Page 215 of Tempest of Wrath and Vengeance

“But…why areyoudoing it?”

Her brows knitted. “I just told you there is no one else here to do it. You don’t want staff here, and there isn’t a need for it. It’s only the two of us.”

He took a few steps into the room, careful not to step where she’d already cleaned. “But you’re pregnant.”

“I’m aware,” she muttered, returning to her scrubbing. “I knew before you did.”

He swallowed his amusement at her obvious irritation, but it quickly faded as he watched her work around her swollen stomach. He’d come down here for a reason. Fresh from theshower, his hair was still damp, but he’d gone out and stocked up on blood after he’d gotten Kat settled in the penthouse.

In the next blink, he was crouched beside her, his hand halting her movements. She rocked back, nearly knocking over the bucket of water next to her.

“By the gods, Axel,” she snapped.

“Sorry,” he muttered.

He hadn’t meant to move that quickly. It was just…starting to happen. Fae and Legacy were fast, but Night Children were faster. They were blurs when they moved. Legacy could do that, but vampyres could sustain that speed for prolonged periods of time.

He gently took the scrub brush from her hand.

“You don’t need to do that, Axel,” she said.

“Neither do you.”

“Do you even know how to…”

“Clean a floor?” Axel asked with a laugh. “I think I can manage it, kitten.”

“I truly don’t mind,” she insisted. “I need something to do.”

“Go read some books. Please don’t clean the floor.”

“That’s not…” She reached for the scrub brush, but Axel pulled it out of her reach. “Tell me, Kat.” When she remained silent, he tenderly took her chin and tipped her face up. “I know I’m not the expert on how normal relationships are supposed to go, but I think if we’re going to do this thing, we have to talk to each other. It’s only logical.”

“Shut up,” she sighed, but the corner of her mouth tipped up in a small smile.

He couldn’t resist leaning in to brush his mouth against hers. So much freedom to justbewith her here.

“Tell me, kitten,” he murmured against her lips.

She sighed again. “I need to feel useful. We were trained to serve. It was a purpose, and to just sit around doesn’t feel right.”

“You don’t need to serve anyone. That’s the beauty of the Underground. You can create a new purpose.”

“I think it will just take me a little time to adjust.”

He tucked her hair behind her ear, tracing the slight arch. “I can understand that. I think we’re both facing that right now. But it was always useful when you read books. Your knowledge helped immensely.”

“Maybe,” she said. “Like I said, we just need time to adjust to…everything.”

“Great. You go start adjusting on the sofa. With a book,” Axel said.

“We can’t leave the floor like this,” she argued, gesturing to the kitchen floor full of soap suds.

“I’ll take care of it.”

“But you’re a Legacy,” she blurted.

A sharp sensation went through his chest at the words. “Not for much longer,” he replied, trying to make the words sound light and joking. It was how he’d always survived. Music and nonchalance until he figured how to deal with something, but he didn’t know how to deal with this. How to deal with no longer having his shadows. How to deal with not belonging with his family anymore. How to deal with a child. How to deal withlovingsomeone who wasn’t a brother. Maybe Kat was on to something with this whole scrubbing-the-floor thing. It was certainly something to keep him busy.

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