Aba rose to his feet. “Nate simply lived, until you, Ely. You make him happy. I see it in his demeanor and his aura.”
Gods, she hoped so, and she prayed he still wanted her after learning the truth—knowing she was responsible for his tormented existence.
“Don’t despair, my dear,” Aba said softly. “Be strong.” He patted her arm, then handed her the toy. “Make him listen.”
She pocketed the car and left, hoping to Gaia she wasn’t heading to her doom.
CHAPTER23
Ely stoodin the shadows of the alley near the garage. A ginger cat ambled past to rummage in the dumpsters a short distance from her as she scanned the area. Humans were still about, a cheerful Christmas jingle playing in a nearby store that stayed open late.
She stilled, a chill prickling down her spine as if she were being watched. Yet, all appeared quiet, no whiff of sulfur of those pests from the Dark Realm. She sniffed the air, and a trace of aged incense and bitter citrus teased her nose…one she was sure she’d smelled before, then it faded. Whoever it was had vanished.
Shrugging off whatever harbinger of doom that odor was—there was always someone after the Guardians—she headed toward the biker’s den on the borders of the Bowery and the Lower East Side. As she approached the place, she sensed Nate wasn’t there.
She stopped and texted him.Where are you?
Several minutes passed before he responded.Anarchy.
Ely pocketed her cell and dematerialized, reforming near the nightclub, hoping she didn’t bump into one of the warriors here, not when she had an approaching chasm to navigate.
She strode past the demon bouncer and entered the strumming nightclub. Her heart pounding louder than the music, she stopped on the landing and searched the packed dance floor of the lower level, then the L-shaped bar running the length of the wall at the far side.
Her heightened sight homed in on Nate. He stood near the back, talking to a burly, dark-haired male. She couldn’t see the demon’s face, but Nate’s expression remained shuttered, his attention on the dance floor as he listened. Then his head lifted, and his gaze unerringly met hers. Something shifted in his granite stare, almost softened, she was sure, but his cold demeanor didn’t change.
She made her way downstairs, skirting the humans and the dance floor, toward him. The dark-haired demon left, but a familiar figure detached from the bar as she neared it, Red Bull in hand. Shit.Týr.
And she hadn’t even sensed him.
“Hey, El.” He smiled. “Tracking?”
She stopped, her stomach tensing into knots, aware Nate was watching. “I was, but it turned out to be nothing. Night’s too quiet,” she said, trying not to glance in his direction or alert Týr to Nate’s presence.
“Yeah. Could do with a fight.” A wry grimace twisted his lips. “Coming?” he asked.
“No. I’ll get a soda, then head back to the Bowery.”
“Okay. Later.” He strode out, swigging from his can. People parted like a huge wave, the women and men stopping dead in their tracks, watching him. Nothing new there. Týr was a Norse god and drop-dead good-looking with his chiseled features and pale hair. But no one compared to her Nate—
“Stop staring at the male,laika,” his warm voice whispered in her ear as Týr disappeared, and she pivoted, bumping into his hard chest. “Or I’m bound to get jealous. And demons don’t do well with that emotion. It’ll be bloody and gory.”
She laughed despite the knots forming in her stomach. “Týr is happily mated to one of my best friends.”
“Don’t care.” He held her chin and kissed her, and she shut her eyes, his scent wrapping around her, making her feel safe. A dream, really, when she stood on the verge of an abyss. “The day’s been too long without you. C’mon, let’s get outta here.”
Her chest fisting like a compressing vise, they made their way through the crowded club. She longed to hold his hand, but she didn’t dare chance it, not with Týr around.
Once outside, she inhaled deep gulps of cold air as they strode past partygoers waiting to get inside. The moment they cleared the club and were finally alone, he grasped her hand and headed deeper into the alley.
“What were you following up on?” she asked, trying to work up the courage to tell him the truth.
“What do you think?”
That made her frown. She would have said the one who hurt Aba. But at his dark look, then it struck her. “Oh, you mean the one who put a bounty on me because of my hair?”
“It’s because of what you represent. An angel. I’ll find him if it’s the last thing I do.”
Vae. She pressed a hand to her pitching stomach. He was already upset, but she couldn’t put this off. Instinctively, she knew if she did, it would only get worse. “Nate, we need to talk.”
