I looked over at him, wishing Zayne was here to hear that, but Dez would get the chance to tell him. I just had to...stab him in the heart with the Sword of Michael.
God.
Pulling my gaze away, I let out a ragged breath. “It bothered Zayne for a while—the whole not taking on the role as the clan leader thing—but he’d come to terms with it. He...he realized that who he was becoming didn’t line up with a lot of what other Wardens believed. He was okay with it. Really.”
“He told you this?”
“Yes.”
“He was talking about the ‘kill all demons on sight’ stance most Wardens have?” he guessed. “Not all of us are that way. I’m not. Neither is Nicolai.”
I’d already figured that, considering they had worked with Roth and Cayman in the past.
“But I get it,” Dez went on. “Especially after what went down with Layla. There was no going back after that.”
No, there wasn’t. Not when Zayne’s father and almost the entire clan had been ready to kill her after she’d accidentally taken a part of his soul. They’d raised her and should’ve known there had been no malicious intent behind her actions, just stupidity on both her side and Zayne’s.
The jealousy over Zayne and Layla’s previous relationship was long gone. So was the weird mixture of bitterness that surrounded the knowledge that it was supposed to have been me who’d been raised alongside Zayne.
None of that mattered now, and it annoyed me that I had wasted time on it.
“By the way,” Dez said. “You’re bleeding.”
“What?” Lifting my hand, I touched my chin. My fingers came away smudged. So, it was my blood. I wiped my fingers on my jeans. “It’s nothing.”
“Uh-huh,” he murmured.
Luckily, he didn’t speak after that, but the trip to the Warden compound seemed to take forever. When he finally pulled up in front of the massive house, I nearly launched myself out of the SUV. Dez was right behind me. I started forward.
And promptly tripped over the first step, having not seen it.
Catching myself, I sighed and then carefully walked forward. Dez reached around me, opening the door, and we stepped inside. It took a couple of moments for my eyes to adjust to the bright light of the foyer as I followed Dez toward Nicolai’s office. On the way we passed a few Wardens either off for the night or heading in. The wide berth they gave us told me they probably had learned the truth about me.
I should be worried. There were Wardens out there who weren’t exactly comfortable with the idea of a Trueborn being around. A lot had to do with a history that was mostly forgotten, one that I hadn’t even known about until Thierry, the head of the Potomac Highlands clan who was more of a father to me than Michael was, told me. Apparently it had to do with a bonding and it led to a rebellion. A whole lot of Wardens were killed, bonds to the Wardens were severed and the Trueborns died off.
Until me.
And until Sulien.
But he was dead, so whatever, until me.
Dez pushed open the door, and I saw Nicolai first. The youngest clan leader sat behind the kind of desk Thierry often sat behind. He had a pretty impressive scar along his face, which only added to his air of badassery. The dark, glossy-haired female Warden standing next to him also took him up a level. Danika was like no female Warden I knew. I couldn’t even compare her to Jada, who was also bold. Danika simply didn’t play by the archaic rules surrounding the females, and the fact that Nicolai didn’t try to put her back in that gilded cage made me like him even more.
Gideon was also present, standing on the other side of Nicolai, his phone cradled in his palm. Zayne always referred to him as the resident tech expert while I thought of him as the resident hacker and jack-of-all-trades.
He eyed me as I walked forward, and I wondered if he was thinking about the time he was in here with Nicolai and Zayne, when he learned I could see ghosts. He’d thought I had watered-down angel blood in me. Based on the tiny step back he took, I believed he now knew I had a whole lot in me.
Shoulder-length brown hair fell back as Nicolai lifted his head. He started to speak, but Danika beat him to it.
Concern filled her voice as she straightened. “Are you injured, Trinity?”
Wishing I’d stopped to wipe the blood from my face, I shook my head. “It’s minor.”
“I can get my sister,” she offered, stepping away from the desk. “You have blood coming out of your ears. I’m no doctor, but that doesn’t seem minor.”
Crap.
I forgot about that, too.
“That’s not necessary.” I glanced at the chair and started to sit but remembered I was drenched. I’d already ruined enough upholstery today. “I’m fine.”
Danika looked like she wanted to argue. “If you’re sure.” She glanced at Gideon. “We were just on our way out—”
“It’s okay. You guys don’t have to leave.” I crossed my arms. “It’s probably best if you all hear this firsthand.”
“Does whatever you have to tell us explain why you look worse than the last time I saw you?” Nicolai asked.
My lips pursed. I thought I looked way improved from last time. Then again, I hadn’t seen my reflection. “It does.”
“Okay.” He nodded at the chair. “At least sit down. I don’t care if you get it wet.”
Murmuring my thanks, I sat down. The immediate relief that shuttled through me was an indication that Nicolai’s observation on my appearance probably wasn’t far off from reality. “I don’t know how to say this other than to just come out and say it,” I said as Dez took a position against the wall. “Zayne is alive.”
4
Everyone froze. I don’t think they breathed, and no one said anything for so long I was about to say it again when Dez finally snapped out of it.
“Trinity, he can’t be,” he said, voice soft and too gentle.
“Trust me, I know how it sounds, but he’s alive. I saw him. I talked to him. I felt him. He’s flesh and bone and winged,” I told them. “He’s alive, but he’s not exactly the same. He’s a fallen angel, still in possession of his wings and a whole lot of heavenly fire. Grace.”
Nicolai and Danika stared blankly at me, and I assumed both Dez and Gideon were doing the same.
“And he’s partly responsible for this.” I gestured at myself. “And the Throne that I ended up talking to after seeing Zayne is responsible for the bleeding ears.”
The phone slipped out of Gideon’s palm and hit the floor with a heavy thud.