Blondie froze, and the other guys chuckled.
He wasn’t sure what this was about, but he played along, sensing that somehow it was to nettle Blondie. “I can do that for you,” he said, then added, “Since it’s a girly car, how about a pink stripe along the body?”
“Awesome, I’d love that!” Her eyes gleamed now.
“Aw, El, I take it back.Youdo have a vindictive streak,” Blondie groaned. Then he smirked at Nate. “Let’s go, demon. And acquaint ourselves with these skills of yours.”
Nate snorted. He didn’t even care about the tag. He would never deny it was also a part of him. “It’s nice to have some serious competition, instead of drunk bikers and petty demons who don’t know how to lose with grace,” he drawled, casually tossing it in there that he wasn’t a newbie. “And yeah, you’re welcome to try, Blondie.”
Guffaws of laughter exploded.
The door behind them opened, and the archangel strode inside, bringing the icy chill of outside with him.
“Good, you’re here,” Michael said, pushing his aviator shades to the top of his head.
The archangel oozed so much power, it was a miracle the others weren’t struck unconscious, but they still chattered on. So, just him feeling it, then.
“Can we talk?” Michael asked him, and silence fell.
“Sure.” Not like he could say no because that wasn’t a request. But the stares from the others had Nate feeling a pow-wow alone was a rare thing.
Ely grabbed his hand, and they followed the archangel down the wide, elegant corridors. He could feel his mate’s wariness and wondered if his nads were on the line.
CHAPTER36
In the Arc’s study,Ely stopped near the French doors to the terrace, her heart knocking around her ribs. Nate shut the inner door behind him and crossed to her, his expression as unreadable as Michael’s.
The Arc leaned against the shorter side of his L-shaped desk. “Tell me about your past, your meeting with the demon who’s your sire.”
Ely frowned.
“Aba?” Nate’s expression hardened, and Ely felt his protective urge rise to the forefront. “Hesavedme when I was eight—”
“Actually, I met Nate first,” Ely cut in.
The Arc’s fractured blue eyes shifted to hers and narrowed. “What do you mean? This meeting would have occurred over two decades ago, Ely. You came here recently—”
“I know.” She met Nate’s warm gaze, then she told Michael what happened all those years ago, about escaping her world to this one, and to a young crashing into her. “I couldn’t leave him alone. He was just a child,” she said. “Then I heard one of the thugs chasing after him yell,kill the brat.”
Michael slowly straightened, his expression icy. “And it was Nate?”
“Yes. That’s when I took him and dematerialized to another place. It was a suburb I now know as Brooklyn. I left him with an older couple who’d stepped out of their brownstone.”
“Obviously, I didn’t stay with them. I mean, I’m here,” Nate added, gently rubbing her back. “I don’t remember my former life after the change, but it’s likely I must have run after Ely.” His caressing fingers slowed. “However, I recalled something last night. Probably going through the changes again triggered it.”
Ely’s gaze snapped to him. “And you didn’t tell me?”
“I would have,laika. But so much has happened since Ys. I was simply trying to figure out everything.” He said to Michael, “I remember looking for someone else—”
“Your mother?” she asked.
“I don’t think so…” He rubbed his temples, brow creasing as if trying to dig out thoughts of his past. “All that lingers is immense pain at being shot and nothing after, until I awakened again.”
Michael didn’t speak for several seconds. Then, “Would you ask your sire to come over? I want to speak with him and see if he can shed more light on what happened back then.”
“I don’t have my cell,” Nate said.
“Here.” Michael handed his phone over before Ely offered hers.
