Since Nate was closer, he accepted it. About to hand the weapon to Ely, the thing heated in his palm, glowing like the sun.What the hell?
Shocked gasps echoed through the kitchen.
Nate frowned. “What’s happening to the dagger? It never did this before.”
Ely laughed, grasping his hand holding the blade as the glow settled. “It’s yours now…”It didn’t connect with you previously because of your beast blocking our mating bond.
Right. “Good to know. I had thoughts of taking it,” he teased. “After all, you did stab me with it—”
“What?” Kira gasped, and the others stared.
Her cheeks gone signal-red, Ely groaned, “He was being a pain in my butt when we first met. We fought…and yeah.” She bit her lip.
Nate smiled, giving her a break, studying the intricate design of the guard.
“Stealing it wouldn’t have worked anyway, not with this blade.” He looked up at the speaker, and the brunette, Darci, smiled. “No one can with an obsidian dagger. It’s a Guardian’s mate’s dagger.”
“That’s true,” Ely said softly. “It’s gifted to us when we first take our oaths with Gaia. This weapon can never get lost or stolen. Only our true mate can command it. And trust me on this, it’s a darn deadly blade when dealing with evil.”
Oh, he already knew that, considering the malevolent creature he’d housed, not that his past had been any better. But thanks to his mate, he’d healed.
“Oooh, this is so exciting!” Shadow said, rubbing her rounded belly. “I’m so happy for you both. I just telepathed Nik that you guys are here.”
Nate set the dagger on the counter near him, glancing from one speaking female to the other, including his precious mate, feeling as if his eyeballs were a ping-pong ball, bouncing between them all. But he realized the significance of the blade. Always his to command. Good, because he didn’t have any weapon currently, didn’t even know what abilities he had with the new symbionts or if he still possessed the killing rage of the wraconis one—
The door opened, and two huge, tall males sauntered inside, one with cropped dark hair and electric blue eyes, looking more like he should be on some men’s fashion ‘zine, and the other with several warrior’s braids and animal-like yellow eyes Nate was sure never missed a thing. He’d had glimpses of both of them in the past couple of years but from a distance.
The door opened again. Nik and Blondie strolled in, and the latter cocked an eyebrow at him.
“Nate,” Nik nodded in greeting.
“Demon,” Blondie baited.
“He’s not.” Kira elbowed her mate in the ribs. “You saw those beautiful wings last night, Týr. He’s like Michael and Shae.”
“Oh, right,” he murmured, like he’d forgotten.
Asshole.
“You’ll get used to their warped attitude,” Ely said with a deep sigh. “Nate, that’s Dagan with the braids, he’s mated to Shae, and Blaéz is mated—”
“To this gorgeous female,” Blaéz said, slipping his arms around a smiling Darci. “So, do you play pool, foosball, or basketball?”
“A little of the first two, the latter, no.”
“No problem, you can catch up on basketball soon enough. We play—”
“Oh, no, no!” Ely muttered, followed by the other females’ groans.
“You don’t want to play with them.” Kira’s focus snapped back to Nate. “Especially Týr and Blaéz. They’re ruthless. They’ll take the clothes off your back if they can.”
“Just know, the bets are set at ten bucks for any game,” Ely added, casting a gimlet stare at the two males in question.
“Damn, El. Why would you ruin our fun, huh?” Týr grumbled.
And then Nate saw. These guys really were like brothers to his mate, the teasing, the affection, and protectiveness, even if the latter used to be against him. And for that alone, he let his irritation with Blondie slide.
“By the way, Nate,” Ely said suddenly, looking innocent as all hell. “I have a vintage Corvette, and I’d like to get a fresh paint job done. I’m thinking purple.”
