(ZANE)
What is wrong with me? True, it has been months since I'd been good and fucked. I don't need flowers and fancy dinners or even a relationship in order to roll around in bed with someone.
But it is unlike me to be so forward with a man I barely know.
"Blaine," Kian says, appearing at the end of the hall. "We need to leave."
Blaine doesn't look at him. Doesn't react to his words. He keeps his eyes on mine, his body so close but not close enough.
"We'll continue this discussion later." He steps away from me and walks toward Kian. Before he turns the corner though, he glances back at me.
"Behave while I'm gone."
"I'm not a child." Once he is out of sight, I slump against the wall, trying to calm my racing heart. Blaine might been Wrath, yet he awakes a desire in me that is pure lust.
The mansion is still sort of a maze for me, but I am beginning to learn my way around. Feeling a little hungry, I walk toward the kitchen, noticing the house is quieter than normal.
"Where is everyone?" I ask Kaiser as I open the refrigerator.
"Patrolling," he answers before shoving an entire donut into his mouth. "You'll be stuck with me for the night. Hope that's okay."
"Did they make you stay behind to watch over me?" The thought irritates me. I hate being treated like a kid.
"Get that sour look off your face, little mortal." Kaiser holds the bakery box toward me. "Have a donut. You could use some more meat on your bones."
"Oh, I have enough already." But still, I grab a glazed donut anyway. I suck at fighting temptation, especially when it comes to food. "Out of the seven deadly sins, I think I'm more of a glutton."
Kaiser grins, and I realize he isn't nearly as scary as I first thought. Sure, he looked like a damn mountain and seemed as strong as one too, but there is something boyish about the way he smiles. Innocent, even.
"You doing' okay?" Kaiser asks. "You freaked out when seeing Cyrus earlier."
"I'm fine."
And I am. Well, for the most part. "I'm still struggling to accept everything, but I'm getting there. Good news is I no longer think you're all kidnapping me."
He chuckles. "That's good to know. We don't want you being afraid. We just want to protect you."
"So what happened with the ring? Did the angel—er, Cyrus, tell you anything?"
"Nope." Kaiser grabs a beer and raises a brow. "Want one?"
"No, thanks." He shrugs and twists the cap off before taking a swig.
"Cyrus doesn't tell us much. Irritating as fuck, but it's how it's always been."
"What about Lockwood?" I ask. "Kian said something about not being able to get in because of the warding?"
"Yeah. We are tryin' to find answers. The ring is powerful, but we don't know anything about it or where it came from. We thought there might be some kind of clue in the mansion."
"Is there anything I can do to help?" Excitement swirls in my chest. "I do this for a living. I've tracked down countless items over the years. Knowing an object's backstory and origin can make it more valuable, so it's kind of my thing."
"Blaine won't like you getting more involved than you already are."
"Well, Blaine isn't the boss of me."
"Easy there," Kaiser says, amused. That smile falls a bit. "You don't want to piss him off. Believe me."
"Why? Will he turn into the Hulk?"
"Something like that. When Blaine gets pissed, like really pissed, he's like four Hulks. Anger takes him over, and he's damn strong. Stronger than all of us combined. And calming him back down…" Kaiser shook his head. "Let's just say, the last time he lost control like that, Cyrus threw him in a cage and almost killed him."
My gut coils. "Why would he kill him?"
"Because Blaine's mind was taken over by rage." Kaiser sweeps a hand over his cropped black hair. Reliving the memory visibly upsets him. "When he gets like that, he's like a beast. The longer he lets the rage consume him, the harder it is to bring him back. He's better about controlling it now. But that wrathful anger is still inside him. Always will be."
I try to picture the Blaine he described. Try to imagine him overtaken by a ruthless anger, his mind little more than a beast.
"I'm more like him than you know." Was that what Blaine meant? That he was like his father because of his rage? But then I remember how gently Blaine had held me in his arms the night I almost died. I remember the care with which he checked my bandages. The gentleness in his voice after I passed out earlier and he carried me to bed.
No. He isn't heartless. Or cruel. Wrath might be part of him. But kindness is too.
"Do you wanna watch a movie?" Kaiser asks. "I can make some popcorn."
"Sure."
Again, I am hit by how human he seems. Here I am, in a mansion, a home to immortal angelic warriors, and I am about to watch a movie with one of them like we are just two normal guys hanging out. I don't know what I expected, but this certainly isn't it.
Kaiser pop three bags of popcorn and dumped most of them into one massive bowl. He pours the rest into a smaller bowl before handing that one to me. He grabs two more beers, I pour a glass of iced water, and then we leave the kitchen.
"We're not going to the entertainment room?" I ask, confused as we walk right past it.
"Did Loki not tell you we have a movie theater?"
"What? No fucking way."
"Yes way." He flashes that boyish smile again and continues down the hall. He takes me down another corridor and opens a door on the left.
I stared in awe silence as I enter the room.
The screen is huge, just like the ones at real theaters, and the seats are plushy recliners. Enough for all seven of them. "Bet you're glad you didn't run away now, huh?" Kaiser plops down in the recliner in the middle of the row. I grin and take the one beside him.
"Yeah. Kind of."
We watch a psychological thriller about detectives hunting for a notorious serial killer, then switch to a rom-com once it ends. His taste is eclectic. I suppose when you lived for as long as he did, you learn to appreciate all genres.
Around 1:00 a.m., I am lying in bed, tossing and turning, when I hear steps outside my room. The door creaks open and light spills in from the hall. I close my eyes and pretend to be asleep as I sense someone approach me. They bring the blanket up farther on my chest and tuck it in around me before lightly caressing my jaw.
"I know you're faking."
I break into a smile and open my eyes.
"What gave me away?"
"Your horrible acting." Blaine turns on the bedside lamp. "You also snore in your sleep, and you were way too quiet."
"I don't snore." He arches a brow as he sits beside me, his heavy body causing the mattress to dip a little.
"Did you enjoy your time with Kaiser?"
I nod. "We watched movies."
"Good." His tone is soft, yet his expression remains hard.
"Is that blood?" I ask, alarmed. Red is smeared on the side of his neck, and I sit up to look closer.
Blaine wipes at it and shrugs. "It's nothing. Just a bite. The wound is already healing."
"Were there many shades out tonight?" Still crazy to me how he fights them. The thought of ever being close to one again makes me feel sick.
"More so than usual, yes." Blaine exhales "Godric is pissed that we didn't hand over the ring." "Who's Godric?"
"You've met him," he says. "Auburn-haired demon. Smells like ass."
I laugh. "He smelled more like woodsmoke to me." I recalled the day the man came into my shop. "I knew there was something off about that guy. He made me uncomfortable. Reminded me of a comic book villain. He's really a demon?"
"An upper-level one at that." Blaine rubs at the back of his neck, and I noticed more blood on the inside of his bicep. Another bite mark. But he was right. The wound had closed and looked like he'd had it for a week. rather than hours. He notices the blood and lifts his shirt to wipe it off. The peek of his abs made my blood heat.
"You can thank him for sending those shades after you."
I shuddered at the memory of their hot, putrid breath on my skin and their revolting odor of burning flesh.
"I'd rather not think about that, thanks."