaw flexed as he stared back at me, but he said, “I agree.”

“Really?”

“Yes. Something doesn’t feel right about this.”

“Do you think they knew we were coming?” I asked.

He shrugged.

“I guess we’ll find out,” I murmured, lifting my cup to finish the rapidly cooling tea. Once it was gone, I asked, “Do you need to sleep?”

Talant shook his head. “I came to take you back out there with me. I was hoping I’d make it back before you woke.”

“I’m going to need another tea, breakfast, and a shower before we go.”

“I’ll be back with breakfast by the time you’re done with your shower,” he said.

I half expected him to open a portal, but he headed toward the door of the room.

“I want some fruit and a croissant or toast or something,” I said.

“You need some protein.”

“Okay, but I’m going to eat it with fruit and a croissant,” I agreed.

He smirked at me. “I’ll see what I can do.”

I scowled at him, but he missed it because he’d already left the room and locked the door behind him.