“She must live in the Luxur building,” I say confidently, even though I feel everything but that at the moment. “It was the first building that drew my attention when I got here.”
“Then you know how to get there, I assume?” I nod and she continues, “Great. If you’re not there in thirty minutes, one of us will come looking for you.”
My eyes drop to the beautiful gorgon on the bed. Not much of her pale skin is visible with the blanket covering her, but bruises cover every bit that is. If I hadn’t already killed the disgusting men around me, I would track them down one by one and torture them.
I lean down, kissing Roxi’s forehead before I turn to Vaelyn. “I’ll see you guys there. Please, just… be careful.”
Vaelyn walks up to me and places her hands on my arms. “We’ll be fine. The building really isn’t far from here, and flying supes in the city tend to be pretty rare as it is.”
I let out a sigh and drop my head in defeat. Vaelyn catches me off guard when she rises onto the tips of her toes to gently kiss my cheek.
Before I can say anything, she’s pulled away and scooped Roxi up to head out the door. I stand there in shock, listening to her footsteps echo down the hall as she descends the stairs. That was… unexpected.
When the shock finally wears off, I turn toward the door, and a blinding blue light flashes in the room.
Not again.
“Were we not just here yesterday?” Alaric asks behind me as the light dissipates.
“I tried to keep her away from here, but shit happened, and she decided to come back. Except before she got here, these three fuckers abducted her from the street and took advantage of her. They tied a fucking bag over her head so she couldn’t look atthem. There was no way I would allow them to get away with that,” I hiss, rounding on him.
He holds a hand up, stopping me in my tracks. “Anna, stop. You will do well to remember that I am a friend, not a foe. I am not here to bring you in; I am here to take care of your mess. Again. This time, I will have to call in the others as well. There is not just a demon for me to take care of this time.”
I let out a long breath and will my heart to slow. “I wouldn’t make a mess if I didn’t have to. Roxanna is covered in bruises, pretty much from head to toe, because of these pieces of shit. They deserved a hell of a lot worse than they got, but getting her to safety was my top priority.”
He glances around the room. “If safety were your true priority, where is she?”
“Clearly no longer here.”
“No shit, Sherlock,” he grumbles.
“It’s a long story, but I sent her with someone to Adrestia’s place in the city.”
That catches his attention. “You must be on speaking terms with her then?”
I roll my eyes. “Not exactly. We haven’t discussed anything, but it’s the safest place I could take Roxi for now.”
“How do you think Roxanna will feel about you bringing her to Adrestia’s?”
“She’s already aware of my prior relationship with Adrestia. They actually met earlier, and that led to this whole situation.”
His brows shoot to his hairline. “Do tell.”
“I think not, Alaric. It’s none of your business.”
He pouts. “But I thought we were friends.”
My eyes narrow on him. “Fine. It all started when this harpy literally ran into Roxi while we were on our way here. They looked each other in the eye without anything happening, and I dragged the harpy into an alley so we could talk more. ThenAdrestia showed up and accidentally looked into Roxi’s eyes, too. I let my emotions get the best of me when we figured that out, which upset both Roxi and the harpy.” I finish my long-winded explanation, and he stares blankly at me. “If that’s all you’d like to know, I really need—“
“She looked each of you in the eyes without consequence?” he asks with little emotion.
“Yeah… What is it?” I ask, suspicion creeping into my voice.
“Have you heard humans use the term soulmates?”
“Of course. They use it for everyone they feel they have some sort of connection with,” I say with a scoff.
His eyes darken as they focus on me again. “They’re very real in the supernatural world, Anna. Some species believe you can have more than one person you connect with on a spiritual level, just as humans do, but I agree they take it to another level.”
