Page 24 of Kiss the Dawn (Order of Helsing #4)

T he next day went quickly, with more cases showing up, including another missing persons report, which cut our morning catch-up short. Although Ordell had given me permission to tell my team about the triplets, I decided to keep what had happened to them to myself for now. It was his business, and it felt wrong to share it.

The end of the day came as a relief.

Merry had plans to visit Crush’s club, and Holly had a date, while Padma prepared for an evening to herself.

Merry and Holly left first, and it was just Padma and me locking up.

“Are you sure you want to go back to the chapter house alone?”

“Positive.”

“I could come with you if you like. ”

“No, you best stay out of Old Town like Hemlock suggested. I doubt you’ll bump into Ezekiel, but why take the risk?”

I hadn’t told her about the other night and how Ezekiel had shown up in my room. I doubted a boundary would keep him away if he wanted to see me.

“I don’t think we have to worry about Ezekiel.”

She shrugged on her coat. “Fine. But I don’t want you to come. I want to go alone.” She shot me an apologetic look. “Is that okay?”

“Of course.”

“Sorry.”

“Don’t be. I should have read between the lines.” We stepped outside, and I locked the doors.

“What are your plans?” Padma asked.

“Food, then sleep.”

“Ezekiel?” She smiled cheekily.

Butterflies filled my belly. “Hopefully.” Her smile dimmed. Was she thinking about Edwin? “He’ll be okay, you know. Edwin…”

She forced her smile wider. “Yeah. I know.”

A shadow flew over us, and then a Raven landed on the perch outside our building. It stared at us with one black, beady eye, then cawed impatiently.

Padma frowned. “Bit late for a Raven…” She checked the note attached to it. “For you.”

I didn’t recognize the handwriting, but the name at the bottom made my stomach tighten. “It’s from Henry.”

“Agatha’s fiancé?”

“Yeah.”

“What does it say?”

“He wants to talk. Tomorrow night.”

“Are you going to go?” she asked as we walked to the van.

“I owe him that much.”

“You want me to come with you?”

As much as I’d have loved the moral support, Henry deserved his privacy. “No. I’ll be fine.”

We climbed into the van, and Padma started the engine. “Let’s get you home.”

Pasta, a bath, then bed with a book.

This was perfection.

But I couldn’t help sliding a glance at my phone and wondering how Ordell was doing or where Hemlock was right this minute.

We hadn’t spoken since getting intimate, and although Ordell had explained why Hemlock had run off, it wasn’t the same as hearing it from him, and then there was Kaster. I hadn’t heard from him in two days, which considering we were ‘just friends’ shouldn’t be a big deal, but the truth was that we were more than just friends.

I picked up the phone on a whim and dropped him a text.

Just wanted to check in.

A text came back a moment later.

No news to share yet.

Seriously?

I wasn’t checking in for news. I wanted to see how you were doing.

The next message was a little longer in coming, and when it did come, I wished it hadn’t.

Orina, I’ve been thinking that it would be better if we kept communication to business from now on. It’s hard enough to maintain a boundary as it is.

His words left me cold, and then hot anger starburst in my chest. Boundary? He was acting like I was coming on strong and harassing him or something.

I typed out a text saying just that, then deleted it. Typed out another, then deleted that too .

Urgh. I took a deep breath then typed Okay and hit send.

Long minutes passed as I stared at the screen. Fuck this. I turned off the phone and shoved it into my bedside table drawer.

Life had been much less complicated when relationships were off the table. I rubbed my arm where my blessing used to be, and a hollow sensation filled my chest because I missed it. I missed the conviction and the comfort of the path.

Now the path I was on was filled with uncertainty and potential heartache. It was a path I’d chosen under duress, and I wasn’t sure I’d ever reconcile with it fully. But I was a woman who stood by her decisions.

I turned out the light hoping that my dreams would deliver me to Ezekiel and onto the path that could save us all.

The sea churned beneath a frothy gray sky, and Ezekiel waited for me, his back to the room, his gaze on the vista.

I joined him as the sun broke through to bathe the salty spray beneath, taming it with its golden rays.

“I was selfish,” Ezekiel said. “Instead of comforting you, I sought to comfort myself by coming to you. I triggered your rage.”

“It’s fine. I’m fine. Hemlock was there to…help.” My cheeks heated, and I fixed my attention on the sea .

“I know. He spoke with me. Explained the connection you have.”

My stomach dipped. “He did?”

“It’s better than having to kill you, which has been the case every time before, it seems.” A wry smile accompanied his words.

The queasy sensation in my belly subsided. “Have you heard what happened to Ordell?”

“Yes. Hemlock told me that too.”

Hemlock was playing the messenger while avoiding me completely.

I felt Ezekiel’s gaze on my face. “You seem to have conquered my brothers’ hearts as well as mine.”

My neck warmed, and I lifted my chin to look up at him. “I’ve conquered your heart?”

The corner of his mouth lifted. “Yes, Orina. I’m in love with you. Have been for some time, although it took a dive back into hell for me to understand what I was feeling.” He turned me to face him and cupped my face. “I loved your soul once when you were Arabella, but although your soul remains the same, each incarnation has been different. Each time I have been attracted, intrigued, but never have I been so captivated, so enraptured as I have with you.

“You challenge me in ways that make my blood sing. I’ve craved the sensation of sunlight on my skin for too long, but I don’t need the sun when I have you. You are my ray of sunshine.”

My throat pinched, eyes pricking, and a bubble of emotion expanded in my chest. “I love you too.” The words exploded from my lips in a rush of relief.

There, I’d said it. Was something meant to happen? Was the curse broken?

His eyes dimmed. “No. Not yet you don’t.”

“But…I do. I do love you. I want to be with you all the time. I think about you all the time, and I want you to touch me, to kiss me and?—”

“You don’t need to say the words for it to be true. If you loved me, then the curse would already be broken.”

The bubble popped, and I sagged. “I don’t understand. I feel all these feelings for you and?—”

“I killed your friend.”

My pulse spiked, and anger flickered in my belly.

“I don’t think you’ve forgiven me for that, and I doubt you ever will.”

He was right. I hadn’t forgiven him, and I wasn’t sure I could, but if that was standing in the way of my loving him, then we had a problem. “Your humanity was gone. You were…you weren’t like you are now.”

“But that isn’t an excuse for murder, is it?” He canted his head.

“You’re not helping.”

“On the contrary, I think I am. If we’re to move forward, then these issues must be addressed. You don’t love me, Orina. Not yet. But I have a year to earn your love. To prove myself and to make up for the horrific things I’ve done. I swear to you I will become the man you deserve.”

I believed him.

“I’m starting tomorrow.” He kissed my forehead and released me. “I received an invitation to join a tour of the Innovate Corp building in New Town. They produce the vaccine for the mutated vampire strain.”

“The sucker rat strain?”

“Yes, the scavenger strain. They’re helping humanity against a scourge that I started. They want my support and a donation to begin work on more medications.”

“That’s amazing.” He was going to be leaving the castle to come to New Town. I should be with him. His watcher.

“I know what you’re thinking, and I’ll be fine. I’ll have Godor with me.”

“And the Corp is okay with you bringing him?”

He smiled, cold and cutting. “They won’t have a choice.”

He cupped my nape and drew me close to brush his lips over mine. “So I hear you’ve been playing our game with Hemlock.”

I smiled against his mouth. “Yes, Leo .”

He matched my smile. “It was fun.” He kissed the corner of my mouth.

“You tricking me is not fun for me.”

He kissed my bottom lip, then my top lip, then there were no words as we sank into a kiss that drove all thought from my mind and set my body alight with the promise of wicked naked things to come, because I was so ready. I wanted him with every fiber of my being and?—

Ezekiel broke the kiss, his hand a fist in my hair. “Fuck.” His golden gaze burned a path over my face. “Let’s play chess.”

“Wait, what?”

His throat bobbed. “I can take you now, Orina. I can have your body and pleasure you. I can make you scream my name, but it isn’t just your body I want. It’s your heart. I won’t take one without the other.”

Damn him and his beautiful words. “Okay…Chess it is.” I slipped my hand into his. “For now.”

He smiled down at me. “For now.”

We took our places on either side of the chess board. “There is something you can do for me.”

“Go on,” he said.

“Is there any chance you could find us a chapter house in New Town?”

He made his first move on the board. “Beat me at this game and consider it done.”

“Seriously?” I groaned because he was good. Too good at this game.

He rolled his eyes. “Fine, make it a challenge for me to win and consider it done.”

“Now that I can do.”