Nia’s stifled laugh distracted him. “They are definitely formidable.”
“Nia?” he said softly.
Mesmerizing amber-gold eyes met his and darkened, shadows dimming their brilliance. His stomach muscles tightened at the unhappiness there, part of which he was responsible for.
“I’m going to reconnoiter the area. Stay?—”
“Here?” She sniffed. “Well, I have no plans to go anywhere else.”
He ignored the tart response and headed for the door. Out on the street, he stood in the rain for a second and shut his eyes.
And then he felt it, the familiar vibration of his kind and the source of what had set him on edge since he’d arrived in New Orleans.
Angels were about. To check on him?
With a deep sigh, Nia pulled her attention away from the empty doorway. She wasn’t the only one watching Lore leave. Most of the other women there were doing the same. If only they knew the truth. He was so far out of everyone’s reach, like a distant star.
“Here you go.” Zac slid her an olive martini and a pear one for her friend. Nia picked up her drink and sipped. The liquor burned her throat but did little to calm the chaos within.
“Wow,” Saia blurted. “I wouldn’t have believed it if I hadn’t seen this.”
“What?” Nia’s attention shifted to her friend.
“The angel?” Saia arched an eyebrow.
Heat bloomed over Nia’s cheeks. “Oh, no-no! It’s not what you think?—”
“Mm-hmm.” Saia smiled, revealing the single dimple on her left cheek. “Denial.”
Nia swallowed her groan. “Sai, he’s an angel?—
“Whom you have the hots for. Gotcha.”
Darn. Nia swallowed more of her martini. She had to learn to control her emotions. “It’s not like that.”
“Then what is it like, hm?”
“I don’t know…” Nia set her glass down and smoothed back her hair, still imprisoned in a bun. A deep sigh escaped her as she lowered her hand. “From the time I met him, there was something between us. It’s hard to explain.”
“I know what you mean.” Saia rested her elbow on the counter, chin propped, her entire focus pinned on Nia.
The more time she spent with Lore, the more the magnetism between them drew her like an irresistible forcefield, but it wasn’t what he wanted.
Nia lifted a shoulder in a helpless shrug and said the only thing she could. “He’s an angel, Sai, and in service to God.”
“I know that.” Saia frowned, picking up her drink. “But just know, the look he sent you wasn’t holy in the least.”
“Okay, I know he’s drawn to me, too.” Nia traced a scratch on the wooden counter with a fingertip. “When he kissed me?—”
“Whoa! What?” Saia’s glass landed with a thud on the wooden counter. “I thought it was just the eye-lust thingotherworldly beings sometimes do with no intention of going further?”
Nia’s fingers tightened on the stem of her crystal. “Once this is over, and I’m safe, he’ll leave.”
“Immortals. The bane of our lives.” Saia snorted. “I mean, Riley was a hardhead, too, when we first met. In his case, he wanted to keep me safe from himself.” She rolled her eyes.
Nia swallowed more of her drink. A slight buzz loosened her strung-up nerves a little. “Because he’s a demon?”
“It’s more…” Saia lowered her voice and leaned closer. “My mate is half demon, yes, but his other half is a Sin.”
