“Think about what?” she asked, glancing over her shoulder at him. “Us?”
He rubbed his jaw, something she’d never seen him do. “Yes. And other things. Nia?—”
“It’s fine. I get it.”We can’t do this again. It’s too risky.
She shut the cupboard door, returned to the table, and set the plate down. At least he didn’t beat around the bush. She’d give him that. Still, it sucked so damn badly.
Grabbing a butter knife from the dish rack, she sliced a serving and moved the wedge onto her plate. Fork in hand, she speared a piece of the creamy chocolate offering and ate it, but the gooey cake stuck in her tight throat.
“What’s wrong?” he asked.
She pivoted for the sink, got a glass of water, and gulped some before she faced him. Might as well get on with the crucial things she had to do now. “Nothing’s wrong. I have to go back home?—”
“Not yet.”
“You said the same thing earlier.” She tipped her chin up. “I know Kas is dead. Surely you can keep me safe from whatever else is after me, though you won’t say who, what, or why that is.”
“Nia, you are psionic?—”
“You don’t know that for sure.” She set her glass down. While she might have believed it initially, Nan’s words pounded in her head:You are someone else’s spawn. Maybe even a demon’s, considering your ability to SEE them.“It’s only an assumption until your archangel sees me and confirms it, right?”
“Your awakening powers are the first sign.”
“Stop, please,” she groaned. “How many other ways does it have to be said that I am some demon’s spawn? Nan said so! And that’s probably why my father refused to reveal my origins or where he adopted me. If I truly were descended from the Watchers, Nan would have been ecstatic,” she said bitterly.
“Nia, listen to me?—”
“No, it makes perfect sense. It’s why I can see demons and why Nan could never lo?—”
Shit, not going there!“I’m going to find out the truth, one way or another. Find out who my parents were.”
Then maybe she’d finally have closure. Appetite gone, she put her unfinished slice in the container and packed it away.
Lore came around the table, stopping a foot from her. “You cannot go back to New Orleans.”
She cut him a flat stare, which seemed not to dent his infinite patience. “Kas is dead.”
“His minions, however, aren’t.”
“What?” Her belly roiled. “Shouldn’t the hold over them be broken with Kas dead? I know because Saia explained all this to me.”
His gaze skimmed her face. “It should, yet it’s not. Which is why I must find out what happened.”
“God! It will never be over, will it?” Mouth tight, she glared out the window, helplessness sweeping through her. “I have to get out of here.” She made for the door.
He appeared in her path.
“Lore, I need space. I’m spitting mad that the hunt for me is never-ending, and at you for keeping this from me!”
“Nia.” He clasped her wrist. “I didn’t want to worry you, but letting anger consume you is a definite pathway to recklessness. You won’t sense danger until it’s too late.”
She scowled at him.
He didn’t release her, and his thumb gently caressed her inner wrist. She hated that he could make her so aware of him, even as mad as she was. “You were already hurting from the funeral, then that letter,” he said quietly. “I thought I did the right thing.”
She pulled away and rubbed her hot face. How could he possibly understand anything or know this sensation of loss, of having the entire foundation she thought was her life shattered, leaving her adrift, when he didn’t do emotions?
Her anger deflated.
