Chapter 3
Abby finished carting her groceries out to her small compact, careful not to break the cage-free eggs this time.
The small and only grocery store in the tiny town had finally started carrying organic offerings, and she chalked that up as one blessing.
The shrink had suggested they all count little blessings before the next meeting, and so far, she was liking the practice.
Maybe life didn’t suck as much as she’d feared.
She gingerly shut her trunk and turned, stopping short.
Nope. Life totally sucked.
“Hi,” her ex said, standing way too close, his car nowhere to be seen. She’d checked before leaving the safety of the store for her car.
She took a step back and looked up to his clean-cut face. Intelligent brown eyes, slightly shaggy brown hair, rugged jaw. If he never moved or spoke again, she’d consider him good looking. “What do you want?” she asked, holding her purse against her chest.
His brows drew down in a familiar frown. “Why must you be so rude? I just wanted to check and see how your anger management class went. I’m hoping it does you some good.”
She swallowed, looking around the nearly vacant lot.
An unfamiliar black SUV sat near the lone gas station.
Had Monte gotten a new vehicle? She couldn’t see any other options.
Winter had just turned to spring, and small sprouts showed through the wide planters set around the two street lights.
There was nobody around to offer help. “You hoped I’d go to jail, and you know it. ” She lifted her chin and met his gaze.
He stepped closer, his eyes blazing.
Her breath stopped. She slid one leg back, even though she’d end up in jail if she kicked him. Self-defense didn’t mean anything in this town. “There are cameras on the storefront,” she reminded him, out of pure self-protection.
His chin lifted. “So there are.” His body visibly relaxed in complete opposition to the anger in his deep eyes. “I swung by your apartment earlier and was surprised by the mess in the kitchen.”
A small gasp escaped her before she could stop it. “You broke into my place?”
His chuckle was chilling. “Of course not. You’re so forgetful, Abby.
You left the door open.” He sighed, the sound long suffering and seriously irritating.
“You know you can’t survive on your own.
Why don’t you stop this nonsense and just come home where I can take care of you?
Where you have a washer and dryer, for Pete’s sake? ”
They’d been divorced for more than two months, and he just wouldn’t let go. “I guess I just got tired of getting the crap kicked out of me.” She was done cowering in front of him. Marrying him had been a colossal mistake, and someday she’d forgive herself for that. But not yet.
He shook his head. “You have such a bad memory and you make things up. You know that, right?”
She was finished doubting her own sanity. How could she ever have trusted him? Sure, she’d been in a weakened state when they’d courted and married, but even so. Where had her brain been? “No. I don’t.”
“You owe me, Abigail,” he said. “How could you ever forget that?”
Yeah, she had once owed him. Maybe. He’d saved her life in a car crash, and their whirl-wind romance had gone on from there.
They’d married too quickly, and then hell had descended.
“Not anymore. I figured I’ve paid you back or done my penance or whatever.
We’re even, and it’s time you moved on.” There. She’d said it.
He clucked his tongue. “I’m never moving on. We belong together, and someday, you’ll realize it. No matter what I have to do.”
Her knees trembled, and she hid the reaction. There had been a time she’d been fearless, and that was too long ago. Living with him had taken a toll, and she was just starting to find herself again. “Shouldn’t you be chasing ambulances or something?”
Surprise shot into his eyes a second before he grabbed her arm. Hard.
“I suggest you release her before I break your entire wrist,” came a low voice from behind her.
She jumped and partially turned. Noah Siosal’s long strides ate up the distance between them, his massive arms carrying two huge bags of groceries. Where in the heck had he come from? She glanced at the doorway to the store. The guy had moved silently, now hadn’t he?
Monte looked over the stranger. “This is a family matter. If you know what’s good for you, you’ll move on your way.”
Noah flashed his teeth in a parody of a smile. “Oh, friend. You don’t want to threaten me. Remove your hand. Now.”
Real chills cascaded down Abby’s spine, and she almost instinctively intervened to tell Noah that things were all right. There was a time she would’ve done so, just to avoid a scene. Not now. Now,she wasn’t responsible for either of their actions. So she kept silent.
Noah’s chin lowered, and his very broad shoulders went back.
Monte dropped her arm.
She blinked. Wow. Okay, then. She took several steps back, leaving nothing between the two men, who stared at each other with equal amounts of derision.
Most people backed down when faced with Monte’s wrath.
Not Noah. Interesting. If anything, he looked slightly irritated.
Did he truly not understand how the town worked?
Monte smiled then. “Listen, buddy. You’re mistaken in your actions here.”
“Buddy? I’m not your ally here.” Noah leaned forward, his body one long and lean line of pure threat.
“My buddies don’t mishandle women, and I’ve not once found myself itching to take off a buddy’s head.
So that must not be you.” His voice, low and hoarse, wound through the chilly day.
“Touch her again, and it’ll be the last thing you do. ”
“Is that a threat?” Monte asked, using his lawyer voice.
“You bet your ass it is,” Noah said, not moving an inch.
Abby’s stomach dropped, and she pressed a shaking hand against the cold window of her backseat. “You should leave, Monte.” How was her voice so calm?
“Again, you misunderstand. She has mental discrepancies and needs help.” Monte straightened.
“But right now, I’ll go. I’ll talk to you soon, wife.
” He turned on his heel and strode toward the store doors, his long steps hitching when Ivar stalked outside, his arms full of green apples, one in his mouth.
Shaking his head, Monte passed him and crossed inside.
Ivar paused. “What did I miss?”
Noah didn’t like the paleness of the female human or the wide brownish green eyes. Scratch that. Her eyes were stunning. Clear, intelligent, soft. But right now, her pupils had widened as if she’d been hiding from predators. “Are you all right?” he asked.
“Fine.” A soft coral color slid across her angled cheekbones, just beneath that smooth skin. “I appreciate your intervention, but I’m not sure you understand the situation.”
Ivar finished approaching, munching loudly on the apple. “Did he call you wife? You married?”
“Divorced,” she said, the sound relieved. “He’s having a hard time letting go.”
Ivar partially turned to eye the storefront. “He’s the guy who said you threw a pitcher at his head and then actually got you arrested and charged for it?”
She shuffled her feet. “Um, yeah. I guess you could say that.”
Ivar opened his mouth and Noah quickly intervened. “We’re not killing him.” Not right now, anyway.
Ivar closed his mouth, and Abby gave a slight chuckle. “I agree,” she murmured, her body relaxing for the first time that afternoon. “But it was a kind offer earlier. I haven’t laughed in a long time.” Her entire face lit up as she smiled, the sight genuine and alluring.
Ivar finished the fruit and started on another one. “I overheard something about mental discrepancies. What’s up with that?”
Her face lost color.
Noah cut Ivar a hard look. “Dude. Manners.” Being alone for centuries fighting through hell worlds was no excuse for being rude to a tiny human.
“Oh. Sorry.” Ivar kept munching. “My bad.”
The hair on Noah’s neck prickled, and he turned toward the road to see a new and shiny gray truck drive by. The window rolled down, and Raine Maxwell gave a short nod, obviously keeping an eye on them.
“We’re gonna have to take care of him,” Ivar said quietly.
Abby’s head jerked. “What does that mean?”
Noah growled. “I liked you better when you didn’t want to talk, Viking.”
Ivar shrugged. “None of this was my idea, and I might as well enjoy my brief time here. Before I go back.”
“To hell,” Abby murmured. “That’s what you said in group. Does that mean you want to go back overseas? Into combat?”
Ivar finished the second apple. “I left a buddy there, and I have to go get him. It’s that simple.”
“Oh.” She reached out and patted his arm.
What a sweetheart. Noah was oddly jealous of Ivar for the briefest of seconds.
What was her touch like? He purposefully turned his attention on Ivar.
“You really going back?” The Realm was apparently searching for a way to get him back through dimensions to rescue another member of the Seven by using some sort of teleporting ability that many demons held, but rumor had it the mission was a one-way deal.
If that. Noah had always been thankful he didn’t have the ability to teleport.
It seemed way too possible to get caught between dimensions.
“Ivar? You’re leaving here?” he repeated.
“Yes,” Ivar said, turning and looking at Abby. Really looking at her. “Well now. You’re an enhanced one, aren’t you?”
Ah, shit. Noah bit the inside of his mouth. Of course she was. That explained why he was drawn to her. Well, that and the fact that she was smart, soft, apparently kind, and very pretty.
She blinked. “Enhanced?”
Yeah. Enhanced human females had special gifts like empathy or psychic abilities, and they could mate immortals. Some thought they were cousins to the witches, but Noah had never paid much attention. “It’s his way of giving a compliment,” he said.
Ivar chuckled. “Yeah. Isn’t it though?” He patted her hand and then leaned over to dump the rest of his apples in Noah’s bag. Then he took all three bags. “Meet you in the truck. I have to call in.” He nodded at Abby and stepped lightly over the cracked asphalt to Noah’s truck.
Abby cleared her throat as the wind picked up force. “He appears better already, although sometimes he seems to be in some sort of alternate world. You know?”
Yeah, he did. Noah finally gave in and pushed a piece of wayward hair away from her cheek. Soft and silky, just like he’d imagined.
Her mouth pursed into a small ‘o’.
He smiled. Small cascades of energy came from her.
Very light. Was she psychic? Probably not.
Maybe empathic? Who knew? Sometimes the gift was so light the human didn’t even know it was there.
But it was—without question. Not that it mattered to him.
He had two missions on his shoulders right now, and he didn’t have time to dally with a human.
“Ivar and I are going to grab a pizza. Would you like to join us?” His mouth worked independently from his brain. What was he doing, asking her out?
She blinked and inched away from him. “Thank you, but I need to get home. I, um, work as a waitress at the Badger’s Bar and Grille, and I have to run home and change into my uniform first.”
Probably a good thing. He nodded and waited until she’d gotten into her car, secured her seatbelt, and driven off, watching her the entire time.
Ivar opened the door of the truck and leaned out, another half-eaten apple in his left hand. He wiped off his mouth. “You coming? I’m starving. We can talk about taking out the vampire over pepperoni. Man, I hope you like pepperoni.” He slammed the door shut.
Noah bit back another growl. He didn’t have time for any of this. “Of course I like pepperoni,” he muttered, stomping toward the truck. Who in the hell didn’t like pepperoni?