Page 10 of Live Like Legends

“By yourself?” I chimed in, knowing full well this place had multiple bedrooms.

The High Priestess unlatched her arm from me and walked over so she could stand next to Zane. “Not always.” Her tone was a bit defeated, letting me know that she likely used to stay here with Isabel. She continued, “I have so much space, I like to let my people stay if they need it. I like the company. It can be surprisingly lonely leading so many people, but never really being able toknowthem. I can’t really be of any use to them if they can’t find me accessible.”

Zane cleared his throat. “Accessibility can breed dangerous creatures, but no one listens to me.”

Natalia looked up at her bodyguard and gave him a small smile. She raised her hand, patting his cheek softly.

I ran my fingers along the archway. “You sound like Beetee.”

Natalia motioned for us to follow her inside, Zane walking past her to open the door before she could. “Ah your little pink haired friend is quite a delight.”

Reese followed after her, but I grabbed Nick’s arm before he could walk through the threshold. He gave me a look of confusion as he gazed down at me. I looked past his arm to make sure we were alone before I spoke, “you aren’t letting Ariel get to you, right?”

His brown eyes narrowed. “No, why would I?”

I nearly snorted. “You practically growled at the man for coming into physical contact with me.”

He nervously readjusted his sword at his back. “That’s different.”

I tilted my head to the side, waiting.

He groaned. “I don’t like the guy, for one. Secondly, I…you…ugh.” He fumbled over his words in an adorable way. I blinked, patiently assessing him. He scrubbed a hand down his face. His voice was a little lower when he opened his mouth next. “The fact that he’s a fucking ass makes me even more angry that he touched you at all. You’re mine, okay. I would have cracked my fist against his face if he would have tried to put his hands on you again. I would let him cast me out of The Skies just to keep you safe.”

I bit my bottom lip, mischievously. “Very possessively sweet. Don’t think that being in the presence of our friends means I won’t drag you to the woods and rip your clothes off, Mr. Cassial.” I lifted myself up onto my toes and kissed him. “Idoexpect you to hold up your end of our conversation though.”

He kissed my nose. “What conversation would that be?”

“About a certain father of yours…”

He took a tiny step back. “I told you I would think about it.”

“I know, but I don’t want you to backtrack on all the progress you’ve made since Purgatory.” I stepped up to him, so that we were back in each other’s space again. “I took some of your darkness, sure. You still have some lingering and you always will. I just don’t want it to start feeding on…”

Nick placed his hands on either side of my cheeks, stopping me from finishing. “Dani, I’m fine. I have you and your support, so that’s all I need. Your caring makes me love you probably more than I already do, but right now my dad is the last thing I want or need to think about. He knows I’m alive and well, so that has to be good enough for now.”

I flattened my palms over his hands, pulling them off my face. “Yes, but he doesn’t know all the things you’ve been through…”

Reese’s voice rang out, interrupting us. “You’ve spent every fucking day together since we got back. You can survive out of your fucking love bubble without imploding for an hour.” We both looked over at him to see the blonde angel motioning for us to come inside.

Nick gave me a sympathetic look, before heading towards his best friend, but I grabbed his hand pulling it towards my face. It was the same hand I’d noticed earlier. The top of his hand was less red than before, but I could tell the top layer had been slightly burned. “Nick, what the hell is…”

He yanked himself free and pointed a thumb over his shoulder. “Nothing. Come on, they’re waiting.”

I chewed on my bottom lip before following him. Nicholas was hiding something from me, but I didn’t exactly know where to placethison the list of things to be dealt with.

The inside of Natalia’s home was massive, yet it still gave off the warmth of a smaller more intimate residence. The inside was colored light pink and beige. Large columns flanked a grand staircase that resided in the middle of the foyer. The stairs were graced with a cream-colored runner that looked soft enough to sleep on. Lights twinkled from above us, intricately placed so that the light was even on all ends of the room.

I twirled around, trying not to miss a single thing. “This is incredible.”

Natalia giggled. “Thank you. I like it very much. I redecorated a bit after my mother passed, but most of it is still her original designs.”

Enchanters passed by us, as if we were invisible. They moved at a speed I didn’t think angelically possible, but I assumed they worked here, so I could get behind getting the job done. Reese had wandered in another direction, and I really wanted to see what else this place had to offer, but I could feel Dani’s eyes onme. I glanced over to her, which confirmed my suspicions. Her eyes looked me up and down, but it wasn’t in the way I liked; it wasn’t in the way that told me she was very eager to have my hands on her or for me to be inside of her.

No, this look had skepticism written all over it. I didn’t know how to explain to the woman that happened to have my entire heart in a chokehold that she occasionally burned me during sex. It could happen other times, I’m sure, but for now that particular new Dani feature had only happened during intimate times. That was partly why she was staring me down, but the other reason was for me to deal with on my own. My father had to go to the back of my mind, especially with Ariel now on more of a power trip than I originally thought.

I looked away from Dani when Natalia stopped an Enchanter in their tracks. “Where are you taking that?” Natalia pointed to whatever was in the girl’s hand.

The girl’s voice was shaky and timid as she looked up at her queen. “Um, you told us to give them whatever they needed.”

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