Chapter 34 Aurora #4
Now I’m just … me.
He won’t want the human version.
Not now.
I should know better than to worry my bottom lip because Ezra notices right away. He pulls me back to his chest while I hook one of my legs around his.
“Aurora, I can practically hear the electricity in your brain humming. Please tell me what’s on your mind.”
“Well … it’s just … that magical version of me is so beautiful. I’m afraid plain old Aurora won’t be enough for you anymore.”
Ezra lifts his hand, but before his fingers graze my chin, a shadow beats him to it, hooking under my jaw and tilting my face toward him.
When his lips meet mine, my flesh breaks out in goosebumps.
The room is so dark I can barely see him, but it’s clear what I said upset him.
“Little lupine,” Ezra murmurs softly, brushing my cheek with his thumb.
“Please don’t ever doubt what you mean to me.
Your magic? Your lineage? They’re beautiful, yes, but nothing compared to the fierce, brilliant woman who stole my heart long before she became a goddess.
I fell for your human heart first, Aurora. That’s the part of you I cherish most.”
Well, shit.
That’s … dangerously sweet.
The kind of sweet that could trick a bitch into believing in forever.
And the worst part?
It’s working.
My stomach does this stupid little flip, and I immediately want to punch myself in the face.
I’m not built for this kind of sincerity. I run on caffeine, books that make me want to hug them and throw them across the room, and the kind of music that either goes way too hard or sounds like it was recorded in the bottom of a well.
But maybe just this once, I’ll let myself have it. And maybe I’ll also let him bend me over while he whispers filthy sweet nothings in my ear. Whatever. Not the point.
“Now turn on your side so I can spend the rest of the night holding you.”
His shadows react before I do, curling around my waist in loose, sleepy tangles.
Ezra holds me like he’ll never let go, but his shadows? They cling like they never had a choice.
And yet … even that kind of certainty doesn’t quiet the questions clawing at my brain.
“You’re still thinking quite loudly, Aurora. I do not need to sleep, you know. In fact, before you came along, it was something I rarely did. So please ask your questions so you can rest, little queen,” Ezra says, nuzzling the back of my neck.
“Okay, can we start with hellfire? Louie already told me a bit about it, but how can my flames engulf you like that? And why isn’t the bed scorched?”
“Intent plays a crucial role,” Ezra says. “My shadows are the same. I can use them to protect or to destroy. Your hellfire works much the same way.”
He lifts a brow. “A demon explained it to me once. Said hellfire reflects, not creates.”
Ezra’s mouth twitches. “Admittedly, I was fucking him at the time, so I might be misquoting him.”
“Of course you were railing a demon during a magical lecture.” I snort. “You’ve got big ‘would fuck during finals week’ energy, Grim.”
He just smirks. “Speak with Louie tomorrow. She’ll have more information.”
I nod. “Got it. Louie’s my hellfire whisperer.”
I tap my fingers like I’m ticking off a to-do list.
“Now, what’s the story with flannel guy and the massive, tattooed god from The Cardinal?”
Ezra looks entirely unsurprised. “I was waiting for you to notice.”
Bastard.
“They had the hottest make-out session I’ve ever seen,” I say, brows raised. “Tattoo guy literally growled ‘mine’ against flannel guy’s mouth while his ink lit up. So … what’s the story there?”
I pause, then grin. “Did you fuck them too?”
Ezra chuckles softly. “No. Boone and Vael belong to each other. Exclusively.”
He leans back, shadows shifting lazily behind him. “Boone owns The Cardinal. Won it in some shady poker game. Vael?”
A small smile tugs at his mouth. “Vael owns Boone.”
“Okay, but … are they human?” I ask, narrowing my eyes. “I’m assuming Vael isn’t because … glowy tattoos and growling. But Boone?”
Ezra pauses. “Boone’s human. Or … he was. What he is now defies simple explanation.”
He pulls me closer and brushes his lips against my hair. “But he carries something. Not a spark like the other humans. Something heavier. Something older.”
Ezra’s voice lowers. “He carries … well. That’s not my story to share. As I said when we met, this is an odd little town. It’s a magnet for the different, the lost, the slightly magical. Those who belong here thrive.”
“Okay, well, that’s weirdly adorable and slightly terrifying,” I mutter.
But the question I really need to ask has been clawing at the back of my mind for hours now.
“Um, did you know? About Eve?”
Ezra takes a deep, steadying breath, which tells me everything I need to know.
“Yes, Aurora. I know Eve is verdalora. It’s hard to ignore something like that in a town this small. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you, but we’ve been dealing with quite a lot. I would have told you eventually, I promise.”
“Ezra, it’s okay! There’s nothing to apologize for. I always knew Eve was special, and now I know why.”
“Thank you for understanding, little flame. Eve’s lineage changes nothing about who she is to you. I hope you know that. Just like you being a Daughter doesn’t change who you are to her. Eve, as far as I know, is blissfully unaware that she’s underborne.”
This next part is going to suck. “And Thane? Do you know about him?”
Ezra’s body tenses behind me, and his breathing stops for a moment.
“I must confess, I know he’s not who he claims to be.
But he doesn’t remember, and I could never quite get a read on him,” Ezra responds stiffly.
“I found him in the woods, soaked in blood and barely holding it together. He smelled like the flower the Disciples use in their rituals, so I kept him close. Do you know who he is, Aurora?”
“Louie told me he’s a fallen angel?”
It sounds more like a question than a statement. Ezra throws his head back and laughs, the sound ricocheting off the walls. Not the reaction I was expecting, which makes my stomach knot.
“Fuck, it does make a certain amount of sense. Whether he fell willingly or not, the process would have been hard on his new human body. The fall would force the violent removal of his wings, the erasure of his memory, and the suspension of his magic. So, tell me, how did Louie figure it out?” Ezra’s eyes are on fire with curiosity while his thumb makes soft circles on my naked hip.
“When Thane and Eve came over for dinner a few nights ago, I could tell he knew what Louie was immediately. He picked on her, and when she realized what Thane was, she got really pale and went to bed. She thinks his memories and his magic are slowly coming back. That’s why she couldn’t tell what he was until now.
He also called me ‘queen’ and ‘Daughter.’ But I don’t get the sense he means me or Eve any harm.
I also think he knows you aren’t human.” Ezra’s eyes slowly go out of focus while he thinks through what I’ve just told him.
“Fascinating! This just keeps getting better and better!” Ezra exclaims.
“And we’re excited because …”
“Because it’s different, Aurora. You don’t know what it’s like to live in a loop. To wake every day knowing exactly what it will hold. To stop looking for surprises because you forgot they existed. And then you happened.”
He smiles, just a little too pleased.
“I highly doubt Thane means anyone harm, but I wonder if his appearance here has something to do with you. I may have to have a very awkward chat with him this week. Being a fallen angel, he most definitely knows I’m not human.”
I’m really struggling to understand his excitement over something that seems so dangerous, but I trust his instincts.
Even if Emme is screaming at me to find Thane and slit his throat.
Girl, calm yourself.
“But that’s for tomorrow. Tonight, you rest. I’ll watch over you,” Ezra says softly, leaning down to give me a long, lingering kiss.
As my body relaxes into his, his shadows relax too, uncoiling and settling against my skin, their cool presence reassuring. With a very unladylike yawn, I cuddle back into his arms, allowing a deep sleep to pull me under.