Page 40 of Knight’s Salvation

Backing up, he lifted off and flew to the opposite building. Being that close—just being able to see her was too much, too tempting.

Moments later, he felt a familiar presence at his back. Silas.

“You’re in pain.”

Straight to it, then. Yeah, he was in pain. But then he always was. This just rated higher on the pain-o-meter than it should after a house call with his mistress.

He turned to face the angel. Silas stood there, dressed all in black, the battle scenes inked on his arms on full display. His black and gold hair was combed back and his gold wings shimmered and shifted in the breeze. “I didn’t go to her soon enough. She decided to make sure it doesn’t happen again.” He owed Silas the truth. If it wasn’t for the guy, he would have died soon after his arrival to Earth.

“Bitch,” Silas muttered, his hands fisted at his sides. “When will you return?”

“Soon.” Too fucking soon.

The angel walked up to stand beside him and looked over to Mia’s apartment. “She’s yours?”

Had he seen him creeping around her balcony? More than likely. “You know exactly who she is. And you know exactly why she can never be mine.”

Silas tilted his head to the side, his pale silver eyes seeing too much, seeing everything. “Do you want her to be?”

The other male could get into his head if he wanted, and right then Zenon wondered if he had, but Silas had vowed a long time ago never to do that. To do it now would destroy a trust between them that had not come easy. Which meant his feelings about Mia were written all over his face. Great. “How I feel is irrelevant. You know that,” he gritted out.

Silas shrugged his big shoulders, causing his golden feathers to ruffle in the wind. “Perhaps.”

“Don’t start with the riddles, angel. I’m not in the mood for your shit tonight.”

“I only want what’s best for you, Zenon. That’s all I’ve ever wanted.”

“Yeah?” Zenon turned to face him full on, locking stares. “Then destroy this thing inside me, the thing stopping me from leaving this spot, from leaving her. The thing that’s fucking with my head. I don’t want this. Take it out of me.” His voice rose, pitched high, panic clear to his own ears. But still he kept talking. “Find her another mate, one worthy of her. One who can be a real male for her. One who doesn’t frighten and hurt her.”

One of Silas’s big hands lifted, but realizing what he was about to do, he dropped it back to his side. “Zenon—”

“I’m a slave, Silas. That bitch may be the one locked up, but I’m still hers. I’m nothing, nothing but a whore selling myself to survive.”

Silas shook his head, compassion clear in his pale gaze. “You know what you ask is impossible. It’s not for me to decide. The die is cast. You must travel this path. Whether you wish it were so or not is irrelevant.”

Zenon turned away. There was nothing more to say. He knew how this worked.

A moment later Silas was gone, and Zenon sat his ass down and got comfortable.

* * *

“Thanks for lunch.I was going crazy in that apartment all alone.”

“We’re here if you ever want to talk or just hang. Right now you’re doing us a favor. Laz and Kryos have been driving us nuts since that demon broke into the grounds.” Eve scowled. “I haven’t left the compound in I don’t know how long. Laz won’t even let me on the balcony without him.”

What would it be like to have a mate? Someone to look out for you, love you like that? “I wouldn’t mind that problem,” Mia muttered. “It must be awful having someone care about you that much.” She grinned and rolled her eyes, and the other two females laughed.

Kryos’s mate, Meredith, grinned. “Okay, as hardships go, it’s not so bad, I guess.”

“Uh-huh.”

Meredith glanced at Eve. Something past between them, then Eve gave the other woman a subtle nod before they both turned back to her. And wow, they were serious. Deadly. “There’s something we thought you should know,” Meredith said.

This couldn’t be anything good, and she didn’t think she could take any more negative crap in her life. She held up her palms, as if the gesture had the power to ward off whatever these women were about to lay on her. Of course it didn’t.

Eve’s gaze softened. “Zenon’s spent the last week watching over you. He’s not sleeping and barely eating.”

“Yeah, he looks kinda like shit,” Meredith added.