Page 22 of Secrets in the Shadow

You must never go near it. Do you understand me? Raziel stood there watching it, too afraid to look away. Promise you’ll stay away from it, amoretto.

Pomus.

Soft skin brushed Raziel’s hand then curled around his fingers, tiny and trusting.

The world seemed to tilt beneath Raziel, every instinct screaming both joy and terror.

Pay now?

Raziel couldn’t breathe. He was touching his son for the first time, a moment so profound it hollowed him out. But the stakes were as crushing as the beauty of it.

This single act of innocence had signed Ethan’s death warrant.

The toddler didn’t know, couldn’t know. His wide, trusting gaze searched Raziel’s face, utterly oblivious to the danger his small hand had unleashed.

“Get out of his fucking mind now,” a dark, deadly voice snarled.

Killian.

Lowering his head, Raziel gazed into his son’s wide eyes.

Piss a me!

A shuddered laugh rattled in Raziel’s throat. That honor is all mine.

Piss a you?

This was not going to go well. There was a stranger in their nephew’s bedroom, and the only reason Killian hadn’t attacked yet was because Raziel was inside the boy’s mind. The bear shifter was afraid of doing any kind of damage if he attacked before they were unlinked.

Thank you for sharing all of your memories with me, Ethan. That meant so much to me. But it was time to get out of there. Ethan had touched him, and Raziel needed to warn Killian about the shitstorm that was already headed their way. Remember, stay away from the dark corner.

No go.

Raziel didn’t want to. Spending time with his son, talking to him, and his child seeing his face for the first time would be something forever etched in Raziel’s memory, forever a treasured moment.

We have to go, Ethan. Bad men are coming. I have to warn Uncle Killian. Since Raziel wasn’t going to leave his son to those angels, Bashar would find him too.

Ethan pressed his lips together, studied Raziel, and then nodded.

The moment the room came back into full view, Killian attacked, just as Raziel knew he would. The bear shifter slammed him into the wall, followed by a powerful fist to the jaw. He could easily take Killian down, but he didn’t want Ethan to see the uncle he loved brutalized.

Instead, he went invisible and slid from under the bear shifter’s beefy fists.

“Show yourself.” A small tic beneath Killian’s right eye hinted at the barely contained inferno roiling inside him. “Who are you, and why are you in my house?”

“Not in front of the boy,” Raziel replied. “I don’t want him to see any more violence.”

Ethan sat on the bed looking right at Raziel, his head tilted slightly, his eyes wide. He wasn’t sure what was going through his son’s head.

“Stewart, take him downstairs,” Killian said as soon as his mate hurried into the room.

“What’s going on? It sounded like something heavy was knocked down.”

That would be me.

“Babe, please, just take Ethan downstairs.” Killian kept his narrowed eyes on the spot where Raziel disappeared, but he was actually to the shifter’s right.

“Come on, tater tot.” Stewart picked Ethan up.

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