elemental 05 - inferno by Larissa Ladd Read Free Book Online

Want some coffee?” 
    Aira shrugged. “Might as well, it might help.” She scrubbed at her face, trying to dispel the last of the lingering erotic thoughts about Aiden. That was the last thing she needed. She was surprised to see Aiden get up and go into the kitchen to retrieve coffee for her. Dylan sat down in a nearby wingback chair and Aira wondered just how much of her dream had been obvious to the two men. She decided abruptly that she didn’t want to know.
    Aiden reappeared with three cups of coffee and passed them around; he sat down on the coffee table, and Aira noticed the wariness in his bright eyes. 
    “I have an idea,” Dylan said, resting the bottom of his coffee cup against his leg. He glanced from Aira to Aiden with a faint hint of a smile curving his lips. “I don’t think either of you is going to like it, though.” 
    Aira raised an eyebrow. She sipped at her coffee, thinking to herself that the poison in her system—in spite of the potion—felt like the world’s most lingering and annoying hangover. I’d need to drink a hell of a lot in order to get this bad, though, she thought to herself. 
    “What is it?” Aiden asked. 
    Aira recognized the amusement in Dylan’s eyes and was glad that one of them could see the levity in a situation where she was going to have to kill someone in two days’ time. She was full of a poison they didn’t even fully know how to combat—and to top it off, they didn’t know who Alex had been working with to give her the poison. 
    “You two need to sleep together,” Dylan said, taking another sip of his coffee as casually as if he had suggested that Aira should donate blood, or take a nap. Aiden, who had been in the midst of taking a big gulp of his coffee, choked, spitting the brew mostly back into his cup but spraying some of it across the table in his surprise. Aira managed to swallow her sip of coffee and set her cup down, ignoring Aiden for the moment to stare at his brother levelly.
    “What are you talking about?” She said, blinking slowly. 
    Dylan’s smile spread wider on his face. “Oh, you know. The two of you. In bed. Together. With clothes on, of course; or no clothes if you prefer it—it’s pretty much up to you once you’re there.” Aira glanced fleetingly at Aiden, who had grabbed a handful of tissues to wipe up the mess his sputtering had made. 
    “What is that going to help?” Aira asked, suddenly self-conscious from the dream she had just been having. What was Dylan thinking? She couldn’t sleep with Aiden. She needed more than anything to keep a distance from him.
    “Okay, here’s the thing,” Dylan said, his face taking on more serious lines. “I noticed something while you were out, Aira. When Aiden is touching you, you get a little bit better—not fully better, but you should have seen how you looked before. You also seemed stronger in the cell with Alex when Aiden was holding you back. So, I have to reason that there’s something about Aiden’s energy that’s helping you push through the poison.” Aira stared at Dylan, trying to absorb what he was saying. In a way, it made sense; she could easily remember the strange sensation of power and potency she’d had when Aiden had grabbed her. She couldn’t remember anything from before Dylan originally dosed her with the potion.
    “Wait—you said while I was out. What happened while I was out?” She looked from Dylan to Aiden, a rising fear climbing from the pit of her stomach, making her heart beat a little faster. Aiden was blushing, avoiding her gaze.
    “Aiden was tired from staying awake for several days in a row and he climbed onto the couch with you for a nap,” Dylan explained matter-of-factly, shrugging and taking another sip of his coffee. “By the time I came home from getting ingredients for your potion, you were looking much less like a breathing corpse.” This time Aira sputtered at the description of herself looking like a ‘breathing corpse.’