Fat raindrops soaked them as they ran, sheets of water rolling across the football-sized parking lot and turning puddles into almost ankle-deep pools on the asphalt.
Devony couldn’t stop shivering.
Her legs felt increasingly rubbery beneath her, her black boots seeming to gain an extra pound of weight for every step she took as she hurried to keep up with Rafe’s long strides.
Her hands were no longer glowing. The power she had siphoned off the woman Rafe had called Jordana had begun to leave her even before they’d made it out to the parking lot. Now, she was paying the price for using her ability.
In another few minutes, she would be completely drained.
Rafe glanced at her and frowned. “You okay?”
“I’m fine,” she shouted through the rain. At least, she thought she shouted. Her voice sounded weak, hardly more than a croak. “Keep going. I’m right . . . behind . . . you.”
“Like hell you’re fine.”
She took a sluggish step and stumbled. Rafe’s hands were underneath her before she had a chance to hit the pavement. Scooping her into his arms, he stared down at her, his handsome face pinched with concern.
“You need help. First, I need to get you out of this rain.”
She wanted to argue against needing anything from him, but her mouth had gone dry as all of her energy faded away. Her head was too heavy to hold up now, even though it felt as if it were stuffed with cotton. Resting against Rafe’s muscled chest, she had no choice but to give in to the comfort of his strength.
His heat warmed the chill that gripped her. His body was firm and solid as he carried her, his arms holding her aloft as if she weighed nothing at all. And Lord, he smelled good too. Even in her weakened state, her senses responded to everything male in him.
“There’s a park across the street,” he said, his deep voice vibrating against her ear. “I’ll find us some shelter to wait for the storm to clear. Then you’re going to tell me what the hell I just witnessed back there in the museum.”
In moments, they were beneath the timber roof of a covered picnic shelter in a secluded corner of the empty park. Rain pattered in the surrounding trees and on the shingles overhead, while the dark sky rumbled with thunder.
Rafe set her down on the wooden bench seat beside him. Her head was still woozy, her skull throbbing from a pain that was building swiftly now that she was sitting upright. Or trying to, that is. The post-ability crash was coming on fast now, sapping what little strength she had left.
“Shit,” Rafe hissed as she listed toward him. “Come here.”
She couldn’t fight him as he drew her close, settling her across his lap on the bench. It had been years since she used her psychic ability, mainly because of the price she paid afterward. But she had never experienced pain and depletion like this.
She had never experienced the kind of awesome power she’d pulled from Jordana, either.
Devony moaned, shuddering and cold as the last of that power leached out of her, leaving her as helpless as an infant. She hated this weakness. Hated it even more because Rafe was seeing her this way.
“Christ, you’re ice cold.” Shrugging out of his leather jacket, he laid it over her. The added warmth felt nice, but not as good as the intense, permeating heat of his body beneath her, or the soothing comfort of his hands moving tenderly over her face and brow. “Does that feel better?”
It did, she realized. The savage pound kicking up inside her skull was ebbing under his touch. She nodded, not yet able to form coherent words. Her eyelids lifted and she stared up into the face of a golden angel. A scowling angel, whose grim concern was focused entirely on her.
And he was still touching her. His fingers stroked her forehead and temples, while his gaze clung to hers.
It felt more than good. It made her crave the feeling in a lot of other places on her body.
A weak moan escaped her as she struggled to lift up from his lap.
“Relax, Brinks. You’re not in any shape to even think about moving yet.” He shook his head and exhaled a curse. “Tell me your name. Your real name this time.”
It leaked out of her in a whisper. “Devony.”
He gave her a nod, the edge of his mouth quirking in response. “Devony. That’s a hell of an improvement over Brinks. Now, stay put, Devony. Let me help you.”
Accepting his help was the last thing she wanted, but she didn’t have the strength to refuse. He slipped his hands under the jacket he’d covered her with, moving his palms over the length of her arms then along her center.
“What did you do to Jordana back there?”
“I didn’t hurt her, I promise. I just borrowed her ability . . . temporarily.”
“Borrowed it.” His brow furrowed. “You mean you absorbed it into yourself? Explain.”
She hesitated, uncertain how he would react. “I can siphon someone else’s ability. I can use it as if it’s my own. Not for long, though. I can only hold it for a few minutes.”
“That’s what you turned on Nathan when he came at you? Jordana’s power.” He shook his head, his expression grave. “No wonder. That’s about the only thing that could stop a former Hunter like him. Don’t make the mistake of thinking he’ll give you a chance to do it again.”
Devony wasn’t surprised to hear that Jordana’s mate had been one of those formidable assassins. When he’d come at her, explosive in his fury, she had almost resigned herself to the fact that her next breath might be her last.
But Jordana’s power had protected her.
Not even a massive, clearly lethal Breed male like Nathan was any match for the light that had manifested in Devony’s hands.
“What is she, Rafe? Jordana . . . she isn’t Breed like you or Nathan. She isn’t a daywalker like me, either.”
“No.”
“But she is an immortal?”
His lengthy silence neither confirmed nor denied it. But he obviously wasn’t going to give her any more than that. The message in his stony expression was clear enough.
He didn’t trust her. Not with information about people he once cared about. He probably didn’t trust her with anything.
Not that she should blame him, considering the way Cruz had set him up tonight. Choosing the MFA had been Rafe’s test. She doubted Cruz could have anticipated they might run into someone he knew. The gang leader was cruel at times, but she wasn’t ready to give the man that much credit.
And while Devony didn’t have an obligation to clue Rafe in about Cruz’s intentions, she couldn’t deny that her guilt had been gnawing at her the entire time.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you where we were going tonight.”
Rafe grunted. “Don’t worry about it.”
His reply was clipped, toneless. She couldn’t decide if that was because he expected everyone to betray him, or only her.
“Well, I’m saying it anyway, Rafe. I am sorry. Cruz told me he was going to test you somehow, but I didn’t know the details. And I didn’t know there was a chance we could run into friends of yours.”
His gaze clashed with hers. “I said forget it. And they’re not my friends. Not anymore.”
“But they were once?”
He blew out a harsh sigh. “Yeah, they were. Nathan is the captain of my old patrol team. He was one of my best friends.”