Free Kenyon, Sherrilyn - Dark Hunter 06 - Phantom Lover by Unknown Page A

work."
    "You can't. What if you get fired?"
    She shrugged. "I'll find another job."
    He shook his head at her. "You are amazing."
     
     
     
     
     
    She smiled at him.
    Erin called into work only to be reminded of the marketing report that had been due on Friday, which she had forgotten to drop off.
    "The meeting is at noon," John told her.
    "Okay, I'm on my way up there with it."
    "Is something wrong?" V'Aidan asked as she hung up the phone.
    She shook her head. "I just have to take something to the office. Want to come with me?"
    "Sure."
    They didn't speak much as she drove across town. V'Aidan held her hand the entire time and Erin had to admit she liked the strength of his hand wrapped around hers.
    Once they reached her building, Erin led V'Aidan into the maze where her cubicle was. He watched the hustle and bustle of corporate life with a dispassionate stare.
    Erin went to John's office, only to find it empty.
    With V'Aidan directly behind her, she dropped the report in John's in-box, then turned to leave.
    Chrissy stood in the doorway with Rick Sword behind her. The two of them stepped into the office and closed the door.
    Erin heard V'Aidan curse.
    What the devil was going on?
    "What are you doing here?" V'Aidan asked, his voice laced with anger.
    "Waiting for you." Chrissy stepped around them and pulled the blinds closed. "You won't dare fight us in her workplace, will you, V'Aidan? All we have to do is make ourselves invisible to the humans and they won't see or hear anything but her. And her they'll lock up in an asylum as soon as we're gone."
    Erin still didn't understand what was going on. But she had a sick feeling that she had been duped from the very beginning by all of this.
    If V'Aidan could be real, then so could they.
    "What is this?" Erin demanded.
     
               
    Chrissy's eyes flashed to yellow and it was then Erin knew the truth.
    Chrissy was the she-snake from her nightmares.
    "Stay out of it, human," Rick said. "We will deal with you after we finish with him."
    V'Aidan pulled Erin behind him.
    "How very sweet." Chrissy's tone was mocking. "One would think you were Oneroi they way you coddle her."
    "He is Oneroi," Erin shot back, her entire body shaking from panic. How could she and V'Aidan fight them here? Like this?
    Rick laughed at her words. "Is that the lie you told her?"
    V'Aidan held his breath. He didn't want her to find out like this. "Erin, I..." His words faltered as he turned to see the confused look on her face.
    He didn't want to tell her the truth. He didn't want to be what he was anymore. She had shown him something better and he didn't want to go back to the way he'd been.
    "What does she mean?" Erin asked.
    "He's your dragon," Krysti'Ana said mercilessly. "The thing I fought the first night we met in your dreams."
    "No." Erin shook her head. "It's a lie. V'Aidan, tell me it's a lie."
    He wanted to, but he couldn't. He'd lied so many times that it shouldn't have mattered to him. Yet it did.
    "I'm a Skotos, Erin."
    Her eyes filled with tears. "It was you! You who made me so terrified I couldn't sleep? You who chased me and... and..." She couldn't even begin to recount the torture he had put her through during those first few weeks. She had thought she was losing her mind. "Why did you trick me into thinking you were Oneroi? Was it just so you could feed from me?"
    "At first, I only wanted to get you away from Krysti'Ana. I knew you wouldn't go with the dragon, so I appeared to you as a man. And then later..." His voice trailed off as his eyes went dead.
    "You lied to me."
     
     
     
     
     
    "I know."
    She backed away from him. The agony in her eyes sliced him.
    V'Aidan clenched his teeth as grief washed over him. "I needed you, Erin. And I didn't know how else to keep you with me." He reached for her.
    She cringed and the gesture tore through him. She no longer wanted his touch.
    Like all the others, she, too, rejected him.
    The hurt betrayal on her face made him feel