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“Good.” Her tone was smug, and Trevor was contrarily joyful about his defeat.

“Are the others waiting on you?” he asked with a nod in the direction of her room.

“No. They left me to ‘sleep’ and went off to discuss security.”

“You werepretending?”

“Not the entire time.” She grinned, and the wickedness in her smile spoke to his inner devil.

“Well, look at you, Soleil Dalliance Stephens,” he drawled. “What a sneaky wench you turned out to be!”

Her husky laugh shot straight to his dick right along with her hand.

CHAPTER15

“He’s fallin’ for her.”

Damian turned from the window and met the Guardian’s concerned eyes. “I’m aware.”

“You’re not worried about her continued health, Aether?”

“I am, but not in the way you imagine.”

Draven gave him a curious look. “You’re not readin’ my thoughts. How do you know what I’m imaginin’?”

As he opened his mouth to respond, it occurred to him the other man must be able to feel him poking around his mind. Damian frowned. No one, other than the strongest of their kind, could sense him. His best friends, Alastair and Castor, yes, because he didn’t try to hide his trespass. His daughter, too. But few should be able to recognize the intrusion for what it was. “First you. How did you know I wasn’t privy to your thoughts?”

“I can feel you, and others if they try.” Draven nodded toward Sabrina, who was across the room, happily chatting Gene Stockton’s ear off as the man nodded and smiled. One father with the patience of a saint could recognize another.

“When you do it, there’s a sense of heaviness. It’s similar to a threatenin’ headache.”

Having never experienced the sensation, Damian considered the Guardian’s description. Other than Beastie, no one had the ability to read his thoughts without his express permission. Not even higher beings, like deities or the Fates, dared attempt it. He wasn’t opposed to slapping back with his magic.

“Fair enough. In answer toyourquestion, I went on the assumption you were referring to the Blane family’s supposed curse.”

“Supposed?”

“There’s no such thing. Not for them, anyway. If it were real, then anyone he cares about or who spends time in his vicinity would be at risk. I’d never take a chance with my daughter’s health.”

Draven ran a poker chip across his knuckles, causing it to disappear at his pinky, then reappear at his thumb to start the motion all over again. The gesture was absent-minded and habitual, stemming from years of game play. He shrugged, never breaking the speed of the traveling chip. “You’re assumin’ he cares about your girl, Aether. Perhaps he’s only humorin’ the both of you.”

Levity laced Draven’s comment, and Damian didn’t take offense where none was intended. “It’s true we have a tendency to impose ourselves on people in certain situations. I’ll give you that.” He smiled in response to the other man’s quicksilver grin. “But either way, if such a curse existed, I’d know about it.”

“I’ve been friends with him awhile. I’ve seen the bad luck his family seems to have. Hell, Simon was bound, and hestillput off enough power for his first wife to contract cancer.”

“True. But a Death Dealer also has the power to heal, and no mandate from the Authority or Fates will stop them should they wish to save a family member or loved one.”

“You’re forgettin’ Simon’s wife died.”

“I’m not. Her passing was tragic, but the reason was the binding of Simon’s powers, not the existence of them. And I’m responsible. No one and nothing else.”

“You?” Draven asked sharply. His dark-blond brows dipped as his expression darkened, turning forbidding.

“It’s a long story, but I consumed his power when he was a boy at his father’s bequest. I regret helping Benjamin, but I wasn’t in possession of the truth at the time.”

“It doesn’t negate the fact his wife died.”

Damian suppressed a grimace. “It doesn’t, but don’t forget the Fates may have had a hand in it. It’s possible their intent was to prod Simon in a direction he might not have taken while still married to Tiffany.”