Page 89 of Veil of Night & Flames

That’s me—Perspective Girl.

As Chase makes three lattes for our walk back, Adric drifts among the shelves as if he wants to understand this store that’s such a huge part of my life.

“This is your place?” he asks as Chase passes him a latte.

“The store, no. The training area I’ll claim, though technically it’s all Griff’s property.”

“He was a Hunter,” Adric says. “A nomadic life, and yet he put down such firm roots.”

“He retired,” Chase says coolly, and I remember that Mr. Griffin’s wife, Helen, had been a Hunter, too. For a moment, I try to imagine him and Helen traipsing over the globe, fighting back mares who were more likely than not from Adric’s own realm.

“It is a good collection,” Adric says, still wandering the stacks.

“The private collection is better,” I tell him. “Griffin knows his stuff.”

“You speak as though you know him well, Beloved. Yet it hasn’t even been a year.”

I shrug. “I haven’t spent a year with you either.” I let my gaze trail over him. “But I think I know you pretty well, too.”

To my delight, he laughs. Chase does, too, but he mostly hides it. And when he catches my eye, I see him mouth good one.”

If Adric’s smile is any indication, he noticed that, too.

What I’m mostly noticing is that these two men aren’t currently trying to kill each other. And that, I think, is a very good thing.

“We should go,” I say. “We need to shut off the lights before someone thinks we’re open for business.”

Adric nods from where he’s standing next to a window, looking out at the street beyond. He’s in the outfit the realm provided, his coat of shadows transformed into a black leather jacket that’s pretty damn sexy over the white tee and jeans, giving him a biker vibe.

As for Chase, he’s sitting on the checkout counter, no jacket, and his sleeves rolled up. He holds his blade in one hand and is carving lines in the already marred wooden countertop. Still sexy, but with an undercover cop kinda vibe.

“Griff is going to kick your ass,” I say, nodding to where he’s marred the counter.

Chase chuckles. “He won’t. It was his idea.”

“Idea?”

The Brides,” he says, looking at me. “Bridewell Park is a liminal space, not a permanent reminder of my burden. So he suggested I make a mark for each one. A reminder that all can see, even if they don’t understand.”

“But they’re all dead now,” I point out. “All but one,” I say, remembering the fury that had surged through me when I’d learned the truth—that Chase’s number one job was to hunt and kill the Brides.

And I just happen to be the last of them.

“That is a mark I will never make,” Chase says, his expression as he looks at me so full of love, I feel my cheeks burn.

I nod. “I know.”

Adric turns from the book he’d been studying—or, at least, pretending to study. “You truly love her.”

“I do,” Chase says, smiling at me in that way that melts my heart.

“Then you know how I feel,” Adric says, and I melt a little bit more.

I expect Chase to snap back that Adric doesn’t have a clue, but instead, he nods. “I do,” he says, meeting his brother’s eyes, then mine. “Intimately,” he adds.

I swallow, and the room suddenly feels too warm. He’s talking about the bond, of course, and feeling what his brother feels, something I’ve never experienced even though I’m right there at the center.

My cheeks go hot, and I push away from the pillar I’ve been leaning against. “We should go,” I say, hoping neither one can read me well enough to know how enticing I find their bond. The idea that when one is with me, the other feels it...it’s compelling, and a serious turn-on. Not that I’ve admitted it, not even to Tia. That little confession would probably require me to go crawl under a bed and hide for a year.