“Look,” Shadow said, cutting through the tension and pressing a hand to her pregnant belly. “Aba needs help. I’ll do anything for him and Nate to be safe.” Man, she made him sound like some halfwit who couldn’t find his cock from his ass. “They helped me when no one else would. I owe them my life.”
After several seconds, Ely’s brother inclined his head. “Very well. There is one such place.” His flat stare met Nate’s. “Meet me at Central Park, near the lake, at dusk. Just one thing about Exilum, stick to its rules. It’s a peaceful realm. Or you’ll leave faster than you entered.”
Jaw clenched, Nate remained silent. He didn’t like asking these holier-than-thou immortal asses for help, but he didn’t have a choice.
“Thank you,” Shadow said, voice husky with gratitude, and Reynner inclined his head. “It means a lot to us. Now to convince Aba to leave.” She exhaled deeply.
Hell, Nate seconded the sentiment. He knew his sire.
As if summoned, Aba poked his head out through the doorway, his brow pulling into a frown.
“Aba?” Shadow hurried over, hooked her arm through his, and escorted him to them.
At his dark stare, yeah, Aba knew what they were about, and he wasn’t happy. Nate caught bits of Shadow’s explanation to his sire, encouraging him to go. And Ely, though she watched Shadow and Aba, she fidgeted with the hat hiding her hair, tucking in a pale strand. Was she nervous? Because big brother was around?
“Nate?” Aba’s terse tone conveyed his displeasure. “I cannot leave—”
“Then I’ll have to come and check on you every day,” Shadow said. “And it will have the Guardians crawling around this place.”
Aba cast her a frustrated glance.
“Besides,” she added, her expression suddenly cool as fuck. “Your word is a promise.”
“A promise?” Aba’s eyebrows tipped together now. “I didn’t make any promise.”
“Yes, you did,” she countered. “I might not know your real name, but you’ve apologized to me for when I got hurt years ago right here, so that puts you in my debt. Then youthankedme not too long ago. Again, a no-no for one such as me.”
“What?” His eyebrows tipped in confusion.
“I am part Fae, Aba.” Shadow nonchalantly tucked her dark hair behind her ears, revealing the pointed tips. “AdemonicFae.Wordsare binding.”
“Shadow, all I did was thank you for thecookies,” Aba grumbled.
“You weren’t specific. So it puts you in my debt.” She gave a little shrug. “I don’t want these things I have inside me”—she waved a hand over her chest—“to cause havoc, exacting payment for broken promises. You should know I’m a little more dangerous now that I have my unborn baby to protect.”
Aba grunted as if to anchor his frustration, then his gaze settled on Shadow’s belly, and his shoulders slumped. “Very well. I will pack. Just so you know, I dislike being coerced, but it’s for a few days only. I’m not leaving the garage unattended for long.”
Once Aba disappeared into the house, Shadow blew out a relieved breath.
“Are those things about the Fae true?” Ely asked her.
Smiling, Shadow took a red candy from her coat pocket, unwrapped and popped it into her mouth. “No idea. I read it on a social media meme. Could be true, though, considering all the things I’ve done.”
Ely laughed. “I remember.”
By the dark gods,seriously? Shadow had smoothly played his sire, getting what she wanted, not that Nate was complaining. But the sound of Ely’s light laughter stirred his senses like a flash of sunlight.
“Let me go check on Aba.”
As Shadow hustled off, Nate’s gaze lingered on Ely, tracing the lines of her lovely face. While he might have his hang-ups—hell, life had shown him nothing good was freely given—but the way she’d readily stepped up to find a safe place for his sire made the bolted organ in his chest thump hard. Hell, this female was like a drug to his system, and he had no idea if he could ever wean himself off her.
However, he was aware, too, of the glacial stare from her brother, pinning Nate as if he were something that had crawled out of the gutter.
He hardened his expression. No matter his own internal war, no one dictated his life—
Pain shattered through his skull, like claws raking, as his beast stirred. Shit. Nate clamped down on his molars as if he could ever forget the fucker. Or the reminder that he was never alone, and never would be.
“Reynner, thank you for doing this,” Ely said, dragging her brother’s rabid focus off him.
