Aziel bowed his head. “Excuse me.” He disappeared through the portal, but before I had a chance to ask where he went, he came back in with Titan.
Titan let out a low whistle as he came over. “Damn. You’re looking rough. Overworked again?”
The seers glanced at each other, and Regalia said, “Rest up. All will be revealed soon.”
With a gust of wind, the seers were gone.
Kai removed his hands, and I whined from the lack of touch. His calmness was still being emitted from him like a beacon, and a sigh left my trembling lips.
Titan bent over me, icy fingers wrapping around the back of my neck, and the crippling pain subsided as sleep swallowed me.
NINE
I jolted awake, gasping for air as I sat up in bed. Scanning my surroundings, I noticed Blaise lay beside me, with his eyes transfixed on my face.
“Fuck,” I mumbled, rubbing my chest. “Glad that’s over with.”
“How’re you feeling?”
I rubbed my throat, the sizzling feeling of hunger climbing up. “Fucking hungry.”
“For essence or blood?” Aziel asked, stepping through the portal.
“Both,” I rasped, staring at Blaise, who sat up and covered my lips with his.
Our lips moved in sync, and his chapped lips scratched mine. Slipping my tongue in, his warm essence poured into my mouth and down my throat. I moaned, wrapping my arms around his neck and running them through his hair.
He groaned, pulling away slightly, and I broke the kiss.
His forehead was clammy as it rested on mine, and he gave me a lazy smile before falling back on the bed. He crossed his tatted arms behind his head. “I’m bloody knackered after that, Poppy.”
I ran my hand through the silky strands of my hair and swung my legs over the side of the bed. “Damn, and that was only a kiss.”
“Sod off,” he mumbled, eyes fluttering shut, and he drifted off to sleep.
I stumbled across the room toward the dresser and changed into a black dress that hit mid-thigh. Aziel grabbed a B positive blood bag out of the mini-fridge and tossed it my way.
I caught it, ripping the plastic open with my fangs and gulping the blood in forceful pulls. Thick, coppery liquid rolled over my tongue and down my throat, easing the burning in my stomach. “Thanks, Aziel.”
His dark eyes watched me closely, and he tilted his head. “Why don’t you call me Jax anymore?”
I huffed a laugh. “Even if I have my memories back, I still only think of your cat form by that name. Like...my pet Jax...not my sexy demon guard.”
“But you gave me that name, didn’t you?”
“You looked more like a Jax to me at the time,” I said with a shrug. “Just not anymore.”
He prowled toward me before he reached out, holding my chin between his thumb and index fingers. He tilted my head up to look at him. “You think of me differently?”
My pulse jumped beneath my skin as I stared into Aziel’s serious gaze that made my knees weak. “Slightly,” I mumbled.
Anguish flickered through his eyes, and my heart squeezed.
“Not in a bad way.” I wrapped my hand around his wrist. “You watched me grow up as a human and protected me because you were that fucking devoted. The cat I grew up with was Jax. And definitelynota demon. It’s just hard to think of you the same as your cat form when I bonded with Jax as a cat and nothing else. Aziel’s the demon I felt an intense bond with from the start. My soul recognized you before I did. My memories from this life are fresh.”
His grip on my chin loosened. “What do you think of me now?”
“Aziel, I’ve been in love with you for over two millennia.” I squeezed his wrist tight, moving his arms down. “Nothing will change that. My feelings for you have grown.”
