Page 106 of A Prime's Passion (The Pretern Wars 1)

Chapter Thirty-Two

The tall, leanly builtblond who stepped into her path was, without a doubt, one of the most beautiful men Zee had ever seen. Eyes an impossible shade of violet-blue—a shade that had never been seen in anybody wholly human—locked on her while a breeze tousled his silken white-gold hair. A smile, slightly cynical, curved his mouth up faintly at one side and although that smile might be cynical, it did nothing to diminish his beauty. There was a suggestion of a dimple, too.

Zee knew that if the smile widened, it would be more than a suggestion, but then she had to consider—had time deepened his dimples to grooves in his pretty face? No, probably not. He looked as young as her, although he was a few years older.

Still, it would be decades before either of them showed much in the way of aging.

That happened when you had Fae blood.

Of course, Zee hadn’t known about Saint’s Fae heritage growing up any more than she’d known about her own. If she’d known more about the Fae, she might have guessed it though, simply because of how ridiculously beautiful Saint was.

Not that there weren’t attractive men among Therians or humans, but there was something... more about Gabriel “Saint” Day.

Now that there wasn’t a bloody, wounded man between them, she met his eyes and felt her heart twist almost violently inside her chest. Damn, she’d missed him.

He’d left several years before she’d moved to Durham-Starfell, running away for reasons she hadn’t learned until later. Even though he’d reached out to her once she was at school, and then again after she’d done some running of her own, their relationship had never really been solid, not since he’d left Greylock.

But she’d missed him so much. Next to Liam, she’d always been closest to Saint. If it had been any other time, she probably would have thrown herself at him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

He’d catch her as he always had, spinning her around as he laughed, before coming to a stop as he gently cradled the back of her head and asked her how she was.

Right now, he stood between her and the hospital entrance and she didn’t have time to waste on pleasantries, or even catching up with a beloved brother.

Stopping a few feet away, she crossed her arms over her chest and met his direct gaze with one of her own. Brow arched, she said, “I know we didn’t have much time to chat and catch up with all the shooting, bleeding and other assorted craziness, but now is not a good time, brother dearest.”

“Not a good time for what?” Head cocked to the side and hands in his pockets, Saint gave her a look of pure innocence. “I just wanted to say hi.”

“Really.” She glanced past him to the doors of the hospital. “Well, then. Hi, Saint.”

“Hi, Zee.”

A car idled to a stop, unable to move forward since Saint had chosen to stand precisely in the middle of the road—yes, it was the crosswalk, but he wasn’t walking. Just standing.

Rolling her eyes, Zee started to move forward. He wouldn’t move until he was good and ready so she’d have to break the stalemate. “You said hi. Let’s go.”

“Not going to wait for Etan?”

She paused, forgetting about the car idling there, waiting for them to move as she looked back over her shoulder, searching for another brother. “Is he here?”

“He’ll come along.” Saint pushed a stray curl behind her ear.

The driver laid on the horn.

Saint sighed and turned to look at the man.

Zee’s heart stuttered a few beats as the intense purplish-blue of Saint’s eyes began to glow. And it wasn’t just Saint’s eyes, either. His skin took on a luminous quality as well.

Her affable, laughing brother was suddenly terrifying.

Shit.

Heart pounding in her throat, Zee reached out and touched Saint’s arm. “Saint. The man isn’t doing anything wrong—you’re just being a stubborn ass and standing in the road, blocking his way. Pull back on the scary, okay?”

One second passed, then another, and then another. Finally, he took a deep breath, and as he drew in oxygen, he pulled his power back in, too, like a great bird folding in its wings.

“Sorry,” he called out to the driver, voice polite and amiable.

Zee glanced over and looked at the man behind the wheel of the car, a man who’d gone nearly as white as the pristine paint job on the high-end vehicle. Doubting he’d do much of anything as long as they were there, she offered her brother her arm. “Coming with me?”

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