Page 98 of Guarded
The name didn’t ring any bells for me, but it did for the vampire. His brows drew together as he scowled at Noah. “Only my mate is allowed to call me that.”
Noah flushed, making me step forward with a growl. Noah stopped me with a hand on my arm. “I apologise. It’s the only name I remember from that day. We didn’t have a chance for a proper introduction before?—”
“Oh my god.” Tobes, or whatever his name was, interrupted him. The little colour in his pale cheeks drained away. He stepped towards Noah, his demeanour having done a one-eighty. “It’s you. It is you, right?”
My gaze darted between them. I had no idea what was happening. From the confusion on everyone else’s faces, neither did they.
Noah inclined his head. “Yes. Noah. I’m glad to see you well.”
“Thanks to you.” The vampire’s voice was suddenly thick with emotion. “My mate and I owe you our immortality. I can’t believe I didn’t recognise you immediately.”
“I am pretty unforgettable.” Noah grinned. “Don’t worry about it—it was a traumatic day all round. I’m glad to hear the two of you are mated now.”
“They were rather dramatic about it first,” the other vampire said in bemusement. “Well, Toby here was. He’s lucky Blaise is a forgiving sort.”
“Tyler’s right, as per fucking usual. I was dramatic and I’m thankful Blaise forgave me.” Toby grunted in agreement. “And I’m sorry I didn’t bring him with me now. He’dlove to see you again. Things went so fucking south that day, and we’ll never be able to thank you enough for saving us. If you’d gone straight into Hell like anyone else, we would’ve been fucked. Permanently.”
Hell…
“Hang on.” I turned to Noah as I suddenly realised what day they were talking about. A day that had changed the course of my life. A day I hadn’t realised Noah had been present for. “You were in Hell the day of the battle?”
Chapter 25
Noah
Ishot a quizzical look at Jeremiah. “Yes. Well, technically I was at the only open portal. I didn’t go into Hell itself. Were you?”
His throat bobbed. “Yes. It was the day I was freed.”
Of course it was.He was part of the group freed alongside Nox. How had I not put two and two together?
More importantly, how had we not met? Micah and Nox had. Why not us?
Jem seemed to be thinking along the same lines. “How did we not see each other?”
We stared at each other, forgetting everyone else in the room. Why had fate kept us apart for all those extra months when Nox and Micah had been led right to each other?
“It wasn’t just then, either,” Jem said, horror dawning on his face. “I met the Seraphim the night the crane collapsed, but you weren’t there.”
A yawning pit opened in my stomach. No, I hadn’t been there.
I’d been here with Lyle.
Fuck, I had so many regrets. Starting with the day I’d first shown an interest in Lyle, and leading all the way up to being in this room with him rightnow.
I blinked away tears as I stared at Jem. “I wish I’d been there. So fucking badly.”
He smiled sadly, swiping away a tear of his own. “It wasn’t our time, sweetheart, and that’s okay. We’ve met now. That’s all that matters.”
“I can explain about Hell,” Dash said, making us both startle. I think we’d both forgotten that we weren’t alone. “Noah was in Juniper then. Lyle found out that we’d ignored orders and followed Atlas into the battle. He pulled us out of there pretty sharpish.”
I winced, remembering what had followed. The whole unit had been bollocked, but Lyle had had a special punishment for me. One that involved him tying me down naked while he listed every flaw on my body. Every way I’d failed him. Every reason why he’d never love me.
Then he’d forced me to watch as he fucked some twink he’d picked up earlier. To listen as he lavished praise on a stranger, the whole time reminding me how worthless I was.
It had been another fracture point in our…well, not our relationship. It was never that. Still, it had been enough. I’d left Juniper and Lyle the next morning.
I’d love to say ‘for good,’ but that would be a lie. Lyle was right. I had gone crawling back in the past—many times, including that one.
