Suddenly, the face in the crowded street the other day clicked. Everything inside her froze.Oh. Shit!Taking a deep breath, she said, “Blaéz, I think I saw him, too.”
He went utterly still, like some deadly predator about to strike. With slow, precise movements, he set his silverware down. “Where?”
“At the florist. You were late, so I went to the entrance to look for you, and in the swarm of people crossing the street, I saw this guy. He was really tall, and he looked my way. Though he wore a baseball cap that shadowed his face, I felt as if I’d seen him before. Then, he vanished. It all happened so fast. I thought I was mistaken.”
Blaéz rose from his seat, his features cast in ice, reminding her of the cold, deadly man she’d first met several months ago; the one without a soul. Troubled now, she got up, too.
“We have to leave.”
“You’re going after him, right?” He said nothing, and her anxiety grew.
After saying their goodbyes to Declan and Grace, he ushered her out of the house. As he opened the car door for her, she stopped him with a hand on his forearm. “Blaéz, your mother did say the Absolute Laws no longer affects us—”
“And yet, he’s here.” His tone grew icy. The tense lines of his face transformed into stone. “I’m not waiting for him to come after us. If Finnén persists in stalking us, I will deal with him.”
* * *
Darci stirred from a deep sleep, pain sweeping through her. She jackknifed up, breathing hard. The heavy drapes remained shut, concealing the room in darkness. An agonized groan drifted to her.
Oh, no!She scrambled to where Blaéz was on the other side, the covers thrown off him. His body strained as if trying to break free of whatever had trapped him. Sweat gleamed on his skin.
And then she knew.
“Oh, my love,” she whispered, her heart hurting for him, the pain impossible to bear, feeling every bit of his own agony through their shared soul. “Blaéz?” She ran her palm over his damp biceps. “I’m here now. I won’t let anything happen.”Or ever hurt you again.
His head snapped toward the sound of her voice. Pain-drenched, unfocused blue eyes flew open.
She hastily wiped away her tears with her hand and forced a smile. “It’s going to be all right. Just focus on me. Okay?”
No response. She didn’t expect one anyway. He hauled her down to him as if terrified she’d leave. She wrapped her arms tightly around him as he rested his head on her chest, a hard lump forming in her throat. Her big bad warrior, usually so tough and resilient, brought to his knees by those fucking nightmares.
A shuddering sigh escaped him, as if hearing her heartbeat soothed him.
Darci pressed her lips to his hair in a gentle kiss, her hand sliding over his back in a comforting caress. But the old whiplash scars riddling his back was a grim reminder of his horrific imprisonment in Tartarus, and why he suffered from those terrible nightmares.
