He managed to pull back just enough to meet her gaze. “When?”
“I don’t know,” she admitted.
“I don’t either.” His gaze dropped to her mouth before returning to her sparkling eyes. “But I want to do it again.”
“Yes,” she replied. “Very much yes.”
Another echo from a dream.
Another fantasy to repeat.
Another life… forgotten.
But his soul remembered. That life source beat deep inside, urging him to continue. To explore. To relive the moments.
So he kissed Leela.
And their fantasy began again.
Chapter17
Balthazar
Leela didn’t bother makingany wards. They hadn’t worked in Japan, so she assumed they wouldn’t here.
Balthazar didn’t press the issue.
This property had a security system similar to the one at Luc’s place. If that had worked against the Seraphim, so would this.
Although, he wasn’t quite surehowit had worked against them. They were ethereal beings. Perhaps they’d gone corporeal outside and that was what had triggered the alarms? If that was the case, they wouldn’t make the mistake again, which left Leela and Balthazar a bit more vulnerable here.
But Leela wondered if her wards were what the Seraphim were tracking, not her blood.
Which was another reason not to create them.
They were close enough to Hydria here for him to feel somewhat safe. If they needed to mist, they could fly there in a few seconds flat. Then deal with the consequences.
His latest update from Luc—which he’d just finished receiving—said they were on schedule and needed two more days, maybe less.
Vera was still nowhere to be found.
And Luc also hadn’t decided what to do with Mateo.
Given that only about five hours had passed since their last conversation, Balthazar wasn’t surprised.
He’d briefly considered telling Luc about the strange mind-meld happening between him and Leela but decided the Hydraian King had enough on his plate right now. Balthazar and Leela would figure this out on their own.
After he took her to dinner.
It was a risk, but surrounding themselves with humans might actually work as a better alarm system than the one in the house. According to Leela, the Seraphim wanted to remain hidden. It was why they’d warded the shit out of their home islands—to stay off mortal maps.
Which meant they would be less inclined to attack Leela and Balthazar while out in public.
Of course, they might not even know where to find them yet. It seemed they showed up in twelve-to-thirteen-hour intervals, and they’d only been in Venice for less than six.
This gave them plenty of time to explore this mind-meld and determine truth from fiction. If they’d truly walked these streets together before, then more memories might surface. And they could follow those strands for more information.
He suspected Vera had something to do with this. She’d manipulated his memories of Brazil, but who was to say that had been the first time? Maybe she’d done it to Leela, too.
