Page 13 of Knight’s Salvation

“As long as someone knows you’re out here, you can come as often as you like.” Eve rested her forearms on the railing.

The view wasn’t exactly inspiring, but it was good to go outside. They were far enough from the city that you could actually see stars. “Wow, the moon looks huge.”

Eve was quiet for a few seconds then looked over at her. “So how are you settling in?”

Mia didn’t miss the underlying curiosity in the other woman’s voice. “You were there during dinner?”

A small smile curved her lips. “No, but I heard about it. Zenon doesn’t usually eat with the rest of us.” Her gaze turned assessing. “Something must have brought him out of hiding.”

Mia shrugged. “All I know is the guy doesn’t seem to like me very much.”

“Hmm.” Eve watched her for a few seconds more, like she was trying to figure something out. “You know how the knights came about, their history?”

Mia nodded. She knew how the knights were created. Her sister had told her after her stay there. The heavens discovered demons here on Earth, which was how demi-demons came to be. The angels couldn’t track the demons on their own, so six angels fell for the good of mankind and bred with the monsters they were trying to stop. The resulting offspring were the knights. With demon DNA the knights were able to track and rescue the demi and control the demon hordes invading Earth.

She thought it sounded like some kind of horror movie.

“There’s something you should know about Zenon. Unlike the rest of the knights, born to fallen females here on Earth, he was Hell born. His mother was a demon, his father an unknown fallen male.”

“Hell born?”

“Zenon is kind of an anomaly—a fluke, I guess. No one knew of his existence until he came through the portal.”

The portals that opened during the times of the solstice and equinox and allowed demons to pass from Hell to Earth. After her sister had told her that little tidbit, she’d barely slept for a month.

“So he just showed up?”

“From what Laz told me, Zenon was as surprised as they were. He doesn’t talk about his life before he became a knight, and we don’t ask. But it’s not hard to figure out it was bad. You can’t be as closed off and defensive as Zenon is and not have suffered a great deal.”

Mia didn’t like to think of the horrors he must have lived through. “Why are you telling me this?”

That small smile returned. “No reason. Just that sometimes I think he acts a certain way to keep others at bay.” She shrugged. “But what would I know?”

Mia got the feeling a hell of a lot more than she was letting on.

“Anyway, enough of that. Do you have any questions about how we do things here, what to expect?”

“Well, I was just wondering…you and Lazarus? You’re mated?”

Her smile widened. “Yes.”

It was probably rude to ask, but she’d been wondering since she’d first seen the pair together. “How does that work?”

She chuckled. “It’s not really something you have any control over. It’s sort of a predestined kind of deal. Lazarus knew who I was to him before he even met me. He fought it at first, thought he was doing the right thing for me.” She rolled her eyes. “These males are stubborn, all of them, but when they decide you’re theirs, well, there’s nothing else like it, you know?”

Mia nodded, though she had no idea what having someone love her like that would feel like.

“Did you leave someone special?” Eve asked.

Mia felt her face heat. “Ah, no. I haven’t had much luck with men.”

“Yeah, I know where you’re coming from. Before I met Laz the only boyfriend I’d had was a creep with a boob fetish.”

Mia choked a laugh. “At least you’ve had one. Men have always given me a wide berth.”

“It was the same for me. It’s that demon DNA we carry around. Most full humans sense it and without knowing why are scared away.”

Great.