“Now turn on your side so I can spend the rest of the night holding you.”
His shadows react before I do, curling around my waist in loose, sleepy tangles.
Ezra holds me like he’ll never let go, but his shadows? They cling like they never had a choice.
And yet … even that kind of certainty doesn’t quiet the questions clawing at my brain.
“You’re still thinking quite loudly, Aurora. I do notneedto sleep, you know. In fact, before you came along, it was something I rarely did. So please ask your questions so you can rest, little queen,” Ezra says, nuzzling the back of my neck.
“Okay, can we start with hellfire? Louie already told me a bit about it, but how can my flames engulf you like that? And why isn’t the bed scorched?”
“Intent plays a crucial role,” Ezra says. “My shadows are the same. I can use them to protect or to destroy. Your hellfire works much the same way.”
He lifts a brow. “A demon explained it to me once. Said hellfire reflects, not creates.”
Ezra’s mouth twitches. “Admittedly, I was fucking him at the time, so I might be misquoting him.”
“Of course you were railing a demon during a magical lecture.” I snort. “You’ve got big ‘would fuck during finals week’ energy, Grim.”
He just smirks. “Speak with Louie tomorrow. She’ll have more information.”
I nod. “Got it. Louie’s my hellfire whisperer.”
I tap my fingers like I’m ticking off a to-do list.
“Now, what’s the story with flannel guy and the massive, tattooed god from The Cardinal?”
Ezra looks entirely unsurprised. “I was waiting for you to notice.”
Bastard.
“They had the hottest make-out session I’ve ever seen,” I say, brows raised. “Tattoo guy literally growled ‘mine’ against flannel guy’s mouth while his ink lit up. So … what’s the story there?”
I pause, then grin. “Did you fuck them too?”
Ezra chuckles softly. “No. Boone and Vael belong to each other. Exclusively.”
He leans back, shadows shifting lazily behind him. “Boone owns The Cardinal. Won it in some shady poker game. Vael?”
A small smile tugs at his mouth. “Vael owns Boone.”
“Okay, but … are they human?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. “I’m assuming Vael isn’t because … glowy tattoos and growling. But Boone?”
Ezra pauses. “Boone’s human. Or … he was. What he is now defies simple explanation.”
He pulls me closer and brushes his lips against my hair. “But he carries something. Not a spark like the other humans. Something heavier. Something older.”
Ezra’s voice lowers. “He carries … well. That’s not my story to share. As I said when we met, this is an odd little town. It’s a magnet for the different, the lost, the slightly magical. Those who belong here thrive.”
“Okay, well, that’s weirdly adorable and slightly terrifying,” I mutter.
But the question I really need to ask has been clawing at the back of my mind for hours now.
“Um, did you know? About Eve?”
Ezra takes a deep, steadying breath, which tells me everything I need to know.
“Yes, Aurora. I know Eve is verdalora. It’s hard to ignore something like that in a town this small. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but we’ve been dealing with quite a lot. I would have told you eventually, I promise.”
