Page 30 of Enchanted

Blood. So much blood.

A smile. The most beautiful smile.

I blinked the images away. Where had they come from?

Before I could think on it any more, Rami changed the subject. “Have you lived in London long?”

“No,” I said, smiling as Rami put together yet another cracker. Hopefully this one was for him, but something told me it wasn’t. “I lived in California until fairly recently.”

I bit back a smirk as I took the proffered cracker. Rami stayed silent as I chewed, probably not wanting a repeat of me choking. It wasn’t until I’d swallowed that he finally spoke. “You didn’t live there all your life though. Not with that accent.”

I nudged the crackers towards him pointedly. “For you this time. We don’t start again until you eat too.”

Rami grumbled but moved to do as I asked.

“I moved there when I was twenty-one,” I said when I was satisfied he was going to eat. “Before that, I lived in Southampton. Well, I went to university there. I grew up in Kent.”

Rami nodded slowly. “I have friends in Southampton.”

His words struck me unexpectedly. Once upon a time, I could’ve said the same.

But not now.

“It’s a big city,” I said, suddenly keen to be away from this conversation. From the reminders of what I’d lost, and the future I’d gained without a clue of what it would hold. “Have you had enough to eat?”

“Have you?”

What model worried about whether their photographer’s needs were being met? Not any I’d come across before. “Yeah, I’m good. Thank you.”

My simple thanks had Rami’s face lighting up. “In that case, let’s continue.”

Chapter 9

Rami

Fuck, this was so much harder than I’d anticipated.

My soul was screaming at me to learn everything I could about Ethan. To make the most of each minute spent in his presence by figuring out how to win him over.

But my instincts? They were cautioning me. Warning me not to go in all guns blazing. To take a gentler path.

Even so, it was near fucking impossible to hold my tongue. My mate was in the same room as me. Breathing the same air. I could reach out and touch him. Not that I would. I’d almost combusted simply caressing his wrist under the guise of checking his scars. The scars he no longer had.

Because of me.

I thought he’d noticed. His face had paled while his heart had beaten a little faster. I’d tried to distract him by asking a question, but I didn’t think I’d succeeded.

I hated all of this. I felt like I was lying to Ethan. Hiding who he was to me. What I’d done.

But this was the best way. It was my best hope of keeping him safe.

Even bringing him here today had been tricky thanks to Gloria. It was why Micah, Breann, Grace, and Noah were all in the skies right now. Between them, they created an impenetrable barrier. Nate was monitoring all other activity via technology, while Theo, Nox, and Jeremiah held a ground perimeter. Benji was also on the ground, constantly checking the wards for any changes.

Only Ez and Sam remained in the house without a task. Sam, because it would be weird if he left given he was the one who’d hired Ethan, and Ez in case he could be useful.

The Seraphim and their mates had my back. None of us were willing to risk Ethan being exposed the same way Sam had been. We were taking precautions and then some.

No one outside of our group would ever know Ethan had been here.