“We should only continue if you’re sure,” he said. “It’s possible Wraith’s intention canceled Cole’s and there was no danger to you. It’s possible I can’t see a shadow because there is none, but I’m afraid there is no way to test my abilities without putting you in direct danger. And if I am wrong—”
She set her fingers on his lips, stepping toward him and invading his personal space with her scent and warmth. Warmth that somehow reached him through the chilled air and her thick coat.
“You don’t owe me anything. You’ve already saved me at least twice, so from here maybe we just wing it in plain old human fashion. Let death be a mystery for a bit.”
Her words attempted to soothe a particularly deep, old wound. He relied on his Sense to protect those around him, to be useful.
What good are you?
The words lingered in his every action, tormented his more unsettling nightmares. Care for no one, but take care of everyone. He had failed his siblings and ever since he’d beentrying to atone by saving everyone else. His Sense was not just his purpose, it had become the very source of his self-worth. Always confident in its power because he had told himself a long time ago that he would never grow close enough for him to second guess.
Until Sera.
She seemed to interpret his silence, face scrunching with concern and her touch gentle rather than continuing with the charged atmosphere that had followed them from his office.
“It’s okay to fail with me,” she said, softly, and he glanced sharply at her admission. “It’s okay to fail with me because I know you’re always going to try. No one else has ever tried, not for me. Maybe Gideon, to an extent, but he left. He went to war and I was alone and I made choices that would separate us for most of our adult lives.”
She brushed at his hair still disheveled from earlier. He’d been too distracted to fix it, too focused on everything else, and he couldn’t help but lean into the touch. Because while he’d gone years without sexual contact, he had not felt a comforting touch since the death of his siblings when he was ten.
“I was thinking that I wanted you to know, it’s okay to not be perfect with me. Because no one is, even if you are physically perfect.” Her eyes swept from his chest to his face, appreciation obvious as her tongue lightly parted her lips.
He had never thought not being perfect was an option.
He was about to respond when the door opened. Light from the foyer flooded the porch.
“I thought I heard voices,” Tarley said, taking in the pair of them quickly, even as Sera pulled away. “I’m sorry to interrupt, sir, but you have a visitor. He’s been waiting for hours.”
Another surprise guest? His life certainly wasn’t boring anymore.
“Who?” He asked, stepping inside and when Sera lingered like she was going to slip off to her room he turned to her. “You’re welcome to stay.”
Her gaze shifted from Tarley to him. “Oh, um, are you sure?”
“If you wish,” he said, his tone perfectly even and yet, he thought she still detected the unspoken ‘please.’
Sera grinned, her smile alighting her already pretty features into something truly breathtaking.
Tarley said, “It’s Mister Varian Hawthorne. He’s waiting in the sitting room.”
Kieran started in that direction, listening to see if Sera followed and her light, quick steps bounded just behind him. He kept his focus ahead, quickly wiping the smile from his face before entering the sitting room.
Varian sat on one of the sofas, his posture relaxed as he laughed with Seth, who sat in the adjacent armchair, also smiling with an arm flung over the back of his seat.
Varian stood when they entered, his smile abruptly disappearing as he bowed. “North, I apologize for the unannounced visit. We were just…” He looked to Seth like he needed to explain why they were talking.
“Seth?” Sera entered on Kieran’s heels, taking in the scene with a much more overt display of confusion.
“Sera!” Seth’s affection for her was evident in the way his eyes lit at her presence. Sera’s regard for Seth was familial, if he read their connection correctly. Not that he was given to jealousy, or actually, he supposed he had no real frame of reference. Kieran had never had a relationship to feed envy. His mind flashed to Miles Harrow and his brazen comments on Sera’s appearance and rage flooded his senses.
Perhaps, he was not entirely immune to jealousy. But then, why not? Sera had thrown everything else into turmoil. Though he had always found jealousy a very primitive and oppressiveexpression of attachment, the thought of Miles savoring even a fraction of Sera’s touch filled him with unreasonable fury.
An odd development, one that did not bode well for his ability to Sense Sera. Though, it was likely far too late.
Sera cast uncertain glances between Seth and Varian.What the fuck was going on here?
Seth hated Varian, last she checked. She didn’t like the unsettled, bad feeling rolling in her gut. It was enough to distract her from everything else. Everyoneelse.
Seth stood and rolled his eyes. “What? Like I can’t be civil with people? I was down here, bored, waiting for you to get home and debating just going out, but, everything here is so cold I swear I wouldn’t make it five steps. Which leaves me a bit stranded, by the way.”
