Shutting my eyes tight, my brain flicked through too many memories, too many emotions.
A crunch preceded the countertop giving way under my hands.
White marble bits fell from my hands, hitting the tile floor. Assirak sat up where he lay on the couch, ears alert and at attention.
“I can’t do this,” I said out loud to myself. “I need to stay in control. Aaron belongs to someone else. I have my duty to uphold. It’s as simple as that.”
Decision made, I went about doing what I did best. Cleaning up the mess.
“May I have an extra hot cappuccino?”I requested at Perkatory.
It had been another long day of judging souls. The sun had long since set, yet there was still more work to do managing the hotel and planning the Convergence. We were days from the alignment of the stars, and it was important I made a show of strength.
I needed fuel and a place to work. Preferably somewhere in the middle of a crowd where I wouldn’t be noticed but could use the sweep of energy all around me to focus.
The barista fumbled with the buttons on the screen in front of her, as a red tinge flooded her cheeks. “I’m sorry, I’m new. I just need to find the button for extra hot.”
“And add cinnamon,” a familiar voice came from behind me.
Every nerve ending prickled with desperation and fearful hope. Heat coiled tight in my lower abdomen.
Aaron sidled up next to me, washing me in his clean ocean scent. He wore board shorts and a tank top that showed off the perfect swell of his biceps and shoulder muscles. A leather necklace adorned with a shark tooth fell to the top of his chest.For a moment, it was almost like no time had passed. Except I couldn’t ignore the glow of his crystallized soul.
“He needs a dash of cinnamon on the top to remind him it’s okay to go a little wild sometimes,” Aaron instructed the barista with a wink, then turned his ultimate weapon on me. His thousand-watt smile.
The weight of duty and responsibility dropped away from me as a heat spread out from the center of my chest.
The world bent toward him until I could believe that everything would work out just fine as long as I stood next to this man. As long as he continued to look at me just like that.
“Can I get you anything?” I gestured to the cafe, determined not to let him see me affected.
Aaron’s expression darkened. His eyes dropped to the floor as the words left his mouth, one hand rising to rub the back of his neck. “Not exactly the kind of thing I drink anymore.”
My throat tightened until it nearly closed off.
Of course not. He was blood-bonded to Seth.
There was only one thing he consumed. And only one person he could drink from.
Even as I tried to block out the visions of the two of them together, jealousy roiled in the pit of my stomach.
Another reason I couldn’t indulge in fantasies of Aaron. I trapped my thoughts between the unforgiving covers of a hardback tome in my mind before shelving it away at the back of my brain where I couldn’t reach them. A tactic that worked, but never for long.
After I paid, we stepped aside. “I’m glad to see you,” I said, proud of the businesslike manner I was able to maintain in Aaron’s presence, though my entire being screamed at me to touch him.
That infuriatingly mischievous grin curved his mouth again. “Yeah? How glad?”
My entire body heated as something turned weightless in my chest.
“Glad because I need to speak with you,” I clarified. “Do you have a few minutes to spare?”
Aaron shoved his hands into his pockets. “For you? I have several handfuls of minutes.”
His face lit up as he spotted Assirak next to me.
“I can’t believe you actually got a dog.” Aaron crouched down. The reaper’s mouth opened, his tongue lolling out as Aaron ruffled his ears and scratched his head, then worked his way down until reaper rolled over and Aaron attacked his exposed belly. “Who’s a good boy? You’re a good boy,” he said in baby talk.
“A dog?” The barista said, perking up from behind the counter. “I love dogs.” She rounded the corner in search of the pup, only for her face to cinch in confusion and disappointment.
