I arch a brow at him as he lowers the glass.
He sighs. “I’m sorry. I just feel a little bit uneasy. Not just with being here, but with Jaxon freaking out, and there was something Eva said that has me worried.”
I sit down beside him on the sofa. “You mean about the raids?”
He glances at me curiously. “How did you know that?”
I lift a shoulder. “You got tense when she brought it up.”
“Oh.” He studies me for a second before muttering, “You’re so in tune with me.”
I roll my eyes. “I was sitting right by you, dude. How could I not be?”
He carefully shakes his head. “It’s not just that. You also noticed that Jaxon was freaking out, even before we got into the club.”
“He was being really quiet,” I say defensively. “It wasn’t that hard to notice.”
“Hmm …” He continues to study me in a way that makes me squirm.
To distract myself, I take a huge swallow of the drink. My eyes pop wide as the sweet taste kisses my taste buds.
“Why do all your drinks taste so good?” I moan at the wonderful sensation that hums through my veins. “It’s a wonder every single creature isn’t an alcoholic.”
“Who says they’re not?” He smirks while taking the glass from me. He sets his and mine down on an oval table that’s beside the sofa then reclines back and gets comfortable. “It just doesn’t matter here. Most of us are immortal, so we do what we want whenever we want.”
Immortality. There’s that word again. And every time I hear it, panic awakens inside my chest.
“Without any consequences,” I add. “Which kind of seems dangerous in its own way.”
He promptly shakes his head. “No, there are consequences. It’s how we got banished.”
“Oh. Right.” My head feels fuzzy from the drink. It’s not like I’m wasted. I just feel a bit lighter and relaxed, enough that I lean back in the sofa.
“Why are you nervous about the raids?” I bring my knees onto the sofa so I’m twisted to the side, facing him. The dress that I’m wearing is open in the front, and my legs slip out of it.
“Because of the timing,” he murmurs as he stares at my legs, his eyes swirling with shadows.
I saw this happen once before back when I was at the store and trying on cloaks. Alex freaked out as shadows twirled around him, and Rhyland stepped in and ushered him out of the room.
Alex’s eyelashes flutter a few times before he looks away from my legs, and the shadows blend back in with the darkness outlining the room.
I trace a section of lace on the trim of my dress. “Why does that worry you?”
He drags his finger across his lips. “Because it sounded like it happened right about the time we discovered you.”
“Why would that cause raiding to happen here?” I prop my elbow on the back of the sofa and rest my cheek against my hand. “I mean, what’s the big deal about that? It could be just a coincidence.”
“It could be,” he agrees, rotating to face me. “However, raiding isn’t common here. And I find it odd that it happened the same time darkness started looking for you. And Rider …” His lips spasm at the mention of the reaper who tried to force me to feed off of him. “I worry that perhaps whoever did the raiding was looking for something that has to do with you.”
“At this Eva creature’s shop? Why? I don’t know her at all … It doesn’t make any sense.”
“She sold old artifacts and weapons. While I don’t know every item she had there, a lot of them could do some very dangerous things if they fell into the wrong hands. Not just dangerous, either. It could give them access to all sorts of things.”
I swallow hard at the reminder that I’m not in Kansas anymore.
“And you think whoever raided it was getting something to what? Like hurt me with whatever they took? Or try to track me down?”
“I’m not sure. And I probably need to talk to Eva more about what got stolen, but I think I need to speak with Rhyland and see what he thinks before I dive in and try to question her about it because that’ll leave openings for her to ask me questions, which will more than likely be about you.”
“Me? Why the fuck would she ask about me?”
“Well, for starters, you’re clearly a new creature to this realm, and that tends to make some creatures curious, and some will even be suspicious.”
“Is it that obvious I’m new?”
His lips kick up to a half-grin. “It is, and while I find it adorable the way you look at things around here with such shocked surprise in your eyes, or how pink your cheeks get when you see an orgy going on, it draws in the wrong types of creatures.”
“Most humans would blush watching an orgy,” I mutter in a lame attempt to distract us from the warmth spreading to my cheeks.
“Not here, though. No one blushes here except for you.”
“Well, hopefully, that’ll fade because it’s starting to get annoying.”
“I hope it doesn’t. It’s beautiful to watch.”
When I roll my eyes, a soft chuckle escapes his lips. But the sound swiftly fades.
“I also worry about the fact that you belong to us now. We have baggage, and I worry that’s going to be put on you.” He stares at the door, spacing off while twisting one of the spike piercings sticking out from below his lip.
“You mean, more baggage like Rider?” I dare ask.
He nods, his attention sliding to me again. “He’s not the only reaper out there who has issues with us, and I hate that our problems are bleeding into your life.”
“But don’t I return the favor to you guys?” I point out. “All you’ve done since you discovered me is worry about getting me out of harm’s way.”
“That’s different,” he utters quietly while staring down at his hands. “We made the choice to save you that day, but you didn’t know what you were getting into. We did. We knew the moment we figured out what you are.”
As memories of that day sift through my mind, a question burns on my tongue. “Why did you save me that day? Because I can remember you guys being conflicted about it. Was it just because you found out what I am?”
He stretches out his fingers before lifting his gaze to mine. “Truthfully, that was part of it. But the other part was because of who you are.”
“You barely know me now, let alone back then.”
“We knew enough.” He scoots closer to me. “You remember that night you told my brother off after he tried to flirt with you?”
I snort a laugh. “How could I forget that? He was such a brat about it.”
He smiles. “You should’ve seen him when he came back to the house, all riled up and cursing out the new girl next-door. He even broke a cup. It was hilarious to watch.”
“You thought it was funny that Blaise was throwing a tantrum?” I question. “Really?”
He shrugs, his eyes glinting with wicked delight. “It was fun watching him get all pissed off because, for the first time ever, he’d been rejected. It made me curious to see what sort of girl would do something like that.”