“Back in the alley when your friends arrived?”
“It wasn’t about that at all!” she snapped, struggling to keep a lid on her anger and sense of betrayal.
“It damn well was! I’m a demon, so I doubtless rank among the sewer rats with you and your Guardians pals. Is that why you kissed me back, to taste the dark side and tangle with some dangerous lowlife?” His cold eyes swept over her face. “Don’t worry, Ely, message received. I might not be on your level, but I refuse to be ashamed of what I am.”
“What?” Her jaw dropped, reeling in shock at his bitter words. “I don’t see you that way. Or even the Otiums who live in this world. And I don’t hate demons. I asked you not to accompany me because I didn’t want the guys to think you were a part of the blood demon horde had they seen you there.”
His expression remained stony, fangs digging into his lower lip.
“Nate…” She took a step closer, but his arms stayed folded over his chest, keeping her at bay. “When you get angry, your fangs appear like they are right now. And I know my fellow warriors, had they seen us together, they would have likely made you mad. You are Shadow’s kin. I don’t want any friction to arise and have her agitated in her condition.”
This close, his warmth and taunting male scent enfolded her, reminding her of the kiss they’d shared. But fast on its heels followed images of him with the fae. Pain resurged, harder now. Ely retreated several steps away from him, boots sinking into the soft snow, inhaling lungsful of icy air—
A flood of heat swept through her, and she rubbed her sweaty palms down her leathers. Dragging in another shaky breath, she blinked, finally taking in the sheer whiteness surrounding them, her attention locking on the small log cabin with a sloped roof snuggled between tall pine trees. “Where are we?”
“The Adirondacks,” he said, tone quieter now, his fangs no longer visible. “You’re right. I would have lost my shit with those males. What did you want to speak to me about?”
And still, he didn’t explain about the fae.
Well, she had some pride left. She wasn’t going to ask. It was better if she focused on what she’d signed up to do. Her job. Shutting it all out, Ely faced him once more. “Those humans in the alley are dead. Drained. They had slash marks on their brows.” She flicked a hand to her forehead. “An initial like an N.”
His eyes narrowed. “Are you accusing me?”
“No.” She knew he’d been with her at the time. “I want to know who’s after you. Because that initial is either to distract us from finding them or setting you as a target. Which is it?”
He slipped his clenched hands into his jeans pockets. “Don’t let it trouble you. I know who it is. Someone who likes pissing me off.”
“By killing humans?” she snapped. “It’s now the Guardians’ problem. We’ll be tracking them.” She stepped back to dematerialize.
“Ely, wait.” His hand shot out, but he didn’t touch her.
She skewered him with a flat stare. “Why?”
He didn’t say anything for a second, then… “This place.” He waved his hand to the cabin. “Aba built it several years ago to escape the rat race. I use it most times. Ely, the Fae I was with just now, it isn’t for what you think.”
Her breath caught. “Then why?”
“It’s…complicated.”
“How is it complicated? All you have to do is explain.”
His expression shut down. “I can’t.”
Her stomach sank. He couldn’t make it any clearer where he stood on the subject of them.Them?Gods! They weren’t even together, except for that one heart-shattering kiss.
This was all on her becauseshe’dgotten caught up in feelings so new, they overwhelmed her, making her forget for a moment who she was, and why they could never be.
“It doesn’t matter. Not my business, anyway. Since you won’t tell me about the dangers we could face, goodbye.”
“Did you know they steal humans and take them to the fae realm?” he asked, stopping her from dematerializing.
“What?”
“I stopped him my way and prevented the abduction. Like demons, they do the same shit, too, except they’re smarter at how they go about it, using their glamoured persona and magnetic draw. Ely, you and me—”
“Don’t.” She flung up a hand, heart thrashing wildly at the switch in conversation. “There is no you and me.” He’d made that very clear. “We are two people whose paths crossed unexpectedly. I kill your kind, and you try to annihilate the Guardians.”
“Right…” His mouth tightened, but something dark shifted in those scorching topaz depths, then the fiery streaks grew subdued, leaving them bleak. “Light and dark, there is no mixing of that, is there,laika?
