Nik pulled off his shirt and tossed it aside, then summoned a barbed baton. In his gladiator days in the pantheon, it was his preferred weapon of choice. Perfect to handle Race.
The dragon snorted. “That little stick? C’mon then, let me bathe in your blood, young one…”
Midday sunlight drenched the gardens but did little to warm the chill that had settled in her. Shadow shifted on the chaise longue on the terrace, her anger barely bolted down.
Fucking Tolvi. She wanted to kill the hellscum for what he did to Eddi, but in her current state, it would be like gift-wrapping herself for the bastard.
Gently, she pressed a palm to her sore chest as Echo’s pet, a soot-gray cat wandered past her, weaving his pudgy body between the potted plants, stalking a monarch butterfly. Bob leaped, his girth wobbling, but the butterfly darted up and vanished.
Like Nik.
His absence dug a hole in her stomach and, no matter how much she told herself it was better this way, she missed him. But he didn’t want her with him.
Refusing to let her hurt fester, she rose and went back inside. Echo and Ely were chatting while their movie played on in the background. Kira, however, wasn’t there.
“You sure you okay after healing the rift?” Ely asked Echo.
Healing the rift? Shadow frowned. She’d met Echo earlier. The woman was friendly but a little subdued. She appeared somewhat pale beneath her honey-hued skin as if she’d been sick.
“I’m fine. Sleep helps a great deal—oh, god,” she groaned. “Please don’t let Aethan hear you say that, then he’ll cart me back to bed—”
“And that’s a bad thing?” Ely teased.
“No.” She huffed out a laugh and glanced back. “Hey—” She smiled at Shadow, pushing back her jaggedly cut ebony hair from striking, bicolored silver and gold eyes. Her brow creased. “You okay?”
Ignoring the pit in her stomach, Shadow nodded. “I didn’t mean to intrude.”
“You aren’t. C’mon, sit.” She patted the couch beside her. “Kira’s in the kitchen, doing her best to—”
“Ta-da!” As if on cue, her friend bounded inside, her cheerful smile making her dimples pop. “We have cake!” She ignored the other girls’ wary expression and set the platter on the coffee table.
“I’m not hungry,” Echo said quickly as Kira began slicing the decadent two-layer chocolate slab.
“Me, neither,” Ely added.
Shadow found the girls’ hasty refusal odd, but it didn’t stop her. Food was food. Besides, the cake looked delicious. “I’ll have some.”
“Great.” Smiling again, Kira tipped a slice on a side plate and handed it to her.
“Thanks.” Shadow ignored the fork and took a bite. The richness of the chocolatey frosting and soft sponge melted in her mouth. “Wow. This is good.”
“It is?” Ely straightened from her sprawl in the armchair.
“Let me try—” Echo leaped to her feet.
“Nuh-uh.” Kira stepped protectively in front of the cake. “I saw the faces. Only Shadow and I will eat this.” Her mouth quirked in a sly smirk. “Of course, I’m going to save the rest for my man.”
“Did I hear my name?” Týr strode inside, his dark gaze instantly finding Kira.
In broad daylight, he was even more stunning than Shadow remembered, and it was obvious he was totally in love with her friend.
Týr slipped his arm around Kira’s waist and kissed her brow, causing Shadow to lower her attention to the cake, wishing…wishing she could have had that, too. Even though it was a useless dream, Nik took up space in her thoughts once more.
“We have cake?” Týr glanced at the delicious confectionary on the coffee table.
“I made it,” Kira told him, beaming as she held out the platter.
Instantly, the tall, tough guy went motionless. Nothing showed on his face, but Shadow had the distinct impression he hid his wariness better than the girls. However, he selected a slice and bit a little. And blinked. Then he took a larger bite, and a groan broke free.
“Damn…” He grabbed Kira around the waist and kissed her on the mouth. “I take back everything I said in the past, elska. This is amazing.” He relieved her of the platter. “The Empyrean would kill for this.” Grinning, he stalked out with his gains.
“Darn,” Echo grumbled to Kira. “You finally did it, and we lost out.”
“Yup. Hedori’s a great teacher. However, I still have a long way to go, but he is patient. Now you’ll just have to wait…”
Shadow watched her smiling friend rib the others, wishing her life was as carefree and happy as Kira’s. “Who’s the Empyrean?” she asked, trying to get herself together.
The girls went quiet and stared at her for a second, then at each other.
Jeez, it was like she’d asked for the dark secret of how the Guardians came to live on this world or something. Sure, she wanted to know, too, but she wasn’t going to pry. “No worries, no need to tell me. I just…” She shrugged. “Well, Týr mentioned it, so, yeah…”
Echo blew out a deep breath, stirring her overlong bangs, then she nodded. “It’s okay. Empyreans are angels, but a different species to the Heavenly ones. And Aethan, the guy with the blue hair, he’s my mate, and also one of them. Ely comes from Empyrea, too.”
Shadow’s gaze darted to Ely, who lounged on her chair again, curling a swathe of gleaming, pale hair around her finger. She was an angel?
Ely rolled her eyes and scrunched her face. “Guilty, I’m afraid.”
The woman had an odd sense of humor, but she was incredibly beautiful, possessing an ethereal quality that finally fit.
Her fault, Shadow realized. She’d tagged them all as one species; as immortals. Of course, there would be angels. Heck, she’d lived with demons—Aba and Nate—the latter being half-demon. He hadn’t said so, but she knew. She’d seen the eerie red streaks in his eyes at times, just like the ones appearing in hers. But her mind fixated on one particular immortal. Her heart clipped like a fleeing racehorse as she asked the question tying her up in knots.
“So when Týr called Nik Greek last night, it’s not because he’s from the European continent, is it…?”
Kira bit her upper lip, then said, “No. It’s because he’s from the Greek pantheon. You know, Mount Olympus and such?”
Shadow gaped, feeling as if someone had clocked her on the head.
A god!
Nik was one of those powerful beings?
She dragged in a shaky breath to ease her compressing lungs, finally understanding why he’d told her upfront it was only about needs. As if there could ever be anything more between them. Worse, she was so far beneath him, fallen even lower now, fused with a species they all considered vile.
Shadow’s gaze dropped to her half-eaten cake, her appetite deserting her.
“You okay?” Kira asked quietly.
“Yeah.” She set her plate on the table. “Just letting it all sink in.”
A Greek god.
Only she’d want the impossible. Just her luck in this godforsaken life.
Aware of the girls watching her, Shadow forced a smile and headed outside again, avoiding Bob, who lay on the tiled terrace like a gray rug, asleep in the sunshine. Her friends’ soft voices drifted to her.