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“I do.” She stood on her tiptoes for another kiss, and he bent to press his lips softly against hers. “Very much.”
It took all her self control to let go of his arms. Spinning on a heel, she fixed her skirt and headed for her shoes, glancing back at him.
He spanked her ass hard enough to sting, and she scooted away with a teasing gasp.
“Later?” he asked.
She scooped up her heels. “Later.” Her face heated at the thought. She wished their fun hadn’t been interrupted, but she was running out of time. Her shift was looming, and she wasn’t about to upset Mordred and Penelope by opening the apothecary late, no matter how tempting it sounded. “What do you think Max wants?” she asked.
Pushing the hair that was dampened with sweat out of his face, he grabbed a black shirt off the bench and pulled it on. “Let’s find out.”
—
Loren’s temple rested against Darien’s as they leaned across the dining room table, looking closely at the photograph Dallas was showing them on her phone.
Loren had to force the last of the desire from her body, her close proximity with Darien threatening to push her thoughts back into forbidden territory. Never mind the fact that she was perched on his knee at the head of the table.
Everyone was here. All of the Devils, along with Sabrine, Logan, and Dominic. Sabrine was sitting in Logan’s lap, the alpha wolf’s arm wrapped around her waist. Max stood behind Dallas’s chair, arms crossed. Tanner and Travis were eating from a pink box of pastries, the logo of Whisking Witch marking the lid.
Blue was here too, of course. It was her photo everyone was staring at. A mugshot, to be exact.
There was a warrant out for her arrest, along with a reward offered to anyone who provided law enforcement with sufficient information that led to her capture. The news article didn’t offer up many details, but it did say she was a danger to the public, a new fact that had everyone in the room on edge.
Everyone but Blue, who only seemed confused, her electric eyes flicking about the area.
Darien sat back in his seat, tugging Loren snug against his chest, a hand resting on her hip. “Have you managed to translate anything?” he asked Dominic.
“Barely,” the Angel replied. “And to tell you the truth, I am beat.” He looked like it too. There were dark circles under his eyes, and the way his lids appeared ready to snap shut told them he might drop dead at any second.
Ivy, who’d just finished pouring herself a cup of coffee in the kitchen, drifted into the dining room and slid onto Jack’s knee. She was still wearing the athletic gear from her morning jog. “Is there anyone who might be able to help?”
“Yup,” Logan said. “Arthur. We went to see him at his new job, and he found some old books with passages on Ilevyn.” He yawned widely, a reflex that was soon echoed by Sabrine.
“We were working at it nearly all night,” Sabrine said around the yawn. So that was where they’d all been.
Dominic glanced at Blue. “I tried asking her what’s going on with her warrant, and she insisted that she didn’t do anything wrong. She said she escaped bad men.”
“Bad,” Blue repeated. Her eyes were distant. Foggy. But she was nodding and kept saying the same word, again and again. “Bad. Bad.”
Dominic’s raised brow was directed at Darien. “See?”
Blue’s eyes suddenly snapped up to Loren’s face. Loren stiffened, and she couldn’t stop herself from recoiling into Darien’s chest, her hand going to his forearm, as Blue said to her, “They were bad. I needed to kill them. I couldn’t let them leave alive, or they were going to hurt me.”
Loren blinked. “What?”
The conversations that had only just started ceased. Everyone turned, all eyes falling on her and Blue.
“It’s Ilevyn,” Darien said, dragging a comforting hand up her back. “Don’t even worry about it until Dom and Arthur can translate some more.”
Blue looked just as confused as Loren felt. Her next question was a whisper, her eyes boring into Loren’s. “You can understand me?” In the morning light streaming in through the windows, her eyes adopted the cobalt hue of a sapphire.
Loren shook her head, mind spinning. Blue asked her another question, but this time the words were tangled up in a language she didn’t know: Ilevyn.
“We’re going to have to keep her out of the public eye,” Darien was saying to Dominic, unfazed by the fact that Blue had just spoken several sentences in their language, the words clear as bells. “Until we figure out what’s going on. She can spend her time between here and Death’s Landing, if that’s alright with you.”
“She’s more than welcome at Death’s Landing,” Dom said. “She gets along great with the other Angels. Conrad already taught her how to play poker.” He nudged Blue in the shoulder with a fist. “Isn’t that right, Blue?” But she was still staring at Loren.
“Make sure she wears hats and sunglasses whenever she’s outside,” Darien said. “And do not let her remove that talisman.”
