Despite wearing a frumpy prison uniform, I couldn’t help but notice how cut he was—his orange top pulled tighter against his chest with the way he laid on the ground. His chest raised a few inches as he placed his arms behind his head like a pillow. The move showcased a physique that perfectly matched the lethality that accompanied his type of magic in my mind. I tore my eyes away from the indents around his hips that led to his pelvis. I already had to juggle the idea of liking two men. I didnotneed any more complications.
“My patience isn’t going to last long with him doing shit like that,” Ronan rumbled, his body tight with tension as his fingers trailed up my spine.
Bastian smirked in response, making me think he’d definitely do it again given the chance. I didn’t know yet whether it was because he genuinely liked the taste of my blood or if he was enjoying creeping us out. The worst part? It didn’t bother me as much as it should have, making my lips draw down into a frown at the state of my own sanity—or lack thereof.
I nodded and let out a sigh. “Right now we have much bigger issues to deal with.”
Namely, where the hell we ended up. I didn’t think it really hit me yet that we actually left Alfemir. We left our home behind,immediately excommunicating ourselves from everything we knew.
Bastian’s actions, mixed with tumbling through time and space in the portal, left me feeling more unfocused than I would’ve expected. Ronan’s next words brought me back down to earth, though.
“You could say that again,” he mused a bit sarcastically. “I’m not so sure about that warm welcome you were told you’d have.”
It was at that point that the little bubble I’d been existing in since we landed popped. There was no noise around us anymore, but Ifeltthe intense glares on my back. I whirled around and took in the situation surrounding us as Ronan practically melted into my side, shadowing me protectively and pulling me against him.
Countless weapons and eyes were trained on us, and there was no indication that they would be lowered any time soon.
Bastian didn’t move from the ground, and I was a little worried about his safety with the vulnerable position he was in, although maybe I shouldn’t have been. With the direction he’d turned to help me up, he had to have seen the rest of the room holding all of these people.Huh.Maybe he really didn’t give a shit about the people staring us down with the promise of death in their eyes.
That tracked for what little I knew about him.
“You’re right,” I admitted to Ronan on a tight exhale. “This doesn’t feel very welcoming.”
I hadn’t expected a parade or anything, but the more than fifty individuals my eyes could see began to surround us in a large circle, effectively cutting off access to any place where we could hold rank and defend ourselves.
My gaze darted around and above them, briefly taking in that we were in a three-story facility. It appeared to be used fortraining if the sets of equipment near us were anything to go by, similar in nature to the ones at the testing center in Alfemir.
Anxiety clawed at my throat.Where was Gabe?If he didn’t show up soon, we were in serious trouble. My spine tingled as I fought the urge to let my wings explode out of my back in preparation to fight or flee. Suddenly, the murmurs around us grew louder, and the crowd began to part, revealing exactly who I needed in that moment.
Those damn green eyes drew me in, and I felt the overwhelming need to throw myself into his arms with relief.
We were safe now. We’d be accepted.
“Kieran?” His voice was filled with shock, and just hearing my name on his tongue made me smile.
“Hey, you,” I answered, feeling a little shy.
The portal had worked, it hadactuallyworked and brought me right to him. Suddenly, the hard landing and the threatening position of those around us meant very little as I stared into his warm and welcoming gaze.
I took a step forward out of Ronan’s protective hold and toward the angel in question. Niz let out a deep rumble as if to tell me not to do that, pulling my attention toward the wyvern and then up to Ronan. They both eyed Gabe with speculation and concern.
I knew he was a stranger in their mind and I understood their caution, but I held none of those feelings within my heart. Especially because he looked exactly as I remembered him and not like the fallen angel he pretended to be in Alfemir. His dark, wavy hair was pushed away from his face, with sweat beading down his skin. His eyes suddenly narrowed on Ronan, who still had a hand on me, as if trying to read the dynamic between us.
Oh, shit.
An intimidating growl rolled through the air before a demanding voice snapped, “What the fuck is going on here?”
My head snapped to the side to where the voice had come from. I didn’t know who was making their way toward us, but his tone made my back straighten with annoyance and indignation. It didn’t take very much for me to locateexactlywho was speaking, not with the way he towered over the majority of the crowd as he pushed through to stand next to Gabe.
My gaze ran over the new individual with curiosity. If he was our enemy, I needed to know his stature and be able to form a strategy to fight him. The scowl on his face did nothing to soften his sharp jawline and cheekbones. The harsh squint to his bright gray eyes passed over me in the same sweep of inspection I’d given him. He was a hulking son of a bitch, reaching near six-foot-five, if the slight difference above Gabe’s own height was an indicator. His stature and bulky muscles seemed to almost overwhelm the space, sucking all the air and attention toward him as his eyes lifted to bore into my own.
I’d spent my entire life under the ruling hand of a military leader. I knew how they acted, and despite being dressed casually in jeans and a black T-shirt that pulled tightly across his chest and bulging arms, it was obvious to me that this man was exactly that—a leader.Everyone around him damn well knew it too, if the way they seemed to shift away from his space was any indication. They all seemed to watch him with awe, despite their defensive postures not changing toward us.
They were waiting for his command.
“Steele, this is Kieran,” Gabe introduced, waving a hand toward me. “I told you about her already.” Gabe’s voice held a harder edge to it than I’d heard from him before as he gave the man a pointed look.
Steele seemed only momentarily surprised by Gabe’s words before his gaze left me to run over Ronan and then Bastian, who was still lounging on the ground like he was taking a nap.
