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He can read my thoughts and grins. “I have to go soon. But not right away. Maybe you could join me in the shower.”
I run my hand over his chest, and it doesn’t take me long to make up my mind. “Sure. I’ll just go grab some fresh clothes.”
He kisses me again, holding my face in both hands, and a glorious shiver runs through me. It’s hard to pull myself away, but I want to take him up on his offer.
“I’ll be right back,” I say, quickly getting up and putting on myshirt and jeans.
Ayden follows me, hugs me again, kisses my neck and says, “Good, see you soon.”
I hurry to my room, but it takes me a while to decide what to wear. Eventually, I pick out an oversized sweater and tight jeans and go back to Ayden’s room. I have my hand on the door handle when my phone vibrates. I check the display as I’m stepping into Ayden’s room and see that I’ve missed ten messages and two calls. They’re all from Noah.
“I need to talk to you urgently. I have important news. Please get back to me,” says the last SMS. My heart begins to race, my thoughts swirl, and then I stiffen as two arms wrap around me from behind and pull me against a warm body.
“I was about to come get you,” Ayden says, kissing my neck. He must sense the tension in me because he quickly asks, “Everything okay?” He turns me around, so I’m forced to look at him. “Bad news?”
And that’s when I realize the moment has come. I have to tell him.
Chapter 30
There are no words to sugarcoat this, no excuses, no half-truths. I get straight to the point. “Noah messaged me,” I say, and Ayden’s expression instantly freezes to ice.
“Okay, we can deal with this,” he says, letting go of me. He instantly switches to hunter mode and starts thinking of strategies to get the situation under control. “He must be dumber than I thought if he’s still trying to make contact with you. But at least we know he can’t follow you. As long as you’re living here in the residence, you’re safe.” He puts his hand on my arm and tries to reassure me with a smile. “We’ll find a way to get him off your back. But we need to figure out what he actually wants from you.”
He gives me a piercing look, and I can tell what he’s thinking:Has this been going on for a while?And his suspicions are correct.
I shake my head and search desperately for the right words. It’s so hard because I know this could change everything between us – just when we’re finally together and everything seems so perfect between us. And now I have to put this happiness to the test.
“It’s not like that,” I begin quietly, looking up at him. “Noah’s not a threat to me. We... we’re friends.”
Ayden just stands there and stares at me. Incredulity doesn’t begin to describe the expression on his face. He’s shaken, horrified, and... disappointed. And that’s what hurts the most. I didn’t want to hurt him, certainly not like this. And I realize it’s one of the worst things I could have done to him.
“Tell me you’re not serious,” he whispers very slowly. He looks at me, hurt but also with a flicker of hope that maybe I can somehow dispel all this.
“We... we kept in touch. He’s helped me several times. With training, in Mr. Brian’s house. He carried me and Kate out of the Odyss after the fight with Chiara, and released odeon so the hunters would find us. And he was the one who helped Kate get her key spirit from the Odyss.”
Ayden raises his eyebrows; he’s breathing heavily, and I see his whole body tense up. He’s incredibly angry. Snow, who until now was lying on the floor beside the desk, now springs to his feet. He stands beside his master, looking up at him expectantly. Little sparks flicker in the air around him. I can feel the atmosphere become charged as if a storm is brewing.
“Noah’s not the person you think he is,” I venture. “I know you two don’t like each other, but he has another side, and I’ve gotten to know it. We’ve become friends. He’s always been there for me and without him I...” I shake my head. “...I don’t know where I’d be now.”
“Teresa,” Ayden says in a tortured voice. He begins pacing up and down the room. He runs his hand through his hair, and his expression is filled with anger and desperation. “I don’t get it. All this time. You’d rather turn to someone like him for help than come to me or one of the other hunters.”
“It’s not like that,” I object, but I know it’s futile. “I was afraid of how you’d react. Everything was already so fragile betweenus. We were constantly fighting, and then you’d become totally unapproachable and were avoiding me. How was I supposed to tell you?”
“And you’d rather trust him, a Noctu? Do you have any idea what he’s done? How many Tempes he’s killed? He kills people to take their dying breath. And you’re okay with all that?”
“No,” I reply. “Of course not. But just because I’m friends with him doesn’t mean I condone everything he does. Can’t there be parts of his life that I don’t like but still like him as a person?”
“He’s not a person,” Ayden snarls. “Never forget that.”
“Then neither are we.”
I move a step closer and reach out to touch him, but he recoils.
“Ayden, please. I don’t want any more secrets between us. I want to be with you, and for that to work, there can’t be anything between us.”
He looks at me with such coldness that I shiver. “So there’s more? Do you have something else to tell me?”
No, not if you’re going to act like that,I want to say. But I can understand his anger, and part of me knows it’s justified. I didn’t put my trust in him. But now that’s changed.
