“When.” She huffed, knowing it would happen. After how intense things got last night, it was just a matter of time. That should scare the crap out of her, but it didn’t.
She stepped back and smoothed her hand over her T-shirt and black shorts. Flip-flops topped off the outfit she’d chosen to meet this Halena chick. Theo hadn’t spoken much about her other than to say she was young—eight centuries was young to him. She shook her head and combed her fingers through her hair until it was all gathered at the back of her head in a tight ponytail.
She whirled around and stepped into the bedroom again.
No Theo.
The bed was a jumbled mess of covers. Her stomach fluttered at the memory of them together, tangled limbs, discovering each other. He was so amazing. Though never having even kissed a woman, he seemed so experienced. Like he knew what he was doing.
Maybe he had an instinct about these things. She, on the other hand, not so much. She felt like a clumsy fool in bed, but she was a fast learner, and she enjoyed the lessons with Theo more and more.
What would actual sex be like with him?
She reached for the door handle to head downstairs, and the ring on her finger caught her attention. She brought it close to her face for a better look and noticed a surge of light. Orange to match the swirl in Theo’s eyes when things got intense between them.
She held her breath and watched the ring. The light pulsed in time with her shoulder, a flash with each beat of her Mark.
How’d he do that? She ran her finger over the jewel. She was engaged. The word echoed through her brain. Just turned eighteen, engaged to a nearly thousand-year-old Gatekeeper of Hades, and about ready to jump into the losing-her-virginity stage of the relationship.
It would be nice, though, to try to find her parents first. She knew it was ridiculous to think Theo could quickly find them, they’d get all friendly, and she could ask her father to walk her down the aisle.
It’d always been a dream of hers to have a big wedding despite how unlikely it was.
She stepped into the hallway and went left, toward the stairwell leading down to the main floor. Was she ready for all this? To give up her job, marry Theo, have sex with him, and turn into a Shomrei?
But what was her nonhuman part? She was more curious about that. Well, not more curious than having sex with Theo, but close.
“Sadie?” Dasha shrieked.
“Dash.” She bolted down the stairs.
Literally.
“Holy shit,” she said as she told herself to stop. She grabbed the ball at the top of the railing and steadied herself. In a flash, Theo was before her, Dasha following shortly after.
“What happened?” he asked, gripping her shoulders.
“Um. Nothing?” She glanced up the stairs.
“Your heart pounds. You were scared.”
She frowned at him. “You told me I’d get fangs, but you didn’t mention I’d be getting your speed, too. Um—even before we—
you know
.”
“You sped?”
“Sadie, are you okay?” Dasha sidled up next to Theo, breathing heavy. “Mr. Fang dude here buzzed by me like a maniac.” She smacked his shoulder. “’Bout plowed me over.”
Fangs? She looked at Theo and, sure enough, they were down. He looked ready to take on an army. And wow, she hadn’t even noticed them.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.” Sadie pinched his chin between her finger and thumb. “I’m okay. Just freaked out at the speed for a sec.”
“You’re growing, too, girl.” Dasha smiled. “You’re like two inches taller. No fair.”
“How?” Sadie asked Theo.
“Your body prepares itself for me,” he whispered. “For once we unite.”
Her shoulder pulsed. So did his neck. She visibly saw it, and his pupils ate up the beautiful hazel irises she’d become addicted to. She brushed her thumb beneath his bottom lip and once again his fangs softened beneath her touch.
Amazing.
The elongated teeth retracted, and Theo drew in a deep breath through his nose. At eye level since she was still on the bottom step, she leaned in until their noses met. Was it because she was this fated Shomrei Mate that she wanted him so fiercely? Or was it just because she was a woman wanting to explore? Was it love?
Regardless. She knew she wanted him. In every way.
“Wow.” Dasha stepped back. “The energy between you two is crackling. I can almost see it.”
“You might, later,” Justin said as he came in from the kitchen. “Once they’re mated. I’ve seen it before. You don’t ever want to get between Mates, let’s just put it that way.”
Dasha sighed.
Sadie held Theo’s gaze for a long breath and then smiled as she brushed against his hard body. “I’ve always wanted to be six feet tall.”
His laughter rang out under the cathedral ceiling. It sounded like music. He rarely laughed a full from-the-gut laugh. In fact, she’d heard it only once or twice. She vowed to try to hear that at least once every single day.
He deserved at least that after all these years alone. Constantly serving this Great One. Protecting everyone else.
“Halena here?”
Theo shook his head and guided Sadie down from the last stair. She stepped into him and cupped his neck. His eyes flared orange again, another thing she was completely addicted to already.
She brushed her cheek to his and slid her hand into his back pocket. A quick nip at his earlobe and a squeeze of his tight butt had him sucking in a sharp breath.
“I’d carry you upstairs right now if we didn’t have company,” he whispered.
She gave him a wink and another quick squeeze, then faced Dasha as Theo let out a little growl. Oh yeah, they’d end up in the bedroom soon enough.
“Dash.” Sadie pulled her into a hug. “I’m glad you’re okay.”
“Justin came and helped me move us out of our dorms. I’m with you guys for the summer, I guess.” She dug into her back pocket. “You got a letter from Bendz. Looks like a check or something important. So I grabbed it from your mailbox when I emptied your room. Hope that’s okay.”
“Yeah. Fine. I need to contact them right away.”
“What are you going to tell them?” Dasha asked.
Sadie looked to Theo and said, “Not sure yet. I mean, I can’t really start a new job when I have demons all up in my business, now can I?”
Justin laughed.
“When were you scheduled to start?” Theo asked.
“Two weeks. Told them I needed time after school to relax, get settled into my apartment, things like that.” She glanced around. “Though, I never expected
this
would be my apartment.” She laughed.
“You could fit fifty apartments in this place.” Dasha spun, arms out. “Can I live here? Justin, you’ll be my sugar daddy, right?”
Another laugh bounced off the walls. Yes. This was what Sadie wanted. Relaxing time with friends. Even though she’d just met two of them.
“You could tell them you’re still on for the two-week thing, and maybe we’ll get this Aggie business closed up by then,” Theo said.
“I want this, Theo. Really bad. Is there a way to make this work? I mean, if I’m a Gatekeeper’s chick.”
Dasha laughed. “Gatekeeper’s chick. Leave it to the genius to think up a new word for your little gig there.”
“Let’s just see, okay?” He winked. “I get what this means to you.”
He really did understand her and wanted to see her happy, didn’t he? “Okay. I’ll buzz them later. Hey, Dash, where’s all my stuff?”
Justin spoke up. “I had a few guys help us, and we put it all in a trailer. It’s here in the south garage.”
“He can really mess with minds, girl. He just strolled up to a few guys and told them to get to work. And they did.” She shook her head, then pointed at Justin. “You stay out of my head, you got that?”
“I’m an immortal Shomrei, but even
I
wouldn’t chance a look into
your
head.” He flicked her shoulder and turned toward the kitchen.
Theo twined his fingers with Sadie’s, and they followed after Justin and Dasha. “You must be hungry.”
“Starving.”
She walked into the kitchen to a full spread of food. Sandwiches, chips, chili, soup, soda, brownies, and cupcakes—chocolate with white frosting. Her favorite.
“What’s all this for?” She turned to Theo. “This is awesome!”
“A little belated graduation and birthday party. You really didn’t get to celebrate,” he said. “Unless you call making a trip to Hades a celebration.”
“Um, that’d be a no. This is
way
better.” She planted a tiny kiss on his cheek and whipped around to the table of junk food.
She bit her cheek to keep herself from crying over his sweet gesture. He made her feel so treasured.
After filling her plate, Sadie plopped down next to Dasha at the table, while Theo and Justin moved across the room, talking.
“You two seem…very much a couple.” Dasha bit into a cupcake.
“It’s freaking awesome.” She smiled. “How are you? How was your last final?”
“Crappy. Got a C, but I held on for a B-minus, so I’m good. Mom’ll be proud.”
“She’s okay with you staying here for the summer?”
“I told her I was going to do a little internship in theater for experience. She ate that shit up.”
Sadie laughed and fell into some comfortable chatter with Dasha about what was going on with Theo.
“A rock? Let me see!” Dasha squealed, grabbing Sadie’s hand.
It felt nice having her best friend there, talking her through things and giving her support. She didn’t seem at all weirded out by what Sadie was telling her.
“Hon. You know I have to ask you this because I love you, right?” Dasha said as she grabbed her hand. “You sure about all this? I mean, you’re engaged after knowing him only four days.”
She nodded. “I know. This goes against every strain of logic I have in me.”
“And you have
a lot
in you!”
“I told him I wasn’t ready for anything more than the ring right now. But, Dash, this is real. It’s so strange.” She rubbed her shoulder.
Dasha sipped her soda. “But still, I ask again. You sure?”
“I am. For once, I feel like I belong somewhere. With someone. Like I could make a difference in someone’s life. Hell, bunches of peoples’ lives, if I’m going to be keeping demons like Aggie away from them. Look what he did to Isabelle.”
“Oh, and she’s okay, by the way. Doesn’t remember anything past seeing you in the bathroom. Justin went around with his little mind-control thing after we packed, too, just to make sure everything was cleaned up.” Dasha leaned in closer. “He’s wicked strong.”
Sadie saw a light flicker in Dasha’s eyes. “You like him.”
“Maybe.” She leaned back again. “Remember when we talked about how Theo might be able to help find that Nicole Carrigan woman who took you in when you were a baby?”
“I do.”
“Well, Justin’s pretty resourceful computer-wise, you know?”
“And just how do you know that?” She winked.
“We spent the day together, dork, and the drive up here. Anyway, I—well—I hope you don’t mind, but I worked a little on finding Nicole, and Justin helped me iron out a few things.”
“You did?” Sadie’s heart stuttered.
Dasha nodded as she leaned to the side and dug out a piece of gum from her back pocket. Always cinnamon. “Yeah, well, I was waiting around for you guys and needed something to do.”
“Dash, oh my gosh, did you find something?” Sadie glanced at Theo, then back to Dasha.
“You said you tracked her to Colorado through a speeding ticket she’d gone to court for?”
“Yeah. Public records.”
“Well, it looks like a Nicole Carrigan joined Facebook yesterday. It’s weird, though, because the profile picture is just blank and nothing’s filled out.” She cracked her gum and crooked her eyebrows. “But there are a few pictures of a young kid tagged to her timeline from a Wendy Brush with a comment that said something about how the little rascal already missed her and how the visit was great fun.”
“You’re serious? Does Nicole’s profile say where she is?”
“It’s blank, but Nicole left a comment on one of the pictures, and it tagged her location. You know how we had to change the settings to turn that off? She must have forgotten.” Dasha grinned. “Colorado.”
“It’s got to be the same person. Oh my gosh. We should tell—”
Hair prickled along Sadie’s neck, then her bare arm. She stood and found Theo by the fridge still, talking to Justin, but it clearly wasn’t about sports any longer. They’d both shifted into tense-jawed discussion.
“Theo,” Sadie said. “What’s wrong?”
Justin cocked his head at her, then looked at Theo. “She felt that?”
Theo stepped to her side. “What is it?”
“You’re anxious all of a sudden. What’s wrong?”
He smiled, and his chest puffed out as if proud, yet she hadn’t figured out what she’d done.
“A splice is opening, love.”
“Aggie?”
“No. Something less intense. I need to go.”
“I’ll go with.”
“It’s in Iowa. Near the Quad Cities. I have to breach time to get there.” He kissed her forehead. “I’ll be fast.”
“Take me with you. You can do that, right?” She might as well give this a try.
“I can, but I’m not so sure that’s a good idea.”
“You said it was less intense and that it’ll be quick.” She nodded. “So, you must not be too worried.”
He glanced at Justin and he shrugged. “She’s a badass karate chick. I say go for it.”
Sadie pointed to Justin. “Yeah. What he said.”
Theo stared at her for a long, hard second. “Fine. Let’s go get some things, and I’ll tell you how this is going to work.” He reached for her hand. “It’s my way or no way, Sadie.”
She glanced at Dasha, then took Theo’s hand. “Bring it.”
Chapter Thirty-five
“You sure you’re okay?” Theo asked Sadie as they stepped out from the splice. She looked about as green as the trees around them.
“Fine.” She swallowed hard and looked around. “Where are we?”
“Southwest corner of a small town just outside the city,” he said, waving her toward him. They needed to get moving. The splice would open soon.
She stepped beside him, eyes scanning her surroundings. Already she fell into the Gatekeeper roll. To accept and deal with everything thrown at her so quickly, he was simply amazed.