Smiling, Eve picked up her coffee and took a sip of the lukewarm beverage. The door opened again. The archangel himself walked into the kitchen. Hard eyes, rigid features, a stern mouth. But he was as equally stunning as they all were.
Eve took a deep breath. She stood a few feet from a being mortals thought a myth.
Michael’s eerie blues rested on her. “You are well?”
Eve understood he wanted to know if she’d seen the oracle. “Yes. Thank you.”
With a nod, Michael shifted his attention to Reynner.
“I feel like I'm about to be judged and sentenced,” Reynner muttered.
“Be wary, I’d say. Very wary,” Aethan added with a smirk. “I’ve never known Michael to attend any social gathering unless he’s after something.”
Oh, yes, something was up, Eve would bet her life on it. And from Reynner’s expression, he knew what it was.
A gasp left Elytani.
So, she knew, as well. Heck, they all knew except her, Eve realized.
Amusement lurked in Michael’s eyes but didn’t touch his mouth, his attention back on Reynner. “I will reissue the invitation I made centuries ago. Will you now accept?”
Chapter 27
As they left her apartment the next evening, Eve checked her cell for messages. Nothing important. She pushed her phone in her jeans pocket, her mind on Brenna.
Earlier that day, she’d been to visit her friend in the hospital, and still no change. Guilt continued to gnaw at her. No matter how much Reynner and Kataya tried to convince her otherwise, this was her fault. If she hadn't gone looking for her cell, Brenna would have been safe.
A warm hand stroked her nape. Somehow, Reynner always seemed to know her state of mind. She drew his hand down and laced their fingers. They took the stairwell to the ground level. As the indistinct sounds of traffic and people yelling out on the streets drifted to her, her mind buzzed around one thought only.
“You're thinking too much again,” he murmured.
She looked up and found him watching her, a smile lurking in his indigo eyes.
“Are you going to accept Michael’s offer?”
“I don’t know, Eve.” His brow furrowed. “There are other things to consider, and the Stone is first priority…but I’ve been doing the same thing, killing demoniis for millennia with Michael on my ass even then. Shouldn’t be too difficult a leap to become a Guardian.”
“And your sister lives here now,” Eve pointed out. They exited the stairwell into the well-lit, foyer. She squinted at the harsh glare.
“There is that. But, this is your world,me'morae. And you are far more important to me than anything else. I wouldn’t take you away from it.”
Eve stopped, overwhelmed at his words. “You’d do that for me?”
He smiled, his gaze tender. “For you, I’d do anything.”
Grabbing a handful of his shirt, she tugged him down and pressed her lips to his. “Concrete walls don’t make a home, Reynner. Mine is wherever you are.”
“As is mine, Eve.” He stroked her cheek. “As is mine.”
He dropped his arm around her shoulders and they walked out of the building into the moist, heat-filled night. North and Aerén waited for them on the street, dressed in their inevitable black leathers and t-shirts.
“Does Aethan know Aerén is here, too?” she lowered her voice to ask.
Reynner nodded. “Yeah. He thinks it’s better Aerén doesn’t know. Says he has to go back to Empyrea.”
She had a bad feeling Aerén wouldn’t appreciate being kept in the dark. “I think it’s a mistake not telling him. There’s always the chance their paths could cross.”
“It’s Aethan’s call. Things could change.”
