The hairs on his arms prickled as Phaedra lifted the crystal out of the box and held it in her palms. His veins thrummed, his cells vibrating as he stared at the silvery, translucent orb that looked similar to mercury glass. The soft glow that clung to both the crystal and Phaedra warmed the entire room, not with cosmic fire as he’d experienced in the Deadlands, but with a peaceable, soothing calm.
“You can feel it, too,” Phaedra said, less a question than a certainty.
He nodded. So did Jenna and Jordana.
“You feel them,” she said. “That warmth you feel is my parents. This is the only way for me to be near them now, to touch them.”
Phaedra’s eyes closed and she held the crystal in silence for a short while, cradling it like a precious treasure. Her expression softened as if she could feel things beyond the others in the room. As if she were communicating in a wordless language with the small orb that glowed in her palms.
When she opened her eyes again, they glistened with emotion. The illumination that had surrounded her slowly faded, all of the light seeming to pour back into the crystal, where it swirled and sparked.
Gently, she placed it back inside the box and closed the lid.
“Thank you, Jenna,” she said, her voice quiet.
As Jenna returned the box to the safe, Phaedra walked slowly out of the room. Micah followed, catching up to her in the corridor. Although her skin and hair were no longer infused with light, the calmness lingered. But so did a tender sadness.
“Are you okay?”
She met his gaze and gave him a small nod. “I miss them, that’s all.”
She lowered her head, and a tendril of her rich brown hair fell into her face. Before he could stop himself, Micah reached out and smoothed the lock behind her ear. Her silken hair glided through his fingers. This close to her, the scent of lemons and roses and something far sweeter than either one hit his nose like a drug, sending his pulse racing.
The heat of her skin radiated toward him, making him hot with the need to feel her curves crushed against his body. Against his will, he recalled her tender touch on his face earlier tonight. The memory made him burn all over again, made him want to feel her caress on more than just his cheek.
She looked up at him again, her lips parted as if she was about to say something. If there had been any hint of permission in her voice, he wouldn’t be fool enough to reject her again. If she gave him even the slightest indication that she didn’t think he was a complete bastard, he’d claim her mouth in a blazing kiss right where they stood.
Christ, he wasn’t sure it would take even that much for him to act on his desire for her.
“Hey, Micah.” Darion hailed him from the other end of the corridor. He was walking alongside Nathan, with Jax and Eli trailing behind.
Micah groaned at the interruption, but in his gut he knew he should be relieved. Phaedra took a step away from him as the four males strode up to them.
“We’re all heading out to the city to catch up,” Darion said. “We’re going to hang out at Slake for a while. You want to join us?”
Micah was more than passingly familiar with the Georgetown blood Host parlor, and the fact that Darion kept a luxury VIP suite there. Over the years, Micah had partaken of the establishment’s services more than a few times.
It had been several long hours since he fed back in Rome. His healing body sure as fuck could do with more sustenance, to say nothing of the other options available for purchase at the exclusive club that catered to the Breed.
Putting some distance between him and Phaedra wasn’t a bad idea either.
At that moment, Jordana stepped out of the archive room. She sent a smoldering look at her mate, Nathan. “Did I hear someone mention Slake?”
Nathan’s stern face broke into a rare smile. “This is becoming a habit every time we come to D.C., love.”
“Are you complaining?” Jordana laughed as she walked into Nathan’s embrace. “You’re the one who’s corrupted me.”
Nathan stroked her cheek. “Baby, I’ll never complain about making you happy.”
“Good.” She glanced at Phaedra. “You should come with all of us.”
“What’s Slake?”
“It’s a feeding parlor,” Micah growled, appalled at the idea of gentle, lovely Phaedra getting a firsthand glimpse of the baser natures of his kind. He turned his scowl in her direction. “You wouldn’t like it.”
“You don’t know that,” Eli interjected, a grin accompanying his whiskey-smooth drawl. “It’s one of the swankiest clubs in Georgetown, Breed or otherwise.”
Jax nodded. “It also has two dance floors and sim-lounge. You should come.”
