by Aja James
Sophia nodded sheepishly and changed her weight from foot to foot. She watched him pour her juice in the small but modern kitchen and was too hypnotized by his lithe form and graceful movements to take in her surroundings. Her eyes were riveted on his person.
He came back to her shortly with her juice, brushing her fingers casually when handing her the glass. Sophia didn’t think her heart could handle too much more of this touchy feely stuff, not when every slight brush of skin against skin sent shocks of electricity through her.
She clumsily stepped away from him and almost tripped over an ornate velvet-cushioned chair behind her. Thankfully, her knees buckled in a timely manner and her backside managed to find the chair rather than the wooden floor. The juice sloshed dangerously in her glass, but by sheer force of will, she stared it into submission and managed to keep from spilling.
“If you don’t mind, I will partake of some wine,” Ere said, his lips quirking at one corner as he witnessed her near tumble.
Sophia gestured for him to do as he pleased, and he returned to the kitchen.
That was when Sophia’s surroundings finally hit her: Ere’s apartment was a veritable treasure trough.
In awe, she glanced around the walls full of antique sconces, paintings, murals, silk scrolls. There were shelves upon shelves of books, sculptures and what looked to be genuine artifacts from various places around the world and times across history. The furniture was comfortable and lived in, but beautiful in design, an eclectic collection of vintage pieces. Before the fireplace was a large, fluffy, well-worn sheepskin rug. In the center was a small stone table just large enough to support an exquisite chess set. Sophia could almost hear the invitation to come sit beside the fire and indulge in an intimate game.
There was background music playing, the soothing melodies reaching her ears from the room on the other side of a short, narrow hallway. She leaned back in her chair slightly to see better, but it was too dark to make anything out.
It must be his bedroom, she thought with a nervous swallow of juice. Better to focus the rest of her perusal on her immediate quarters.
Ere emerged from the kitchen once more with a glass of red wine and a tray of cheeses and fruit. He set the tray on a small coffee table within Sophia’s reach.
Casually folding his long, lean limbs onto a mahogany Victorian chaise lounge with gold and red striped cushions and pillows, Ere looked like an exotic bird of prey in his very own paradise. Sophia, by contrast, felt like a drab, out-of-place, inferior creature, potentially of the rodent variety.
Ere took a slow sip of wine and hypnotized the unfortunate little gray mouse with his glittering gaze. Smiling a little, he said, “Did you miss me?”
Sophia just stared back unblinkingly in response, tried to take another swallow of her juice, only to find she’d already drank it all. She set the glass down on the table and, with no small effort, dragged her eyes away from his.
“You have a really nice place,” she uttered her first coherent sentence, ignoring his question. “Is everything genuine or are they replicas?”
“Do you think I can afford the genuine articles on a teaching assistant’s salary?” Ere asked in return.
“I guess not,” Sophia murmured, “but they sure look like the real thing.”
Vaguely, it occurred to her that he had not answered her question directly.
“Were you able to find this address easily?” Ere leaned forward to pick a couple of luscious green grapes from the tea tray.
Sophia nodded. “I live pretty close by.”
“Really? You do not live on campus as do most Freshmen?”
Tempted by the way Ere seemed to enjoy his grapes, Sophia plucked a few for herself. “No, I live in Boston city with friends.”
“Ah,” he said, twirling the wine in his glass before taking another small sip. “Did one of your friends escort you here?”
Sophia startled at the question. Strangely, she felt almost as if she were being interrogated.
But then Ere smiled and added with an endearing expression of embarrassment, “it’s just that you never seem to be alone. On the first day of class you were with your friend Aella, and the first time we met, there was a man coming to your table to join you just as I was leaving. The times I’ve seen you walking around campus you were always with someone. I must admit it took me a bit of courage to approach you that day in the cafeteria.”
Sophia blushed and looked down at her lap. “I don’t understand why you’d have trouble approaching anyone,” she said honestly.
Ere leaned forward with elbows on knees and waited until Sophia looked at him again. “Perhaps I am shy,” he told her, “especially around a girl as lovely as you.”
Sophia turned beet red. Uncomfortably, she dropped his gaze and changed the subject. “So what treasures did you bring from the Louvre?”
Ere sighed and sat back. Apparently it was too early for more intimate conversations with his little mouse. Somehow, Sophia’s reticence only made her more attractive to him.
“Come, I will show you the etchings I made.”
Sophia was in her element after that, poring through notes from Ere’s research and the etchings of millennia-old symbols and drawings. They spent hours brainstorming, searching through the considerable library of research Ere had in the apartment on ancient Persia, chatting, snacking, even joking and laughing.
Sophia got past her awe of Ere’s physical beauty and focused more on the meeting of minds. He was exceptionally knowledgeable and sharp, quick to raise alternative possibilities to established theories and written records. She was enthralled by the way he brought the ancient world to life with his sketches and descriptions. They felt so real, it seemed as if he had actually been to the places and times he studied.
It was almost midnight before Sophia could no longer ignore the vibration against her wrist on the underside of her turquoise bracelet, which served as both jewelry and a hidden communication channel between her, her guard and the Shield. Over the last hour, it vibrated every ten minutes, then every five.
Dalair must be getting impatient.
Slowly, Sophia stretched to a sitting position from her lazy sprawl on the sheepskin rug, then stood and hugged her arms around her torso.
“I better go home,” she said regretfully. “It’s really late and my friends are waiting for me.”
Ere stood as well. There was barely half a foot separating them, and whereas the Sophia who entered the apartment would have automatically stepped back to distance herself, after spending the past few hours with Ere, the present Sophia kept her footing firm.
She met his eyes and said sincerely, “I had a really great time. You’re a brilliant researcher and teacher.”
Ere smiled a little at her compliment. “Is that all I am to you?”
She blinked a few times and felt a flush working its way up her neck, but she refused to let the acceleration in her heartbeat fluster her like it did before.
“I’d like to think you’re my friend,” she responded, holding his penetrating gaze. “I like you very much.”
Astonishingly, it was Ere who took a slight step back. He looked away briefly, then returned to her with a different smile, a darker, almost ironic smile.
“I like you too, Sophia. Very much.” He started to say something else, but then seemed to change his mind, shaking his head a little.
“Come, I’ll retrieve your coat and walk you out. May I see you home?”
“No thanks,” she quickly replied. “A friend is coming to pick me up and, really, it’s just a few blocks away.”
“Ah,” he murmured in the same tone he did before.
She tried not to read too much into that one little word, but she could have sworn he sounded disappointed.
They parted ways at the bottom of the front steps to the brownstone. Before she left, he surprised her by pulling her into a warm hug and brushing his lips lingeringly against her forehead.
“’Til we meet again,”
he said softly.
“I’ll see you in class next Thursday, right?” Sophia couldn’t keep the eagerness out of her voice. Four whole days seemed like an eternity before she saw him again.
“Of course, my lovely Sophia.”
He released her reluctantly from his embrace and sent her on her way, standing in place and watching her round the corner of the block until she was completely out of sight.
*** *** *** ***
“Whoa, girlfriend, where are you storming off to in such a rage?” Aella asked, jerking Sophia to a stop with a restraining hand on the young queen’s arm.
“He’s impossible!” Sophia practically yelled, snatching her arm back with a furious tug.
Looking beyond her to the Paladin, who followed Sophia into the Shield a few steps behind, Aella could only assume that he was the target of the queen’s anger.
“Care to explain, Dalair?” Aella asked with a cocked eyebrow and faintly amused expression. It had become an increasing occurrence over the last couple of years that Sophia was in one snit or another with this particular Elite guard.
“I am merely taking precautions,” the Paladin said grimly, stopping in his approach a few feet away from them, as if purposely keeping himself out of Sophia’s kicking and spitting range.
“How many times do I have to tell you that there’s nothing wrong with Ere!” Sophia thundered, throwing up her hands. “He’s human, not vampire. You saw yourself that he was perfectly normal during the day. Yeah he’s a little pale, but give the guy a break! He lives in a basement! And, I felt no ill intentions from him. I’m not so taken in by his pretty face to forsake my own safety for Goddess sake. In fact, I think he might have a Pure soul. I definitely sense something special in him.”
“Are you sure you are not influenced by hormonal imbalances?” Dalair responded calmly. “I can smell the onset of your monthly cycle.”
“Oh, you did not just say that,” Aella muttered under her breath, then extended an arm reflexively to hold Sophia back as the queen launched herself toward Dalair with a snarl.
Dalair watched Sophia struggle against the Amazon’s hold energetically but futilely with the same calm expression. Finally, Sophia wore herself out and shoved Aella’s restraining arm away.
Huffing with her efforts, she speared Dalair with a ferocious glare and ground out, “I really hate you.”
With that, she spun on her heel and marched away, presumably to her quarters.
Aella shook her head at the Paladin and tsked, “You have such a smooth way with the ladies, Dalair.”
His determined expression did not change. “Every instinct tells me that something about this Ere is off. If he’s innocent and legitimate, a thorough background check can’t hurt him. I don’t see why the queen takes umbrage to mere precautions.”
“Are you serious?” Aella snorted. “You didn’t strike me as slow-witted before, my friend.”
Finally, a small frown creased the warrior’s brows. Aella didn’t know whether he frowned at her insult or because he still didn’t realize what he’d done or said wrong.
With a sigh, she threw an arm around his shoulder. “Come on, old friend, you need some rest. Everything will become clearer in the morning. I’ll stay with Sophia tonight – there’s no hunt, as we’re expecting Ayelet and cohort to return from China early tomorrow and we’ll have a group get together after breakfast.”
Together they began to walk to the private quarters. “You do what you need to do, Dalair,” Aella continued, “but don’t throw it in Sophia’s face. And if I were you, I’d keep my distance from our vigorous little queen for a while, at least until she’s no longer shooting daggers and spitting nails at you.”
When Dalair was about to object, Aella squeezed his shoulder and silenced him. “Xandros will be fully recovered in a couple more days and Valerius will be back as well. If they were successful in China, we’ll be welcoming a new Elite warrior into our midst. So you can rotate out of Sophia’s protection for a while. I think it will do both of you good.”
Some fight went out of Dalair at that. Aella was right. Somehow he couldn’t help rubbing Sophia the wrong way no matter how hard he tried not to. He sensed a certain irrationality in his own actions when he spent too much time with her, as if her nearness caused his reason and sense to take flight. He felt irritable, angry, and scared when she was with Ere.
Dalair knew that feeling well, though he’d not encountered it since his human life. He cringed to put a name to the emotion, but he knew full well what it was:
Jealousy.
Chapter Sixteen
“Well, fuck me.” The whispered explicative from the tall, goldenhaired, voluptuous beauty drew Cloud’s gaze directly to hers.
Within minutes of their arrival to the Shield, he was formally introduced to the Royal Zodiac by Ayelet as they gathered together in the throne room.
Cloud did not know any of the new faces, nor did he recognize their souls. Perhaps even in his past lives he had not ever encountered them. But as he stared into the light violet eyes of the female warrior before him, he felt a pang of…
Unease was not the right word. Recognition was too strong.
Awareness.
It was awareness. As if every nerve in his body sprang to attention. Disorientingly so, Cloud realized.
Beside the blonde, the young Pure Queen, Sophia, put her shared consternation and excitement into more coherent words.
“You look just like one of the characters from Dynasty Warrior, my favorite video game,” she said breathlessly. “Except you’re waaay cooler.”
And waaay yummier, Aella thought to herself. Goddess help her, but she wouldn’t be surprised if she was actually drooling onto the expensive Italian marble floor.
Maybe it was the glorious contrast of the male’s Asian and Western features. The shape of his eyes was distinctly oriental, long and tilted down at the inner corners, tilted up at the outer corners, reminding her of wolf’s eyes. The slash of his black brows and long black hair, pulled back with a wide metallic band at his nape with a matching band around his forehead to keep the shorter tufts from his face, looked thick and silky, and she itched to run her fingers through the waist-length mane. His jaw and chin too were more Asian than Western, acutely angular, smooth and stubble-less.
But then there were the piercing, mesmerizing ice blue eyes, framed by spiky, thick black lashes, which again reminded Aella of the Montana Gray Wolf. His nose was long and narrow, his cheekbones sharp and high. His lower lip was fuller than the upper and the way he held his mouth made her want to take a bite out of him. His bone structure and musculature reminded her more of the Italian, Spanish or Greek, with broad shoulders and very narrow hips. And from what she could tell without circling him like a lioness around her prey, he was in possession of a very fine backside.
She wondered if his golden skin was smooth and stubble-less all over.
Aella roused from her X-rated mental exploration of the warrior’s body at the sound of throat clearing beside her.
“Aella,” Sophia whispered loudly, elbowing her in the ribs, “you’re ogling our new recruit and you’ve ignored the introduction.”
Blinking rapidly to clear the unclothed fantasy version of the warrior from her mind’s eye, she snapped to attention and quickly replaced her dumbstruck expression with a self-confident, inviting smile.
“An honor,” she said and returned the warrior’s formal bow, albeit a few beats delayed. Her eyes fairly sparkled with amusement and pleasure as she raised her eyes again to meet his.
Cloud was stunned by the sudden transformation in Aella’s countenance. He didn’t know which of her expressions made him feel more uncomfortable, the one where she looked at him like he was a succulent meal after years of starvation or the one she was giving him now, as if she had already tasted every inch of him and was insatiable for more.
He should have remained in the remote mountain villages of Yunnan, he thought belatedly, where the only creature
who saw him on a regular basis was his devoted steed. Unfortunately, he had to leave his peace and tranquility behind to take his place as one of the Elite. At least his equestrian companion would follow him to the Shield at a later date – when Tristan completed the underground stables to accommodate their four-legged member.
He didn’t mean to do it, but as if Cloud’s mind was erecting protective barriers, he tried to push blankness into Aella’s consciousness, or at least tone down whatever emotion or fantasy that was making her look at him as if he stood naked and vulnerable before her.
He was stunned, however, by the backlash that resulted from his action. His head jerked slightly back as if he’d received a physical blow. For the first time since he’d come into his Gift, he could not push his will onto another person.
Aella frowned a little and absently rubbed her temple as she felt a sharp but brief sting. It had come and gone so quickly it was as though she’d imagined it. Mentally shrugging, she focused back on the warrior as he turned to greet Orion and Eveline. Remotely, she heard that they had bestowed upon him the formal Elite title of “the Valiant.”
It intrigued her, for every title, besides being indicative of an inner circle member’s role, had a history behind it, as well as an omen for the future. Cloud Drako must have been spectacularly courageous in his past lives to earn such a moniker.
“Now to business,” Alexandros announced when the introductions were complete. “We called you back because the situation has grown dire. As you all know, we have reason to believe that there is a new way of making vampires, and that whoever is behind it is targeting warrior-class Pure Ones to turn. Moreover, he or she is old and powerful enough to control these newly created vampire assassins, who are targeting the Royal Zodiac purposefully. To what end, we have yet to determine. Regardless, we must stop them before they progress further.”
He looked to Tristan, who nodded and stepped forth, drawing everyone’s attention. “What you don’t know is that we recently received a projection from Seth.”
This news drew a few gasps from the Dozen. That they received word from Seth meant that he was still alive; that he sent a projection meant that he was strong enough to use his Gift, part of which entailed the ability to project his image and voice across time and space to any person or location of his choosing.
