Page 16 of Tears of Revenge

“You are welcome at any time,” Marcus reminded her.

“Oh, don’t say that,” she laughed, rising from her seat. “I might show up unannounced just to see the sunset. Thank you for the lunch—and your company.”

Marcus stood too, his tone hopeful. “Would you like me to walk you back to your office?”

“Yes, please.”

Marcus appeared at her side, offering her an arm, while Varos escorted them to the door. Before he opened it, he took her free hand and softly kissed her knuckles. She couldn’t help but imagine all the other places she wanted his lips to touch. Grateful for Marcus’s support as her knees buckled, she waved goodbye to Lysander.

“Don’t work too hard.”

His gaze flicked to her briefly, and she could’ve sworn his lips twitched with the tease of a grin.

As they walked away, Marcus leaned closer. “He’ll warm up to you, you’ll see.”

She shrugged. “If he doesn’t, that’s okay. We don’t need to be best friends for me to spend time with you and Varos.”

“I like the way you think.”

In the privacy of the elevator, Marcus pressed a kiss to her hair—something only meant for the two of them. It was one of many sweet gestures that she enjoyed so much from both men.

“We mean it when we say you can come by at any time.”

“And I wasn’t joking when I said I’d be by sometime to see the sunset,” she laughed.

“We look forward to it.”

Six

Varos

The next day, Varos sat behind his desk and eagerly awaited Avalon’s lunch. She’d already had something delivered, this time from one of those places that seemed to make food in the blink of an eye. When he heard Calinda greet her at the front desk, he unpacked the bag’s contents. Marcus heard her approach as well, shooting up from the desk and rushing to the door.

Lysander was the only one who didn’t seem amused, keeping his eyes on his work. “You’re acting like starving children.”

Marcus shrugged it off. “I mean, she does smell delicious.”

Truly like a child, Marcus counted a couple of seconds after Avalon knocked before jerking the door open. Her smile warmed the dull space the moment she stepped in.

“We were hoping to see you again,” Marcus greeted her. “We were so pleased when your delivery arrived.”

“I hope that’s okay. Sometimes they’re late so I thought sooner would be best.”

“Very clever and very trusting of you. We could eat it all up.”

Though humans seemed to like that type of food, Varos would much prefer to taste her. Yes, her blood was sure to taste delightful, but he was more interested in her lips. He’d daydreamed about it since meeting her again in the elevator, but that’s all it could ever be—a dream.

Though they enjoyed their time with her, both men knew that it would never be more than what they had in that moment. Yes, they’d stolen a few forbidden touches from her, even a gentle kiss here and there, but nothing more than that would ever come from it.

“How was your day?” he asked as she rounded his desk and took the seat he offered.

“Not too bad at all. And yours? Do you have another lunch later?”

“We do.”

Varos hated lying to her, but it was important to keep their secret. They had enlightened a few humans over the years of their existence, but only the ones that were about to die. Avalon was too precious to become one of them.

Marcus took a seat across from Varos’s desk, smiling wide at Avalon. “We have decided on an event we would like to take you to.”

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