Rage and Ruin (The Harbinger 2)

“Safer than most at least, even a church.”

Which was all kinds of messed up, as a lot of demons could cross hallowed ground. “So, I...felt something while I was here,” I said, deciding that if I wasn’t going to tell him about Faye, I should tell him about this. “Something weird. Like a coldness where I’d normally feel the presence of a demon. Just like that, actually, but cold instead of hot. I felt it once before.”

His gaze searched my face. “When we were at the abandoned building? You asked me if I felt something when we were there.”

“Yeah, that’s when I felt it before. Both times, nothing seemed to be there. I don’t know what it is.” I lifted my shoulders. “It feels like when I accidentally walk through a ghost or a spirit, except this is localized to one area.”

Zayne’s brows lifted. “You mean...a cold spot? Those things are real?”

I laughed softly. “They are.”

He looked away with a quick shift of his head.

“You’re now worried you’ve been walking through ghosts? Maybe even Peanut.” I bumped my shoulder into his. “Don’t worry. People walk through ghosts, like, all the time. It’s as weird for the ghost as it is for you.”

“Not sure knowing that makes me feel better.”

I grinned. “Anyway, I don’t know if it’s just a new ghosty feeling or something else.”

“You think it’s a bad thing?”

The fact that he was deferring to me made me like him even more, and I didn’t need to like him any more than I already did. “Nothing bad has happened when I’ve felt it—well, I felt it before the whole zombie-horde thing, but I don’t know if the two are related or not. Nothing happened now, other than me being creeped out a little.”

“It could be related, though. Definitely something to keep an eye on.” He looked at me. “So...”

I waited. “So what?”

“Are you really okay?”

Whatever relaxation I’d been feeling belly flopped out a window. “Yeah, of course. Why wouldn’t I be?”

“Well...” He sat forward, dropping his clasped hands between his knees, and I tensed to the point I thought my bones would break. “You’re out here, by yourself, sitting in a park.”

“Is there something wrong with that?” I crossed one leg over the other as I leaned back.

“No. But I know you’ve... A lot has happened, and you haven’t done it before.”

“And you haven’t left me alone in the middle of the day for an extended period of time before,” I pointed out. “You had stuff to do, and I had laundry combined with a singing, dancing Peanut.”

He coughed out a dry laugh. “That actually sounds like something to see.”

“It’s not. Trust me,” I assured him. “A lot has happened, but I’m okay.” That was the truth. For the most part. “And it was you who lost someone last night. Not me.”

“Just because I lost someone doesn’t zero out what you went through, Trin.” His voice was quiet, too quiet.

The whole time I’d worried about what I was going to tell Zayne to hide what I’d done, I hadn’t considered that he’d think my walk in the park had something to do with... Misha and everything. “I just wanted to get out. You know? I wanted to see the city during the daytime,” I lied. Well, it was a partial lie. I did want to see the city during the day. “And I thought today was a good day, since you were busy.”

“Hell.” Zayne dragged a hand through his hair. “I didn’t even think about that.”

“Think about what?”

“That you’d want to do that.” He looked over his shoulder at me. “Do something normal during the day instead of just eat and train.”

“Hey, those are two of my favorite pastimes,” I joked. “And training is important. More so than seeing the city.”

Zayne didn’t smile as he sat back, twisting toward me. “There’s nothing more important than seeing the city.”

I tilted my head as I raised my brows above the sunglasses. “The city is always going to be here, Zayne. It’s not that important.”

His gaze met mine. “But your vision won’t be.”

The next breath I took got stuck.

“I know you’re not going to lose your eyesight tomorrow and maybe not even next year, but why wait and take that chance?”

I was struck silent.

He glanced at the sky. “Since we’ll run out of daylight in a couple of hours, let’s grab something to eat and do an early patrol, so we don’t get back too late. Tomorrow I’ll show you all that I know. Make a whole day of it.”

A wild mess of emotions buffeted me from every side. “But...but we need to be out there as long as we can tonight. The Harbinger—”

“—isn’t as important as you.”

I gaped at him. “It’s extremely more important than me, and you, and my eyeballs and everything. It’s killing Wardens and demons. We need to find it and stop it before it moves on to killing humans.” I kept my voice low. “That’s the only thing that’s important.”

“Nah.” He shook his head. “It’s not. You, and you getting to see the city, is a Hell of a lot more important.”

My heart stuttered as the mess of emotion swirled even more. I stared at him, realizing that no one had ever put me before my duty. Yes, my life was valued and constantly placed above others, but no one ever put me before what I was designed to do, and that always made me feel like I wasn’t a person but a thing. A weapon. I knew that no one meant to do that, especially not Thierry, Matthew or my mom, but training had always come first. Knowing that I’d one day be called upon by my father had always been the future—the only future. But not to Zayne.

It was so strange to hear a Warden say what he was saying. Wardens were born to fight evil and to mate so that they could procreate. Sure, they had more of a life than me, but they were also strictly duty-bond.

I wanted to hug him. I wanted to kiss him. I also wanted to punch him, because he wasn’t being remotely helpful in keeping the ZAYNE file cabinet door closed. It was almost like he was yanking on it! And he knew better than to do that.

“You make this so hard,” I muttered.

“Make what so hard?”

Irritated and charmed, and annoyed because I was charmed, I glared at him. “Not liking you,” I admitted.

Zayne’s lips tipped up and a wide, beautiful smile appeared, stealing my breath again.

My eyes narrowed as I crossed my arms. “I don’t know why you’re smiling.”

“Maybe because...” He rose, extending his hand toward me. “Maybe because I’m not trying to make it easy, Trin.”

18

Grabbing a bite to eat turned into a legitimate sit-down dinner at a steak house we’d walked by many times on patrol, much to my surprise.

Based on the amount of men in dark suits and women in skirts and slacks who were enjoying their dinners, it was the kind of place that had a dress code as fine as the cuts of steaks. Which Zayne in his jeans and me in my loose-fitted T-shirt were totally violating, but that was overlooked the moment the hostess laid eyes on Zayne. I didn’t even think the young woman even knew I was there.

I also didn’t think the waitress, who was old enough to be my mother, realized that Zayne wasn’t dining alone.

But who cared? Not me, with my belly full of juicy red meat, grilled asparagus and truffle fries. Not when seconds ticked into minutes that turned into hours while we talked about human things. No Harbinger. No demons. No duty. That all faded into the background.

I learned that we had the same tastes in music. He was an oldies fan, like me, and we agreed that half of what was played on the radio now was nowhere near as good as the music that had come out between the ’80s and the early 2000s.

While I’d chowed down on the thickest rib eye I’d ever seen and Zayne had meticulously eaten a lean filet, I discovered he’d never watched a single episode of Game of Thrones, something I was determined to rectify as soon as possible. I explained how I’d recently became obsessed with older ’90s sitcoms like Fresh Prince and Step by Step. His favorite movie turned out to be Jurassic Park, randomly enough. I admitted that I didn’t have a favorite movie and couldn’t understand how anyone could pick just one, which led to a heated discussion.

We did not have the same tastes in movies or TV.

“I bet you could quote all five hundred of the Fast and Furious movies,” I said, toying with the hem of my shirt. “By heart.”

Zayne chuckled as the flame of the votive candle danced. “‘Look, I’m one of those boys that appreciates a fine body, regardless of the make.’”

I blinked. “Come again?”

He grinned as he leaned forward, resting his forearms on the table. “It’s a quote from The Fast and the Furious. The first one, and just so you know, I stopped on Furious 7.”

“There’s seven of them?”

His eyes widened. “There are more than seven, you deprived young lady.”

I snorted as I leaned back. “Action movies aren’t my thing.”

“What is?”

I didn’t have to think about that. “I’m a sucker for funny horror movies.”

“Funny horror movies? Sounds like an oxymoron.”

“Not really. There’re a lot of them that are scary and gross and actually pretty hilarious. Like the old Scream movies—they were clever and funny. So was Cabin in the Woods.”

Zayne rolled his eyes. “Clever and horror also sounds like an oxymoron.”

My mouth dropped open. “I don’t think we can be friends any longer.”

He laughed as he picked up his glass of water and then took a drink. “Just saying.”

“And you think action movies are clever?” I challenged.