She just kissed a stranger. Who’d broken into her room!
How did one even get into her quarters in a fortified castle?
The dark shape leaped over the bed and landed in front of her like a cat. “No—” she cried, hands flashing up, caught between dream and terror, “Stay away from me!”
“Shadow,i kardiá mou, it’s me. Nik.”
The wall sconces in the room came on, casting a soft glow and chasing away the darkness.
She shook her head, so sure this was another dream tormenting her. But his scent, dear God, it was so powerful again, overwhelming her.
Gleaming, sun-streaked brown strands brushed his broad shoulders. His tough, muscled body appeared leaner. But those tattoos…she blinked at the snakehead inked on his neck. The last time she’d seen it, blood gushed from the almost decapitating wound.
Her gaze rushed up to his lean, chiseled features sporting a light stubble, his otherworldliness vivid in familiar ice-green eyes that watched her with so much tenderness.
“Nik?” she whispered, too afraid to hope.
“It’s me.” He smiled, the single dimple coming to life. “It’s me,agápi mou.” He held out his hand, and ice flowers formed like once before.
Tears spilled over, trailing hot tracks down her cheeks. She dove into him with a huge sob, taking him down from his crouch onto his butt. The ice blooms fell to the floor and shattered. Strong arms wrapped around her, crushing her to him. “I have you,moró. I have you. I will never let you go.”
Resting on her knees, she pushed back, her wet gaze fixing on his. “How? I saw you d-die?”
Nik expression darkened. “I did. It was that accursed sword, one of the few heavenly weapons that can kill an immortal. I don’t know how the demon got a hold of it—oomph!” Nik exhaled, grabbing her as she threw herself at him again, shaking her head, her arms constricting him, her body shaking, her silent tears wetting his neck.
He pulled her on his lap, his arms tightening around her, his chest heaving as fast as hers…
Shadow shut her eyes just feeling him, then she pushed away again, staring into his beloved face. Cautiously, she trailed her fingers over his eyebrows, down his cheek to his intractable jaw, absorbing the feel of his skin that appeared slightly pale beneath his normal tan one.
Oh,God, please don’t let this be a dream.
Nik dragged her back into his arms and just held her. Seconds past, then minutes…
Shadow had no idea how long they sat on the floor. When her shuddering eased, she ran her palm up his back to his neck, soaking in feeling him.
“I’m never going to leave you,agápi,” Nik said softly, his voice muffled in her neck. “Never.”
Inhaling a trembling breath, she whispered, “It was Mammon, the Demon of Avarice. He probably killed an angel to get that sword.” She eased back a little, so she could see his face. “Anything he lusts for, he must have. It’s why he came after me, too, when he found out the truth about those symbionts Nate stole from him. I’m rare. An anomaly—”
“The coward,” he growled. “I’m going to find him, and he will wish for death by the time I’m done.”
She gave him a wobbly smile, touching his jaw again, finding it hard to believe he was here. “He’s dead.”
“What?” he demanded, looking a little pissed. “Did the others get him?”
“No, I did. Pithius and me.”
He froze. “You?How?” he rasped. “I saw a vision from Gaia. The hellhound hurt you! I thought-I thought…” His throat moved as if he couldn’t swallow.
She gently touched his rigid jaw and shook her head. “Came close to it. But it wasn’t the hound’s fault. Mammon trapped him with a spell. It’s why he attacked. I broke the spell through a brief feeding…”
Nik’s expression grew darker. She hastily explained how, with the hellhound’s eventual help, they’d both brought the demon down. “I guess with vengeance in my heart for what he did to you, and adrenaline charging through me, it powered my psychic abilities. I astral-projected and managed to take his heart. Pithius decapitated him and consumed his soul.”
* * *
Inhaling harshly, as ifhe’djust emerged from that fight, Nik rested his brow to hers, so damn grateful she came out of it whole.
“My beautiful, brave warrior. I saw some of it. Gaia showed me.”
