He shoved to his feet and stalked outside. The sun had set. Night cloaked thevillage.
“There youare…”
At the slurring voice, Dagan cut an impatient look over his shoulder. Lust and liquor wafted off the horny human who’d followed him out. “You sure you want me? You’lldie.”
“As long as your cock’s inside me, I don’tcare.”
Damn idiot was wasted, had no idea of the reality. Besides, he didn’t roll thatway.
Willing him gone, Dagan headed deeper into the rundown alley, his mood in thecrapper.
There was only one person he wanted, longed for. Just thinking of her and his body coiled tight with arousal. He couldn’t haveher.
Hell, he was hurtling headlong toward a fatal collision, yet he couldn’t seem to slow down any more than he could stopbreathing.
* * *
In the earlyhours of the morning, after a hunt in the nearby forest to satiate his hunger, Dagan took form in the monastery courtyard. As he made his way into the kitchen, Hedori turned from the fridge and shut the door. “I’m sorry about the delay, sire. I have left Shae’s things at your door since she sleeps. Oh, I’ve two containers of pies and cookies in the fridge, they’re ready to pop into theoven.”
Dagan nodded his thanks grateful at the Empyrean’sthoughtfulness.
“Wait,” he called out as Hedori headed for the door. “I need someone to stay here for the duration Shae resides, to see to things and keep her safe when I’m out on patrol. Not Eron. The old fool spends most of his time in the village chasing after the females. GetAngelus.”
“Certainly.” Hedori hesitated, then asked, “Did you pick up anything else when you went back to TheTower?”
“I found the scourge who shot Shae. Got rid ofhim.”
“That’s good to hear. I meant about hermother.”
Dagan frowned. “No…and Shae doesn’t speak much about it,” he said, taking the merlot from the shelf. “She only mentioned her mother had taken off a couple of months ago, wanted her ownlife.”
“She did?” Hedori’s brow creased in confusion. “It doesn’t make sense or tie in with the sadness and despair I felt in thepenthouse.”
Dagan leaned against the counter and sipped his drink. “My thoughts, exactly. But I can’t do anything about it until I getback.”
“I can help out there. I’ll make inquiries and watch The Tower, see what turns up.” Hedori opened the outerdoor.
“Becareful.”
The older Empyrean inclined his head, a hard smile on his face, reminding Dagan that he hadn’t always been the amiable butler they saw daily—he’d been a protector. “Always am. You forget who’s been under my care for millennia. As vast and dangerous as his powers are, he could never evade or kill me—a gift, courtesy of the mage of Empyrea for protecting that intractable Empyrean sovereign. Though I thought it a curse in those earlier days. Burnt clothes, singed hair…” He shook his headwryly.
Dagan found a rare moment of amusement filling him at Hedori’s dry discourse about protecting a young Aethan. His smile faded. “If you find anything, call me. I don’t want you caught in the middle if this turnsbad.”
Hedori’s lips thinned briefly. “Very well,sire.”
“And about that, it’s Dagan, D-man, or whatever the hell the others call me thesedays.”
“Barbarian?”
He scowled at the twinkle in the wiseass’ odd, orange-green eyes. “No.”
Laughing, Hedori walked out into the back courtyard when Dagan recalled something else he wanted to ask. He set the glass on the counter and hurried after him. “Hedori, wait.” He found a twig, and on the dusty ground, he roughly drew the knots with the open end he’d seen on Shae’s wrist. “Do you know what this symbolmeans?”
The Empyrean studied it. “I’m not sure, but I’ll find out. I’ll be intouch.”
After Hedori had left, Dagan collected Shae’s luggage and made his way to the last room. With a wave of his hand, he lit the taper on a dusty nightstand and set the case aside. The place was hardly habitable and covered with a layer of dust. Too tired to care, he shed his clothes, swiped the sheet off the bed, and dropped onto the mattress. The four tall bedposts loomed over him as if standingguard.
For as long as he could remember, his life had been that of a protector, first his mother and sister after his old man had taken off; then, when his sister became the Goddess of Life. And after being released from Tartarus, as Guardian of the human realm. Now,Shae.
