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But if he didn’t, Nox could wind up standing stooped over him until morning.
“I have an idea, but you’re probably not going to like it.” Luca risked a look up.
Nox watched him.
“We could ask Isaiah for a place to stay for a couple of days.”
Nox’s expression softened. “I don’t think I’d be welcome.”
“He’d let you stay if I asked him to.” If Isaiah really meant what he said.
“He doesn’t trust me, Luca.”
“You don’t know that.”
“Trust me. He’s made it very clear.”
“How?”
“If he wanted me around, he wouldn’t have waited until I left to visit you.”
Luca widened his eyes. “You knew?”
“I picked up his scent in the parking lot and in the room.”
“Oh… I should have told you.”
“You didn’t exactly have the chance.”
Why didn’t that make Luca feel less guilty? And why did he feel guilty?
“He brought some food. Wanted to talk. Told me some stuff about what happened before. Said to ask if I needed anything.” Luca lifted a shoulder. “I told him I didn’t, but… I guess I could change my mind. He won’t say no.” There was no reason to explain why. Nox might not know the details, but he’d feel Luca’s emotions and know there’d been no threat and Luca hadn’t been willing to believe anything Isaiah said.
“Okay,” Nox said. “As soon as the rain lets up, we’ll head toward the campgrounds.”
“We don’t have to.” Luca had no desire to go if Nox wouldn’t be able to stay. No matter how hard it rained or how cold it got.
“Yes, we do.” Nox’s deep voice crawled through Luca.
“Why?”
Nox held Luca’s face, his calloused fingers rough against Luca’s freshly shaved skin.
“Because I love you.” Nox pressed his lips against Luca’s forehead.
* * *
It was almost dark when Nox and Luca made it to the campgrounds and found the nearly invisible road to the semi-circle of RV homes.
A campfire burned bright white in Nox’s night vision, and the Varu near the fire threw particle sparks into the air. But what made Nox stop were the ghostly shapes wavering at their sides.
Isaiah had called them Fenrir.
They weren’t as large as the Anubis, but Nox had a feeling it was because ofwherethey sat. An optical illusion made them appear close to the Varu they accompanied when they were a world away.
While they had the same body shape as the Anubis, the Fenrir offered a gentler presence of comfort and calm.
Luca gave off that same aura. But where the Anubis fell into silence when it was around Luca, it rose to alert with the Fenrir.
