“Fitting in.” He cut her a sideways look.
So, he could obviously transform his physical appearance but not those ice-green eyes. They revealed the core of who he was—the sheer coldness and absolute ruthlessness that honed him. No wonder he kept his head lowered.
Raucous male laughter reached them, along with the acrid stench of weed.
“Hey, Shade,” Russ, of the stained teeth, called out from the crate he occupied near a small fire in a sawed-off drum with a few of his equally weed-happy cronies. The miasma of pungent smoke crowding the stale air made her throat itch.
He flashed her a yellowed smile from a pallid, bony face. “You ever get tired of the old fart you bang and want a real man…” He spread his thighs and grabbed his crotch, shaking his wilted noodle. “I’m right here.”
Same crap whenever she came across him.
A low growl erupted at her side. She grabbed Nik’s shirt, keeping him back. “Not in any of my lifetimes,” she snapped at Russ. “Because I will kill you in every one of them if you ever come near me.” Then she hissed at Nik. “You want to blow your cover? I don’t need protection from these people. They’re all yap, nothing more.”
“Don’t let Eddi catch you sneaking in your latest fuck,” Russ yelled again.
Shadow ignored him and continued walking.
“Who’s Eddi?” Nik asked as they took another turn into darkness and away from The Refuge, stepping over old sidings and rusty pipes.
“None of your business.”
“So, he’s a heavyweight. That’s why they leave you alone.”
“All you’ve seen so far is the homeless refuge,” she said, ignoring his comment. “And that’s out of the way. I can’t show you Rough’s hideout just yet. His goons will be all over the place. Early morning’s your best bet.” She slowed at an area littered with debris and chunks of broken concrete. “Find yourself a space and claim it as home.”
“That’s not how this works,” he said, still in the hunched, haggard persona. “I will be withyoufor the duration I’m here.”
“Hell, no. I’ll meet you out here in the morning.”
“Not happening. Where’s your…base?”
Damn annoying immortal. Mouth tight, Shadow stormed around the corner, climbed over the broken wall and pile of bricks, and slipped through the jagged hole, heading toward her basement. She pulled out a rusty key from her jacket pocket and worked the heavy lock, but the darn thing had jammed again.
Nik brushed her hands aside. With a wave of his, the lock snapped open, and the heavy steel barricade door creaked ajar as if it weighed nothing more than plastic.
Biting back a snort, Shadow stepped into the darkness and threw over her shoulder, “Just make sure to…”
Yup. He’d already locked the door and was now studying the interior, back in his natural appearance. All big, muscly, and oozing sex appeal and peril. And every atom of estrogen she possessed perked up. Stupid libido.
Sheesh, in this cordoned-off basement, he took up even more space, sucking up all the dank air, making her far too aware of him.
So, he could see in the dark, too? Awesome.
Pivoting and trying to get her mind and body under control, she lit a half-burned candle on the old dinged-up filing cabinet. The small flame cast a flickering light, revealing everything.
The place was a craphole, but it was dry and safe. Eddi had made some changes like the partitioning of the area for her privacy.
She arched an eyebrow as Nik studied the watermarked ceiling, moldy brick walls, and the rusty metal sheet separating her side from Eddi’s, probably counting the cobwebs. His attention finally lowered to where she slept.
What, her crate-bed wasn’t good enough for him?
“Sorry if it’s not fitting for your highness’ idea of comfort. You chose to follow me here.”
His gaze met hers, then he slowly prowled closer.
Shadow had to dig her toes in her boots not to take a step back.
“I don’t need comfort, as long as I’m here. Yes, wherever you go, I’ll follow…” He stopped mere inches away, close enough that his scent curled around her. Leaning in, his voice dropped to a husky, menacing whisper that made her wariness hike, and her bones melt. “There’s no escaping me, Shadow. Not now.”
