“Yes. I’ll see you at the resort,” I say, and watch as she goes to the black Range Rover parked just ahead of us.
Zephyr approaches my window. Smiling, he asks, “Enjoy your run?”
Raising my chin a notch, I reply, “Yes, it was refreshing.” Zephyr grins, before leaning in my window and kissing me on the forehead. “Yes, I’ll never be bored again with you around,” he says, chuckling as he walks back to his car.
I put my window back up as Reed climbs in the car. He sits in the driver’s seat for a second, staring at my face. I try to hide my ragged emotions as I say, “I think we’re going to have to come up with some kind of signal from now on to indicate that I’m sorry for my actions because just saying, ‘I’m sorry’ is getting redundant. I don’t know how you can buy it anymore. Or, maybe you can teach me the words in Angel. Everything sounds so much better in your language.”
“There are no words that mean, ‘I’m sorry’ in Angel,” Reed replies and I have to fight back tears when I hear that little nugget of information. Of course, what would a perfect being be sorry for? I think sadly.
“And I couldn’t be more pleased that you were looking for me,” he says, keeping his eyes on me. “I don’t require an apology from you—ever. You always follow your heart, even when it’s in direct opposition to logic and your heart was telling you to find me—to make a different choice than the one you made before.”
He starts the car and we follow Zephyr onto the road. “Can I ask you something?” Reed asks. I nod, still not trusting myself to speak. “What do you think would’ve happened if you’d gotten away—if you hadn’t gone along with Alfred’s plan to give up your soul for Russell and not gone into the store with him?” he asks me. I shrug and look out the passenger side window because I don’t want him to see the tears in my eyes.
“How would things have been different?” he asks me relentlessly.
“You might have been able to stop Alfred,” I say in a small voice.
“No,” he says forcefully. “If you had made it to my home instead, the only difference would have been that you would have remained safe and Russell would be dead. Alfred would have killed Russell immediately, and then he would have left directly to slaughter your uncle. He would have gone to your uncle’s home to seek revenge for your disobedience. We would not have known until it was too late. He would not have waited around for me to kill him, if you had evaded him.”
“Sometimes I think that a person could die of regret,” I whisper.
“What have you to regret?” Reed asks me, probing my response.
“If it weren’t for me, Russell would be in Paradise right now, not being protected because I made him a hunted freak,” I reply bitterly.
“You helped make him a highly evolved being. You made him Seraphim, the highest form of angel in Paradise, and he still gets to be your soul mate. He couldn’t be more elite,” Reed says, shaking his head. “Russell should kiss your feet for the upgrade.”
“Yeah, it’s such a great lifestyle, running from demons and angels, we’re elite all right,” I scoff.
“We will figure something out so that it won’t always be this way. Zephyr and I have some ideas about getting the word out about you in my community without exposing you to danger,” he says.
“Planning a PR junket?” I ask flippantly.
“Maybe,” Reed says, giving me a sexy look. “Can I ask you something else?”
“Of course, I have no secrets from you,” I reply, wondering what he would ask me.
His smile deepens at that. “What made you stop running tonight, in the woods?”
“I realized I was running to you and that you were behind me, not out there somewhere,” I reply.
“You weren’t tired or fatigued?” he asks.
“No, not at all,” I say, and watch him grin. “Why?”
“Because I couldn’t catch you, you were too fast for me,” he replies.
“Really?” I ask him because he has to be joking. He’s a Power. He’s built for speed, strength, endurance…raw power. “NO WAY!” I say, my jaw hanging open.
“I was going to have to fly to look for you because you had me on foot,” he grins. “I followed your footprints and I couldn’t believe how far you leapt on the rocks, and your footing—you never slipped or hesitated—it was impressive, and now that I know you are all right— hot. Zee said you were really fast, that day he chased you, but I didn’t realize just how fast.”
“Really… huh? That’s very interesting,” I reply, studying him.
“That is your secret weapon, Evie. If you come across an enemy, you run as far and as fast as you can, don’t look back just go. We will make sure you always have a cell phone on you. When it’s safe, I can call you, or you can contact me and we’ll meet up.” Reed says with authority.
“So, I’m supposed to run away—like a coward?” I ask, offended by this new plan.
“Evie, there is a difference between evasion and cowardice,” Reed says calmly.
“Yeah, one means avoidance and the other means spinelessness and neither one appeals to me,” I reply.
Reed counters, “How about obedience, how does that appeal to you?”
“Submission—hmm—not so much,” I reply stubbornly.
“Respect, not submission,” he says in a rational tone. “Deference that I know what I’m talking about where strategy is concerned.”
“I do respect you, you know that.” I say, wondering why we are arguing about tactics.
“Then, you’ll follow my orders,” he says placidly.
“What will you be doing, while I’m running away?” I ask in a dark tone.
“What I’m made to do. I can handle angels. What I can’t handle, is living without you, so we have to find a way to keep you safe,” he says.
“Why is my safety more important than yours?” I ask, testing his resolve for this new strategy.
“What do you hope to accomplish against a fully evolved Power, Evie?” Reed asks me pointedly. “You would be more of a liability for me in a fight, than you would be an asset. The moment a Power angel realizes how vital you are to me, then we’ll have some serious problems.”
“I’m a liability,” I say in a small voice, studying my hands so I won’t have to look at him. “I guess I would be, wouldn’t I?”
Reed groans when he sees that he has hurt my feelings by calling me a liability. “Only for now. You will be very powerful one day, if you keep evolving the way that you are and I will have to eat my words.”
“Do you promise to choke on them, just a little bit, when that day comes?” I ask, a little salty because I know he’s right. But it still reeks like I’ll be selling him out if I make a break for it while he stays behind to fight for his life.
“I promise,” he says, taking one of my hands and pulling it to his lips. He kisses my palm. I have to bite my lip from the sensual caress.
“Do you promise to listen to me, if I tell you to run?” he asks me, kissing my palm again as I squirm in my seat.