Ely froze, her fingers gripping the door handle.
“She can’t even play theclavilewell. I don’t understand how she could be blood-related to Reynner.”
“Hush, Os.” Kacela laughed, then whispered, “It shows you can’t always win the genetic draw even if you are nobility. She doesn’t even know Irek sleeps with another while courting her.”
A punch of pain suffocating her, Ely stumbled back into the room.
“When I mate Reynner,” Osara’s voice drifted to her, “I’ll have to convince him to live away from here…”
Twinges of old hurt seeped through her. She didn’t really care about her cheating ex, though she had her guards toss him out, but how her friends thought of her wounded her. Soon after, Reynner had left Ademéras, never to return, and they, and several other so-called friends, stopped coming over, too.
No, the girls here were nothing like those backbiting females, and why she’d do anything for them.
Gods, she was so happy Reynner mated Eve!
The door opened, and Shadow hurried outside, dressed in a navy, thigh-length parka, leggings, and faux fur-lined boots.
She flashed a grin, lifting the plastic container she held like it cradled the answer to the origins of life or something. “Cookies and muffins,” she said. “For the guys. They both have a terrible sweet tooth. Probably a side effect of their species.” She pulled on her parka hood to cover her white-streaked ebony hair and dematerialized. Ely did, too, following her downtown.
Moments later, they reformed in a gloomy warehouse. Broken bits of timber and discarded steel pipes littered the cement floor. Weak, noon sunlight slipped through the cracked slats covering the windows, lighting the inside a little.
“Wait.” Ely put out a hand, stopping Shadow from leaving. While it was still daylight, anything could happen, and she refused to take a chance. She did a quick mental scan of the alley. “All’s clear.”
With her mind, she willed the lock open, stepped outside,aaandfound herself in the same alley where she’d hurt Nate. Her stomach dipped at the memory.
It seemed as if the universe was determined to remind her of the demon who drew her in a way she couldn’t even begin to explain, who took over her thoughts to the point that she now painted images of him.
“It’s on the main road,” Shadow said, distracting her from her thoughts. “There.” Shadow tipped her chin at the garage opposite with an apartment above it. “They live upstairs.”
She hooked her arm through Ely’s as they waited for an opening in the oncoming traffic to cross. “Who knew I’d change my fate and meet Nik when I ran from home all those years ago? Yet, despite everything we’ve been through, I’m so incredibly happy I have him in my life,” she said with a soft sigh.
Ely’s chest tightened, pleased for her friend because she witnessed first-hand the agony Shadow had lived through after that horrid demon, Mammon, had killed Nik. She’d been with Shadow every painful step in the terrible months following his death until his miraculous return.
“I know,” she said, giving Shadow’s arm a little rub, and they darted across the street.
“He’s out front.” Shadow nodded to the lanky, older male who appeared human, but Ely already caught the faint vibe of his demonic side, flickering in a light, abrasive rub over her psyche. Since becoming a Guardian, her sense receptors had amped up a lot more.
Ugh, she wasn’t on the job, and so she shut down on her mind shields for now.There. The quiet’s so much better.
“Aba?” Shadow called out, bypassing the cars tanking up on gas to where he’d stopped at the shop’s entrance. A smile broke free, lighting his lean features. “What are you doing here?” His dark gaze shifted to Ely. He glanced about, then back to Shadow. “Where’s your mate?”
“Busy.”
Aba frowned. “Shadow—”
“Stop worrying. You’re worse than Nik,” she grumbled, hugging him. “Aba, I’d like you to meet one of my dearest friends, Ely.” She eased back. “Ely, this is Aba, my protector, friend, and father.”
Wow, the girl sure could wheedle, and judging from the affectionate smile gracing the demon’s face, it worked, too.
Maybe Ely had handled her parents all wrong?
“Hello,” Ely said, extending a hand.
After a second’s hesitation, he shook hers. She couldn’t blame him. Demons were wary of the Guardians.Andthey were hunted by every species. However, unlike nearly all her Guardian brethren who had been imprisoned in Tartarus—a place of horrific confinement and sadistic torture by their demon jailors—for failing to protect the goddess of life, she had no gripe against the species, except for those evil nuisances who hunted the innocent for their blood and souls.
Aba cast another quick look around the place. “Let’s go inside.”
He ushered them into the convenience store and nodded at the bearded human behind the counter. “Alan, I’ll be in the back for a bit.”
