In his long life, Nik hadn’t felt as helpless as he did right then, not even in Tartarus when he’d hung on those obelisks, his skin sliced off by sleet or when the souls were ripped out of him.
“Your grandfather didn’t protect you both?” he asked.
A shoulder lifted in a little shrug. “He did, until he no longer could.”
Of course. Fucking humans and their greed for money.
Shadow started walking again. “A week before the wedding, Olivia came home after some party, and she seemed hopeful after so many months of despair. She wouldn’t say why. A day later, she was dead.”
Nik shoved his clenched fists into the pockets of his sweats and slowed his steps, remorse suffocating him at the cost of his hesitation. When Shadow glanced back, he forced himself to continue walking. “How did the accident happen?”
“Olivia was at Enzo’s penthouse. She slipped in the bathroom and cracked her skull…she died instantly.” Her expression hardened. “Then, two years later, Enzo demanded I take Livy’s place as his wife, said grandfather had to settle his debt. When he found out I was born with a heart defect, I still remember the fury in his eyes—as if I asked to be sick…” She gently rubbed her cheek as she spoke. “Probably because the sadist couldn’t abuse me the way he did Olivia.”
Nik frowned. No, not rubbing but gingerlytouchingher face. Blood rushed to his head. “Did he strike you?”
She lowered her hand. “I accused him of hurting Livy, and he slapped me, said I should learn to shut my mouth and not to cast blame without proof and never to ask him that again. Then he told me point-blank he would be handling our trust fund, and I realizedthiswas the reason for the marriage.” Hollow laughter broke free. “And Grandfather knew. We were nothing but commodities.” Bitterness edged her voice. “I might have been sick, but I refused to let the bastard do to me what he’d done to my sister. If I had to die, it wouldn’t be as his prisoner. So I planned my escape.”
“Who is he?” Nik asked, cold anger pressing down on him.
“Enzo Argo. A powerful businessman. No one can touch him.”
He’d see about that. “You said you were sick?”
“I was born with CHD—congenital heart defect. Even after surgery, I still wasn’t as strong as Livy…” A trembling breath escaped her, and she rubbed her sternum, her brow creasing. “I think the otherworldly blood Nate gave me healed my heart, too.”
“Yeah, it would,” Nik said. “Though not all of it is compatible with humans…unless it was the symbionts that caused the changes.”
Olivia might have been the healthy twin, but his Shadow was stronger in spirit. Even when she was frail, she fought to protect her sister…this had to be why, even without her memories, she continued to help vulnerable people.
His cell buzzed. He glanced at the lock screen and the abridged message. Dagan.Meet you in the forest. Swords?
Raincheck?He typed and slipped his cell into his pocket. “Come. Let’s go back.”
She cast him the same dull, distant look. It fucking hurt his soul to see her in so much pain. More so to know he’d unintentionally failed her. But he would put this right for her, find the bastard and make him pay for the agony and torment he’d caused not only to his mate but to another innocent. Olivia.
Nik drew Shadow to him and dematerialized them, reforming moments later on the kitchen terrace. He nudged her into the massive open-plan dining and kitchen area, the place rich with the aroma of brewing coffee and something savory baking.
Hedori looked up from removing a tray of meat pies from the oven. “Would you like coffee or—”
Nik shook his head. “I’ll see to it.”
The Empyrean cast one look at Shadow, who appeared too pale despite the walk outside in the fresh morning air. He gave a slight nod and disappeared through the back door into his own quarters.
Nik steered Shadow to a seat at the long, oak dining table, then he poured her coffee, selected a couple of warm pies from the cooling rack, put them on a plate, and set the meal in front of her. “Eat.”
He sat next to her, knees spread, and rubbed his palms on his sweats, wanting so badly to touch her, beg her forgiveness for the time it had taken him to put his Guardian oath aside and help Olivia.
“Shadow, I know you’ll find it hard to forgive me, but I am truly sorry. With the rules we live by, not to draw notice to who we are, it took me time to abandon them…fuck it.” He grasped her cold hands. “The fault is mine. I’ve lived with the guilt of hesitating for seven years. Do you know where I spend my time when I come to New York?” he asked, gently squeezing her hands when she remained unresponsive. “At her tombstone, hoping wherever she is now, that some way or somehow, she would forgive me.”
Shadow looked at him, a slight V forming between her eyebrows. And then he felt it, a stir, a spark in the bleakness inside him, of her…irritation? Hell, he hoped so. He wanted her back, wanted the spirited female who’d thrown him for a loop from the moment he met her, who’d kicked him in the nuts, thrown him on his back on her basement floor, and tauntingly let her blade kiss him like some badass.
Nik rose, crossed to the espresso machine, and poured himself a cup, feeling her eyes boring holes into him.
Her quiet words coasted to him. “Did you…did you like Olivia?”
Because he confessed to spending time at her gravesite? Hope sprang to life. Mug in hand, he strolled back to her, leaning against the counter opposite her.
“Not in the way I’m drawn to you. With Olivia, it was her air of fragility and despair. With you…your presence, your spirit and clever mind…and your scent, all of it, it’s like an elixir, forever drawing me to you.”
