AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Elodie was aware she wasbeing quiet. Chance had kept shooting her searching glances all theway back to his place, which they didn’t exactly decide to go totogether, but somehow they’d ended up here anyway.
The arrow’s power, whileless potent than it had been, was still affecting them both. Andhonestly, she liked his place. It felt lived in. Homey.Welcoming.
A lot like the man himself.Depths to him that she hadn’t realized until now. Or maybe hadn’twanted to let herself realize.
She could make it maybe onemore night before she’d be forced to feed. Hopefully, that would beenough time for Delilah to track down Cretan and eliminate thislittle problem.
In the elevator on the wayup, Chance had hooked his pinkie into hers, and it hadn’t made herwant to pull away. Yes, she’d wanted to jump his bones, but she’dalso wanted to cuddle into him.
Danger warnings that thesewere emotions and feelings she shouldn’t lean into were going offlike fireworks in her head, but she ignored them all. Foronce.
“I ordered take-out from myfavorite Nepalese restaurant to be delivered,” Chance murmured tothe top of her head. She vaguely remembered him making a call inthe cab but hadn’t been paying attention.
“I hope you don’tmind?”
She shook her head. “I loveNepalese.”
A huff of a laugh escaped him and sheglanced up. “What?”
“The minotaur thing threwyou hard, didn’t it?”
How could he tell? “Whatmakes you say that?”
“Because you don’t letanyone do anything for you, let alone pick what food you’lleat.”
He wasn’t wrong. And, yes,she was distracted in several different ways. But that didn’t takeaway from the fact that, for some reason, she didn’t mind whenChance took care of her like this.
Danger. Big fucking emotional dangeralert.
She pushed that voice deepwhere she couldn’t hear it anymore. Or maybe the power of the arrowdid. She was tired of listening to that voice. She flopped onto hisworn leather couch and tucked her legs up under her, staring outthe floor-to-ceiling windows over the New York skyline.Mid-February it still got dark fairly early and the lights weremore brilliant up here, where she could look across thecity.
And he let her just sit insilence. Oddly comfortable silence.
Eventually, Chance droppeddown on the matching leather ottoman in front of her, elbows on hisknees. “What do you want to do about this minotaur?” The doorbellchimed and he sighed. “Save that thought.”
She didn’t plan to sharethat thought. This was herfight, not Chance’s. She was also perfectlycapable. Hells, between her and a minotaur, she was the biggermonster. Now that she was on her guard, Cretan wouldn’t stand achance.
Rather than make her get upand go eat in the kitchenette, Chance brought the bags of terrificsmelling food over to her, sat where he’d been a second ago, andstarted pulling stuff out. Elodie hadn’t realized how ravenous shewas until this moment, and tucked in.
She was slurping up a longnoodle of lafhing when Chance chuckled. Glancing up mid-slurp, shefound him watching her with a grin. “What?” she said around thefood.
“I knew the face youpresented to the world wasn’t the real you. Now I haveproof.”
Elodie wrinkled her nose.Because she got what he was saying. She never let anyone see herlike this. Never. “What made you think that before?”
Was she slipping up in her duties?
“Because I do the samething.” He shrugged as if this wasn’t a personal revelation.“Enough that I recognize a mask when I see one.” He eyed hersuspiciously. “Before all this, I bet you assumed I was just somekind of slick charmer with a magical bow and arrow who took nothingall that seriously?”
Elodie shook her head.“I’ve knocked the charm right off you a time or two.” Seen the manunderneath. Hells, his letting her see his apartment showed her theman underneath. A man she liked.
He grinned at that. “Istill say that the couple you stopped me from shooting would haveworked. He hadn’t acted on any of the impulses you could see. Shewould have given him the happiness he needed to resist. I get thisgut sense.”
She knew all about gut senses. “I’m sure youwere right,” she acknowledged.
Chance leaned forward, handto his ear. “What was that? I don’t think I heard you.”
She rolled her eyes at hisantics, lips twitching. “But…”
