“Stop,” I whispered, closing my eyes. Misha was still alive, and he would stay that way. I refused to believe anything else.
Opening my eyes, I zipped up the bag and then grabbed my laptop, shoving that into a tote along with my glasses and the satchel with my blades in them. Then I went to my nightstand and picked up the photograph of my mom and her paperback. Carefully I tucked them away in a tote bag, placing them in between the sweaters that didn’t fit in the suitcase so they’d be safe. I was scanning my room for anything else I might need when there was a knock on my open door. I turned, finding Zayne.
A mixed bag of emotions roared through me upon seeing him. Suspicion lingered, but it was overshadowed by anticipation and something sharper, heavier.
“May I come in?”
I nodded. “I’m almost done. Just making sure I’m not forgetting anything.”
“It’s okay. We have time.” Zayne sat on the edge of my bed, his pale blue gaze fixed on me. “I didn’t sleep well last night. I’m sure you didn’t, either.”
“I slept maybe an hour.” My fingers lingered on the strap of my tote.
He did look tired. Faint shadows had blossomed under his eyes. “Nicolai, Dez and I were up, discussing how we were going to do this without letting the rest of the clan know.”
I sat beside him and placed the tote on the floor. “So, what’s the plan?”
“Keeping what you are a secret is going to be too hard at the compound,” he said, scratching one hand through his loose hair. “It’s going to be hard enough to explain your presence in the city, but since I...I haven’t been living at the compound for several months now, we figured it would be best if you stayed with me.”
“What?” I gasped, not at the fact that I’d be staying with him alone—and that was a whoa, big deal—but more for the fact he was living by himself. “You’re not living at the compound?”
“No.”
“Why? That’s so dangerous, being by yourself. Demons can sense what you are,” I said, donning my Captain Obvious hat.
“The place I have is in a good neighborhood and so far has been relatively demon free.” He smiled. “It’ll be easier and will hopefully delay explaining your presence.”
“But how are we going to delay it? If we’re looking for Misha and this thing you guys are worried about, the whole clan will be involved, yes?”
He angled his body toward me. “The whole clan can’t be involved in looking for Misha. Not if we need to hide what you are. Dez is going to help, but it’s going to be mostly you and me. That’s the best option.”
I mulled that over. I really didn’t have a choice, and it made sense. “Okay. That will work.” When Zayne didn’t respond, I looked at him. He was staring at me. “What?”
“Now I know why you smelled like ice cream to me.”
I flushed. “That was random.”
A quick smile appeared and then vanished. “You have to know that Heaven has a smell, right? That for everyone it’s different, but it’s always something that they enjoy or makes them feel good. My favorite food is ice cream.”
“It is?”
“You sound so surprised.”
“I guess I am. I don’t know. I picture your favorite food being steak and potatoes.”
“That would be my second favorite food,” he replied. “But now I understand why I smelled that on you when you were hurt.”
“It was my blood,” I finished for him. “I didn’t know that. I mean, I knew demons could smell it.”
“But you didn’t know that the light has a scent?”
I shook my head, thinking I’d never smelled anything all the times I’d seen the light. “And you know this how?”
“Whenever the Alphas come to see us, there’s always this thick, golden light that comes first. I’m not even sure it is light, because it reminds me of liquid. Whenever I’ve been around them, I’ve smelled it.” He shook his head. “So much makes sense now, and I almost can’t believe I didn’t figure it out.”
“How could you, though? Trueborns are thought to be things of the past.” I rested my hands on my thighs. “I don’t want you to treat me differently now that you know what I am.”
Zayne laughed softly under his breath. “I’m not sure I can do that.”
“Why?”
“Because I know what you are, Trinity.”
“So?”
“So?” He laughed again. “Were you taking it easy on me the day in the training room?”
Pleased by that question, I didn’t even try to fight my grin. I was too tired to. “Actually, no. You’re really good, but I’m just...”
“Better?”
I laughed a little under my breath. “Don’t let it get you down too much. Even Misha—” I sucked in a breath and tried again. “Even he can’t get the best of me.”
His gaze flickered over my face. “I don’t know what it’s like to be bonded to someone you care about, but I do know what it’s like to grow up with someone and then have them virtually vanish from your life.”
“You do?”
Zayne nodded. “Not for the same reasons. Nothing like this, but it’s hard being around someone almost every day and then having them not be a part of your life and...and have no idea what their life is like now.”
I wanted to prod him for more information, but he rose from the bed.
“Ready?” Zayne asked quietly, extending his hand.
Turning from Zayne, I took one more look at my bedroom—at the bed, and the stars tacked to my ceiling, at the desk I rarely used, and the chair in the corner. A sudden sensation of uncertainty swept over me. I had told Jada and Ty that I wouldn’t be gone long, but as I looked around my bedroom, I couldn’t stop the feeling that this would be the last time I saw this room—that I was leaving and I wouldn’t be returning.
Unsettled, I placed my hand in Zayne’s and felt that jolt dance over my fingers as they closed around his. “Ready.”
20
Due to the lack of sleep and the late start we got, because I had to make sure Peanut was with us—and he was—and because Thierry and Matthew had treated me like I imagined parents did when their child left for college, I ended up passing out thirty minutes into the drive. I tried to fight the lull of the humming SUV and the quietness inside the car, because where we were heading was someplace I’d never been and I wanted to see everything, but I lost the battle.
Trinity?
My brow pinched at the sound of my name breaking through the layers of sleep. I ignored it, because my bed was toasty. I snugged back down, and my...my bed shifted slightly under me. Weird.
“Trinity?” The voice came again, and the cobwebs of sleep started to clear. “We’re here.”
Something touched my cheek, catching the strands of hair resting there and tucking them behind my ear. I smacked at it, hitting nothing but my own face. Then my bed chuckled.
It chuckled.
Beds didn’t do that.
“You sleep like the dead.” A hand curled around my shoulder, gently shaking me. “Come on, Trinity, wake up, we’re here.”
We’re here.
The two words cut through the haze of sleep. My eyes snapped open, and the moment my vision adjusted to the dim interior, I saw a leg encased in dark jeans—a thigh actually.
Oh my God. I hit a Defcon level of WTFery.
Jerking upright, I swung my wide gaze toward Zayne, whom I’d apparently been using as a pillow.
“Nice of you to finally join me. I was getting worried.” Zayne watched me with his small, teasing half grin. “Especially when you started drooling.”
I snapped out of the fog. “Drooling?”
Warmth entered those frosty eyes. “Just a little.”
“I was not.” I hastily wiped my mouth with the back of my hand.
The back of my hand was damp.
“Jerk,” I muttered.
He chuckled and then nodded toward the front of the car. Dez and Nicolai were watching us from the front seats.
“Hi,” Dez said, grinning.
“Hey,” I grumbled, feeling my face heat. “So, we’re here?”
Dez nodded.
“Perfect.” I found the door handle and pulled, found that it was locked. I sighed heavily and waited for Dez to unlock the doors, and then was free. Stepping out of the car, I was ready to see Washington, DC, for the very first time and I saw—
Nothing but shadows.
What the...? I turned around. I expected to see the Washington Monument and buildings and people, and while I could hear horns honking, I saw...
Wait. We were in a parking garage, near a set of elevator bays. Duh.
The guys were out in a jiffy, unloading my suitcase and tote bag...and Peanut, who was sitting on my suitcase, unbeknownst to Zayne.
I blinked slowly. Peanut smiled so widely that he looked a little crazed as Zayne took my suitcase by the handle and rolled it...and Peanut...over to where I stood.
“You okay?” Zayne asked.
Peanut giggled creepily.
“Yeah, I’m...still out of it a little.”
Zayne stopped, his gaze flickering from me to the suitcase. “Is it the ghost?”
“Yee-aah.” I drew the word out, and Peanut clapped his hands together like a happy little seal.
“Do I want to know?” he asked.
“Nope.” I walked to the back of the SUV and grabbed my tote bag. We parted ways with Dez and Nicolai, and I followed Zayne to the elevator doors. Zayne hit the last button and had to enter a code. I didn’t see how many floors it was, but based on the way my ears popped halfway through the ride, I figured we were going high. The ride was smooth and quick, and when the elevator stopped, the doors slid open to reveal a huge room lit by sunlight streaming in through a wall of glass windows that appeared to be tinted, because the glare didn’t knock me over.