Echo blew out a deep breath, stirring her overlong bangs, then she nodded. “It’s okay. Empyreans are angels, but a different species to the Heavenly ones. And Aethan, the guy with the blue hair, he’s my mate, and also one of them. Ely comes from Empyrea, too.”
Shadow’s gaze darted to Ely, who lounged on her chair again, curling a swathe of gleaming, pale hair around her finger. She was an angel?
Ely rolled her eyes and scrunched her face. “Guilty, I’m afraid.”
The woman had an odd sense of humor, but she was incredibly beautiful, possessing an ethereal quality that finally fit.
Her fault, Shadow realized. She’d tagged them all as one species; as immortals. Of course, there would be angels. Heck, she’d lived with demons—Aba and Nate—the latter being half-demon. He hadn’t said so, but she knew. She’d seen the eerie red streaks in his eyes at times, just like the ones appearing in hers. But her mind fixated on one particular immortal. Her heart clipped like a fleeing racehorse as she asked the question tying her up in knots.
“So when Týr called NikGreeklast night, it’s not because he’s from the European continent, is it…?”
Kira bit her upper lip, then said, “No. It’s because he’s from the Greek pantheon. You know, Mount Olympus and such?”
Shadow gaped, feeling as if someone had clocked her on the head.
Agod!
Nik was one ofthosepowerful beings?
She dragged in a shaky breath to ease her compressing lungs, finally understanding why he’d told her upfront it was only about needs. As if there could ever be anything more between them. Worse, she was so far beneath him, fallen even lower now, fused with a species they all considered vile.
Shadow’s gaze dropped to her half-eaten cake, her appetite deserting her.
“You okay?” Kira asked quietly.
“Yeah.” She set her plate on the table. “Just letting it all sink in.”
A Greek god.
Only she’d want the impossible. Just her luck in this godforsaken life.
Aware of the girls watching her, Shadow forced a smile and headed outside again, avoiding Bob, who lay on the tiled terrace like a gray rug, asleep in the sunshine. Her friends’ soft voices drifted to her.
Several deep breaths later, she managed to calm down a little. She leaned against the wrought iron table when a ripple of unease slid through her, and she stilled.
Whatever was causing this hiking anxiety, it sure wasn’t her nodes. She rubbed the chill from her arms and skimmed through her thoughts, trying to find the cause of her disquiet… There was only one person who could make her insides twist with worry.
She darted back into the living room. “Do you know where Nik is?”
All heads swiveled her way, the movie discussion forgotten.
Kira frowned. “No.”
“He said he’d be gone for a few days, so, where?” She didn’t care she might have revealed her deeper feelings for Nik, but something wasn’t right.
“I didn’t even know he wasn’t at the castle.”
Dammit. Shadow glanced at the blonde angel. “Ely, you’re a Guardian. Do you know?” She pressed her hand into her agitated tummy, a sense of foreboding gripping her. “Is it work-related?”
The woman sat up. “Not that I know of, but now that you ask, he wasn’t at the morning’s meeting, either. And no one said anything. What is it?”
“I don’t know.” The urge to get moving tugged at her. “It’s this feeling that I should find him, like he needs—”Her?Yeah right. “Someone.” Hell, she had no idea if he did, but she’d face his wrath after assuring herself he still breathed.
“Shadow,” Kira said softly, her fingers rolling the turquoise and black beads at the end of the skinny braid in her hair. “Wherever Nik is, he can take care of himself. The thing is, as nice as he is, there’s a certain reputation following him among the guys. Of course, they wouldn’t confirm or deny it.” She snorted. “Not only is he dangerous, but there’s no emotion in him, as if his power has leeched it all out. And with just a look, a touch, he can freeze a person. Most times, you don’t come out of it alive.”
Oh, she’d felt his coldness, all right. But beneath it all, there was something more. A warmth that wanted out. A warmth she’d felt and longed for.
“I know.” Shadow rubbed her clammy palms down her skirt. “I saw it all when I first er, bumped into him during a demon attack in an alley. Those he froze shattered into fragments from just a kick then dissipated into the ground.”
