They slipped into the cramped corridor, the hush between them weighted with everything they weren’t saying.
“You going to tell her?” Nico asked quietly, nodding toward Miryam.
Raphael shook his head, voice rough. “I don’t know how. She’s . . . good, Nico. She’s not meant for someone like me.”
“You’re her mate. That means something,” Nico said, voice gentle but unwavering. “And shouldn’t it be her choice, too? Wemay be many things, you and I, but cowards isn’t one of them. It’s time to demon up.”
Raphael barked a humorless laugh. “Demon up?” He shook his head. “Right. That’s what I’ll tell her. That I’m ready to demon up and be her mate. Because that’s what every female wants to hear.”
“Or, you could give her up, let some human male sweep her off her feet, straight onto her back, where he’d make passionate love to her and make little human babies?—”
Nico’s words were cut off with a gargle as Raphael snarled.
He blinked as the red haze that had covered his eyes dissipated when a small voice came from the other room. “Everything okay in there?”
Raphael noticed his hand was wrapped around Nico’s throat, and he had the shaman pressed against the wall. His claws were extended but hadn’t punctured the skin. Nico blinked, not the least bit scared, and grinned. Raphael released him immediately and stepped back.
“We’re all good,” Nico said as he straightened his shirt.
“You baited me,” Raphael accused as he ran a hand across his brow. His shoulders were tense as he took several deep breaths in an attempt to get control of the jealous beast inside of him that had emerged at Nico’s words.
“You needed me to show you why you can’t walk away from this, no matter what you think,” Nico said as he stepped closer to Raphael. Nico rested a hand on his shoulder and looked him in the eye. “If Miryam attempted to move on without you, you’d wind up killing any man she tried to be with.” He held up his other hand to stop Raphael, because he’d been about to deny it. “And don’t lie to both of us and say you wouldn’t. I know you would because I would totally dismember any male that thought he had a chance with Akira. They were created for us. They’re our mates.”
Raphael pinched the bridge of his nose and closed his eyes. He could feel the truth in his friend’s words. When he opened his eyes and looked back at Nico, he nodded. “Okay. You’re right. I wouldn’t let her go, but I’m only admitting that because you admitted it first and that makes me less of an ass, somehow.”
Nico chuckled. “I live to find ways to make you feel like less of an ass. Now will you take Miryam aside and fill her in so she can stop looking like a lost puppy?”
Raphael started to reply, but Nico’s phone buzzed. He checked the screen, then his eyes sharpened. “It’s Lyric. ‘Need to talk. Urgent. Roan and Maddie may be hidden in Silk. Something’s wrong here. Tell no one else. Someone may hear if we speak over the phone. Meet?’”
Raphael’s blood went cold. “Another fire. Great.”
Nico’s jaw clenched. “We need to meet her. But we still haven’t told the Kingdom of Claws or Fangs about what we found with Wolfgang and Azure.”
“And we have new mates who are going to have a ton of questions,” Raphael said quietly. “We can’t just drag them with us all over the United States while we attempt to out every Damarian that was in bed with Azure.”
“Does it always lead back to ‘bed’ with you?” Nico asked with a smirk. “Is that just a side effect of your nature?”
“One of these days, I’m going to use my power on you,” Raphael warned. “And I’ll video you as you beg me to be your daddy.”
Nico shuddered causing Raphael to throw his head back and laugh.
“Don’t ever again refer to yourself as ‘daddy’ and use me in the same sentence.” Nico made a gagging motion.
“Don’t provoke me and I won’t have to,” Raphael challenged. “Now, what’s our next move?”
Miryamsat on the couch, knees curled to her chest, fingers tracing the jagged chain on her arm for the hundredth time. Akira and Morgan were perched on opposite ends, equally restless.
Morgan broke the silence. “Anyone else feel like we’re sitting on a live grenade?”
Akira snorted. “More like a magical landmine. I keep waiting forsomethingto happen. Maybe for Nico to start glowing or Raphael to grow horns. He did say he was a demon, right?”
Miryam smiled faintly, but her heart was pounding. “I keep . . . feeling him. Raphael.” She hadn’t allowed herself to dwell on the whole “demon” thing. She was still trying to wrap her head around what she was feeling. “It’s not just attraction, which there is plenty of,” she admitted. “It’s something deeper. Since I got this tattoo, it’s like there’s a string connecting us, and it keeps pulling tighter.”
Morgan nodded, her own hand drifting to the bear on her arm. “I keep dreaming about forests. And honey. And . . . fur. It’s weird, right?”
Akira huffed. “You’re talking to someone who just found out her soulmate is some sort of sorcerer, or something. I’m actually not really clear on what a shaman is. But I think we passed ‘weird’ about three exits back.”
Miryam’s voice was quiet, but there was steel underneath. “I think Raphael is my mate. I’ve never felt anything like this. It’s like . . . if he’s not in the room, I know exactly how far away he is. If he’s upset, I can feel it. And it’s getting stronger.”
