“He has, sort of,” I say with a shrug, wondering how and why on this green Earth, Nico and I suddenly became buddies. “But you know how he is.”
“I do,” he says and then it hits me. We have a common goal in making sure that Constantine is happy so that his darkness doesn’t sneak up on him and consume him.
“You are a good man,” I say to him, taking his hand. To my surprise, he doesn’t pull back and scowl at me, he just lets me hold his hand while he nods absently.
“I’ll take your word for it,” he murmurs eventually and then the moment is lost as Lincoln bounds in–in human form–with a look to scare the gods at mine and Nico’s clasped hands.
Chapter 6
Ponte, Italy, October 2014 - Aefre
We pull away from each other guiltily, even though there was nothing in it but friendship, and I glare at Lincoln for the intrusion.
“What?” I snap at him.
“Are you stable?” he snaps back.
“Enough,” I bark.
“Good,” he barks back. “That was the baby, I presume?”
“Yes, why?” I ask.
“We thought so. I have been sent in here to try to figure out what she is defending herself from. Or whom,” he says, his voice and eyes darkening as he takes in Nico, but then his eyes flick back to me and his look says it all. He doesn’t trust Frederick. It’s not surprising, he doesn’t know him and to any outsider, Frederick looks not only untrustworthy, but also downright dangerous.
“It’s not Frederick,” I say with a huff. “It was probably that Cleric guy.”
“Best to check,” he says and drops to his knees in front of me.
“How?” I ask in confusion.
“When you passed out, I could feel her,” he says, his eyes fixed on my bump. “I touched you and felt her emotions. It was strange.”
“Oh?” I ask with an arched eyebrow.
“Obviously, your blocks were down, and they let me feel her as well,” Lincoln explains.
Nico clears his throat and stands up to go back to his desk. “This is getting into the weird area again,” he mumbles to himself and starts rifling through his papers.
“So, I guess you want me to drop the blocks,” I state to Lincoln.
“I know you aren’t comfortable with that,” he says with a look over his shoulder at Nico again, “but we need to know if there is a traitor in the midst.”
“Who sent you?” I ask suspiciously.
“Rosalina,” Lincoln answers.
“Humph,” I reply. “Maybe she’s the traitor.”
“Maybe,” Lincoln mutters. “May I?” He holds his hands out over my belly and at my reluctant nod he places them on the bump.
I close my eyes and drop the mental blocks that stop my Alpha from reading all of my thoughts and hope to Hell he doesn’t happen upon something he shouldn’t. I try to clear my mind, but as usual it is racing at the speed of light. Something I only realize when I hear him grunt in effort and just a touch of pain.
“Well?” I ask after a few moments.
“It’s hard to tell,” he says through gritted teeth. “I can’t get past your thoughts for long enough to feel hers.”
“So, we’re done here?” I ask but push his hands off me anyway.