Page 7 of Tyr

She looked from Tyr to her father.

“Promise.”

She sucked in a painful breath.“I promise.”

“You know how to get a hold of me if you need me. And both you and Tyr have my phone number in case I am not in the Underworld.”

She recently learned something else. The times she’d not been able to reach her father through their connection had been because he hadn’t been on Earth; he’d been in the Underworld. She’d never known he lived and worked down here most of the time.

Her father kissed her head. “I love you, Celeste. You are everything to me.”

“I know, Papa.”

He stuck out his hand and shook with Tyr. “I cannot ever repay you, my friend. For this, I can never repay you.”

“Take care and be safe.”

Her father nodded and headed for the door. She turned to watch him go.

“Papa.”

He stopped and glanced back at her.

“I love you.”

Her father smiled. “And I you, my Little Angel.”

And then he was gone. Out the door. To where she didn’t know. She knew he planned on dealing with Anton, but other than that, she had no idea. He’d refused to tell her his plan in case she tried to follow him. He was smart and knew her too well.

She’d healed superficially over the past twenty-four hours, but a lot of her wounds would take at least several days if not more, to heal. She couldn’t be sure since she’d never been hurt so extensively before.

Celeste stared at the door like a puppy awaiting their owner’s return and when her dad didn’t come back in, she turned back to Tyr.

He continued to watch her until she grew so uncomfortable she pulled her hood lower. As she went to drop her hand, Tyr grabbed her fingers with a thick, gloved hand and stopped her. He inspected her broken and bruised fingers as well as the round cigar burn on her wrist. She jerked away and hid her arm under her cloak, once again using it to cradle her other broken arm.

Tyr took a step back. “I’m sorry. I just wanted to see how extensive your injuries to your arms were.”

She stared up at him. Her injuries were none of his business. It didn’t matter anyway. The bruises were halfway faded, and the cigar burns were blistered over and drying.

“Let me tell Herm and Vid I’m leaving.” He pointed toward the tables. “They’re my brothers. They’ll get weird if I leave without saying something.”

Weird? She looked over to the group of people sitting at tables. A bell sounded, and the men stood and started to switch places. Was it some sort of networking thing?

“I’ll be right back.”

Instinctively, she followed him. He stopped and looked back at her and then scanned the dozens of people watching them.

Without pretense, Tyr placed his hand on the small of her back, sending a jolt through her. His rough palm pressed into her cloak and she swore the heat of his hand burned through her layers of clothing. A jolt shot through her, and her cheeks heated for some reason.

Tyr didn’t move for a second. She squeezed in closer to his side, his body comforting. Instead of continuing toward the tables of people, Tyr whistled, and a bulky man covered in tattoos looked up from a far table. Tyr made some sort of handsignal to the man, who spotted Celeste and broke into a smile before giving a thumbs-up.

Tyr growled and looked like he might say something, but he just shook his head and turned her toward the exit.

CHAPTER 4

Tyr pulledup to the high-gated estate and pressed the button on the remote from his keys. The metal gate with foot-long spikes on top swung inward. Her heartbeat quickened at the idea that she might not be able to get out of the estate once she got in. She reached out through her mental connection to her father.

“Celeste?”her father asked.

---