Chapter 31 Aurora #4
Thane really scared her. I hope she’s feeling better, but I’m also curious if she knows what Thane is. He must be very good at hiding his true nature if even Ezra hasn’t been able to identify him as anything other than human. I wouldn’t have, either, if he hadn’t been so obvious.
It’s almost like he wants me to know. And maybe that’s what really gets me.
I thought Thane was just a sweet guy working at Ezra’s bookshop. But suddenly he’s making damn sure I know he sees me.
Really sees me.
Has he been waiting for this moment? Waiting for me?
I hope I’m wrong. I hope it’s paranoia. But I haven’t been right about a fucking thing since this all started.
I knock on Louie’s door. When she doesn’t answer, I turn the knob and peek in. She’s in the pajamas I gave her the other night, curled up in a tight ball on the bed.
Sitting next to her, I run my hands through her hair in a sad attempt at taming it. The knotwork tattoos running up her neck and down the back of her arms are visible. They’re so detailed and so hauntingly beautiful, they seem to breathe beneath her skin.
When I push a strand of hair behind her ear, she rolls over and gazes up at me. Her eyes—one deep brown, the other split between brown and icy blue—are the same as in her hound form. But right now, they glisten with unshed tears, and the sight sends a jolt of pain straight to my heart.
“Are you okay, Lou?”
“Yeah, I’m alright. The himbo just gave me a fright is all,” she says, worrying her bottom lip with a fang.
“I’m sorry he scared you. And I’m sorry I put you in that situation, even if it was fun to have dinner with all my best friends.”
I smile at her while wiping a tear from her cheek. She’s like the little sister I never had. And I’d set the whole fucking sky on fire if it meant keeping her safe.
“Thane knows what I am. He called me ‘Daughter’ this evening when he left. And before you lose your shit, he didn’t threaten me.
He just said, ‘Be well, Daughter,’ and left.
How would he know? He doesn’t seem dangerous.
Plus, I swear his eyes glowed at the bar the other night.
But maybe that was just the pain messing with my head. Ugh, I sound crazy.”
I lay back on her bed with a frustrated huff. Louie curls up next to me, allowing me to wrap an arm around her tiny frame.
“You’re not crazy, Aurora. I’m just pissed I didn’t see it the moment he walked in.
I failed you as a protector because this stupid human body is fucking worthless.
There’s so much sweating and, like, feelings.
Every day I try to shift into a hound, and every day I’m disappointed.
I know how to protect you as a hellhound, Aurora.
But like this?” Louie gestures at her human form with disgust. “I feel useless.”
She sniffles, then wipes her nose with the back of her hand.
“You didn’t fail me, Lou. If Thane is something else, he hides it well because I don’t think Ezra knows he’s not human either.”
Louie bursts into a fit of hysterical laughter.
“That arrogant old sod’s so full of himself. But if someone that strong couldn’t see it, then I’d guess Thane only just stopped hiding what he is.” She shrugs. “Why now? No clue. Maybe he dropped some kind of cloaking spell, intentionally or not. Hard to say …”
Louie’s eyes glaze over, lost in her thoughts as her sentence trails off.
Loudly clearing my throat, I ask the obvious question that got lost in Louie’s rambling.
“What is Thane?”
“He’s an angel, Aurora,” Louie responds, looking up at me through long, dark eyelashes. “Well, he’s a fallen angel, but that doesn’t make him any less of a twat.”
“Thane … is a fallen angel?” The laughter bursts out of me before I can stop it.
What. The. Actual. Fuck.
“Yeah. Don’t know why you’re laughing, though.
Angels traditionally haven’t been supportive of Daughters.
They don’t want to hurt you, but they’d also gladly stand by and watch you die.
Fucking apathetic pigeons. Be careful around Thane.
I agree; I don’t think he means you harm, but I think he’s here, in this area, for a reason. ”
I wave a hand, dismissing whatever fresh hell just landed in our laps.
“I guess I’m laughing because I invited a fallen angel to an ancient shadow creature’s home, then served him dinner alongside a human, a hellhound, and a Daughter of the Morning Star.
You see? It’s funny in a ‘my brain might explode because I’ve had to rewrite my reality ten times in the last five days’ kinda way. ”
Louie just rolls her eyes at my response.
We’re going to have to work on her sense of humor.
I’m clearly hilarious.
“Eve told me he can’t remember anything. Would that have something to do with it?”
Louie rolls away from me, then places her head on the pillow with a loud yawn.
“Yeah, it could. Some angels and demons fall by choice. Some get shoved. Either way, when they fall, it’s a violent, bloody process. Amnesia is traditionally a side effect of falling. If Thane’s memories are returning, it might explain his odd behavior and inability to hide who he is anymore.”
“Do you think he’s a danger to Eve?”
“Nah, even though magic still lives in the fallen, it’s hard to access in a clunky human body. I’d be more concerned about Thane being fucked to death.
“Your friend, there, is verdalora. Hell, you don’t know what that means.
Um, the closest comparison is a nymph from Greek mythology.
I mean, it’s tough these days to find someone who doesn’t have a bit of magic from an ancestor that was underborne, but Eve’s mother must have been a full-blooded verdalora, and a powerful one at that.
She oozes a sexual energy most humans can’t resist. Shit, I was half in love with her within five minutes of meeting her in my human form,” Louie says dreamily, falling under the remnants of Eve’s wayward spell again.
Maybe I’m finally getting used to the supernatural, because honestly, Thane being a fallen angel doesn’t shatter my world … It’s just concerning.
And Eve? Well, that explains so much about her.
Plus, I always knew she was magical, verdalora or not.
“Well, I’m going to take a hot bath, then crawl into bed. I’m exhausted and I’m afraid if I stay up any longer, you’ll tell me the president is underborne.”
“Lizard people are technically underborne, so …” Louie’s gaze shifts away from me while she picks at the dirt under her thumbnail.
“Jesus fucking Christ. I’m done.”
“Really? It’s the lizard people that break you? Thought you was tougher than that,” Louie snorts, while fluffing her pillow.
She couldn’t name one London neighborhood, but she’s somehow perfected the nuances of sarcasm.
Priorities, I guess.
After hugging Louie goodnight, I gather my pajamas, step into the bathroom, and check my phone. Still nothing from Ezra.
I hope he’s safe. I need him to come home.
I’m getting out of my depth here, and while I don’t need him to hold my hand through this, it’d be nice to have him by my side.
When I think about what it might feel like to have him deep inside me, my body lights up, desperately begging my imagination for more.
I skip the hot bath and opt for a cool shower instead. I’m already overheated.
My safest bet right now? Shredding my V-card and claiming my power.
I’m done feeling weak.
Done feeling like a victim.
Sliding into bed, I silently beg the universe to bring my grumpy Grim home.
Soon.