Page 26 of Live Like Legends

“Zane keeps his beady little eyes on him constantly now,” Reese explained. “Natalia keeps telling him to back off, but the guy is a force to be reckoned with.”

I tugged on Nick’s arm, bumping against him. “And you talked to him?” The entire conversation about this whole mess had me wondering if he had taken what I’d suggested to heart.

He smiled down at me, nodding. “Yes, I did. Happy?”

I reached up and kissed his cheek. “Good boy.”

I heard his groan of annoyance from his distaste at my form of praise. We made it to the doors of Natalia’s personal training room and after what happened to me last night, I wanted to make today count. Everyone was already gathered and settled along the walls of the room, waiting. I had told Nick about what happened, especially when he noticed the hand sized burn into his sheets and mattress. He had mumbled that it was yet another piece of information to tell Natalia and the others, which I agreed with. Secrets were something neither of us were a fan of any longer, whether it be with each other or anyone else.

“All this time we’ve known each other, I’ve never asked…do you have wings? Like can you fly like most demons?” I swung my head over at the sound of Elise’s voice and saw her engaged in a conversation with Beetee.

The pink haired demon wrinkled her nose. “Uhh, not that I know. I’ve never felt the urge to make something protrude from my back and it also sounds like it hurts so I don’t think I would want to anyway.”

“They are magic manifestations, Beetee, not actual appendages.”

Beetee wrinkled her nose, again. “Yeah, well your tail is something you magically manifest and it still hurts like a bitch when something happens to it, so no thank you. I’ll stick to shape shifting.”

I received a quick wave from Beetee the minute she noticed me. It was a tiny bit awkward, especially with the way she was biting her bottom lip furiously. I was quickly reminded that we still needed to talk, but what I would say during that conversation was still lost on me. Listening to a sliver of what they spoke about just pushed my need to speak with her at the top of my list of priorities. Well, maybe not thetop, but close enough.

Natalia placed herself at the center of the room, but before she could start with whatever she had planned, Nick and I both hustled over to her.

“There is something you need to know,” I said, shuffling from one foot to the other.

“If it’s about the sky last night, I saw it too.”

I bit the inside of my cheek. “It’s not that. Although, that’s also a problem and unfortunately not the Lilith kind.” I licked my lips before I continued, “so, you were right. Nick might be more of an asset to me when it comes to being more connected with my light. Well, actually it was apparent a while ago, because he actually decided to bring to my attention that I’ve been burning him with my light. It’s likely our light put together, but it happens every time that we…or really when I?—”

Nick let out an obnoxious cough. “We don’t have to go into so much detail, Dani.”

“Oh okay, well how else is she supposed to understand that my light powers become so powerful they burn you when youmake me come, huh?” I waved my hands in the air, making more of a scene then necessary.

A loud laugh came from behind us. “I’m sorry, what the hell?” Reese asked between gasps of air. “That’s a new one. Your light burns him because the dick is just that good.” He couldn’t get the last few words out without laughing.

I saw Nick shake his head and heard him blow air out of his nose with the way he was seething.

“I can honestly say, for you two horny idiots, that I am not surprised. You both can’t seem to stop touching each other half the time, it’s no doubt that level of intimacy could cause you to spontaneously combust.” We all looked over at Elise, but she was inspecting her fingernails as if what she said had no merit and was just a fleeting comment.

I turned my eyes away from Elise and over to Nick, who was already looking at me.

“It’s not just the intimacy that makes it rage, is it?” Natalia asked, not seeming all that surprised by my comments.

I pulled my eyes away from him and locked eyes with her. “No.”

I tried to sum up my feelings from last night and it wasn’t the best idea going back to that memory of Dimitri. I told her about how I wanted to be able to help myself and not need Nick, even though his joy of being my catalyst was very cute. She listened to every word I said while each person around us seemed to be focusing all their attention on us as well. Zane even looked intrigued by my story, if intrigue was a facial expression he knew how to possess.

“Is Dimitri getting into your head like Lilith did?” Reese questioned. “You just said that the ripple in the sky was not a Lilith issue. Is the Son of Hell currently throwing a really big tantrum?”

I shook my head. “No, he can’t. I have—had—a connection with Lilith, but I never had something like that with Dimitri. If I had money to bet, I would say a tantrum is correct.” I frustratingly ran a hand through my curls. “I just felt a need to fight, but instead of my shadows doing the work…the light did instead. Trust me I’m still trying to comprehend.”

The High Priestess placed a hand on my shoulder. “I think you are finally letting it in, which is a good thing.”

“So, you just burned a handprint into your boyfriend’s bed? Nice.” Elise complimented, shrugging.

Nick put his hands up. “Okay, everybody can we just all come back to the point of why we are here. How are we getting her to harness both the uh...intimate part and the protective nature part?”

Natalia gave him a small chuckle. “I think I have an idea for that.” She turned to Zane, who was standing so close to Garrett it made even me uncomfortable. “Go rally up some of your recruits for me, would you please?”

Zane swiftly dipped his head down, giving Garrett aI swear, do not fuck with melook and hustled out of the room.

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