Her gaze darted about the transcendent, mountainous landscape. She shielded her eyes, taking in the stunning two-story, glass-fronted building hugging the granite rockface, and the fact they were miles high. “Wow. This is built into the mountain.”
It wasn’t a question, but he answered. “It is.”
Aware she’d been needling him from the moment he arrived at the garden center, she reeled it in, turned—
And was smacked dead in the chest.
In the brilliant daylight, he dazzled more than the sun with his striking, sky-blue hair tied back, the light illuminating every facet of his chiseled features and diamond-faceted irises. He certainly appeared like some otherworldly being.
Who could blame her for erecting walls taller than him? Or else she’d end up like her drooling girlfriends.
Finding him watching her, her heart literally stuttered a beat. There was something so intense about his stare that it left her a little shaky. She scrambled for something to say, and her gaze settled on the railing overlooking the impossible drop far, far below, where everything appeared like smudges of green paint. “Where are we?”
“Exilum. We’re…” he hesitated a beat, “on another realm.”
“What?”She spun to him.
“Don’t worry, we’ll be back within hours at your workplace. You won’t be missed.”
“Good to know,” she said dryly, pressing her fingers into her temples, her poor brain still trying to accept all that had happened since she met him. Demons, other worlds, traveling in molecular form, and one damn gorgeous, sexy-hot man. Oh, boy! “So this test?”
“Come.” He headed for the glass door set in a massive window wall, opened it, and waited for her to enter a small foyer with an exquisitely carved wooden railing and staircase leading up.
A tall, wiry man hurried from down the corridor, just past the stairs, his silvery-brown hair pulled over his ears and tied back in a ponytail. “Sire, it’s good to see you.”
“Hey, Izzy,” Aerén greeted, his voice warm. “Where’s Luc?”
“At the river. He should be back soon.”
“Okay.” Aerén put a hand on her back, and she forgot to breathe at the awareness rushing along her spine to lodge in her belly, causing a riot of butterflies to flutter. “Leya, this is Izzeri, houseman to a friend of mine. Izzy, Leya.”
“Hello,” she murmured, stepping away from Aerén, ignoring his narrowing eyes.
“Mistress.” Izzeri bowed his head in an old-fashioned greeting, his gold eyes brightening like newly minted coins. “It’s wonderful to meet you.” He turned to Aerén, all deferential and stuff. “Will you be staying for lunch, sire?”
“Not this time, Izzy. Leya has to get back before she’s missed.”
“Very well.” With another little bow, he disappeared back the way he came.
Wow. If it weren’t for the setting of this modern home, she would have thought she’d stepped back in time. The man’s politeness and old-fashioned manners reminded her of another era.
“Come.” Aerén bypassed the stairs and made his way down the short corridor, hands in his pockets this time, thank God. With all those little touches, she’d likely keel over from shortness of breath, land at his feet, and embarrass herself.
He opened the door into a sitting room, with charcoal-colored couches and armchairs facing a glass wall, and waved her inside.
Trying not to breathe in his heady scent, she brushed past—
Good lord! Her jaw nearly hit her chest.
Now, the roaring noise of water made sense. The dark granite mountain this house was built into meandered into the distance, but a small stretch away from the wraparound balcony, a waterfall cascaded furiously. And it held her mesmerized.
“Leya?”
At Aerén’s low voice, she pivoted. “The place is spellbinding…” The words died in her throat. They weren’t alone.
Another man had joined them. As tall as Aerén and striking in looks, he appeared a bit older, maybe in his thirties. His gray tunic, a little wet in places, hugged his broad shoulders. Damp sable brown hair, evidence of his swim, hung about his shoulders.
“Leya, this is Lucan,” Aerén said. “He’ll do the scroll test. Lucan, Leyathi Park.”
