Page 21

Chapter 21

Nova

N ova clapped her hand over her mouth the second she’d said it.

She’d promised herself never to ask, but her fucking head was all over the place thanks to her dad, Dex, and waking up somewhere she hadn’t planned to.

All the anger left him, and he just studied her, no doubt wondering if he could trust her. “My father was seraphim. Now go shower. I’ll make something to eat.”

Seraphim?

Nova’s eyes widened when she realized what that meant.

Dex’s father was an angel, but not just any angel. He was an elite class of warrior angel. Which meant Dex wasn’t just a powerful, dangerous paranormal. He was one of the most powerful and dangerous paranormals if he had even half of what his father possessed.

“Do you have wings?” she asked, unable to help herself.

Angels and half-angels were so rare her family had never met one in all the generations since they’d started hunting.

He arched one perfect eyebrow and crossed his arms over his chest, definitely still irritated with her. “Yes, now go shower.”

Nova wanted to stick her tongue out at him for telling her what to do, but she was going to try to temper as much of her brattiness as possible until she could leave. Dex was a good guy who didn’t deserve her psychotic tendencies.

Looking down at the mess in his loft that was all thanks to her, she felt guilty again.

This was one of the many reasons why she only fucked and didn’t date. Nova could barely live with herself, let alone someone else.

Why was he so nice to her?

The sounds of cupboards opening and closing filtered in and she blinked, realizing she was staring at nothing again.

There was her phone.

Nova picked it up and crossed the room to pick up the boot Dex had dropped. Without another word, she went into his bedroom and closed the door.

This felt so weirdly intimate. This was why being here overnight was a fucking problem. He let her in here without a second thought, into his most private place. Nova could look in all his drawers and he didn’t give a fuck.

Well, she’d have to find something clean to wear.

She winced, trying not to think about what that might look like to him. Did angels get weird about shit like that the same way shifters did?

Nova stripped and went into the bathroom, annoyed she couldn’t brush her teeth.

See, this was why this was an issue. Was he really that much of a dumb boy he didn’t get it?

She turned on the water and then went through his medicine cabinet and the cupboard under the sink. Nova grabbed a brand-new toothbrush and inspected it, trying to decide if this was a good thing or not.

On one hand, he could just have a stash of them, or on the other, he could have regular overnight visitors.

Nova rolled her eyes and rummaged around for the toothpaste. Like it mattered if he had people sleep over? Dex was a big boy. His personal life was none of her business. They were not dating, and she had no plans to in the future.

After tonight, she needed to think about what she was going to tell the Council.

Brushing her teeth made her feel a little better. Then she stared at her own reflection, eyeing the dark circles under her eyes and the way her scar seemed more pronounced today. Usually, the silver was very faint, but she felt like it was stark under the bathroom light.

Or she was just ridiculously pale after the nightmare that was her own personal hell. As if experiencing it hadn’t been enough, she had to relive it every time she had a bad night.

What was she going to do?

Nova knew she should leave Seattle, but she didn’t want to. She wanted to stay here because…

Because of a stupid fucking boy.

Stepping into the shower helped her refocus and calm down. The hot water eased the tightness in her muscles, and she searched his shit to see he actually owned various different products. No two-in-one here.

It wasn’t her usual unscented, but it had a nice mild fragrance and Nova scrubbed while she considered what her actual options were.

Okay, so what if she liked a boy enough to want to stick around? There were other problems. Was he one of the ones the Council had sent her to watch? Would he be the one she would have to arrest?

What if he wasn’t, and she just left?

The Council would send in another hunter and Nova had no idea what would happen then. She’d have no control over the situation, and if Dex was not actually causing problems, he could end up hurt or killed if someone found out what he was.

As a hunter who swore to protect those who needed it – would she be able to leave knowing that might happen?

And if he was actually the one causing problems? Nova needed to be able to have the professional decency to get over her feelings, no matter how rare they were, and arrest someone who could possibly expose them to the humans and put the entire paranormal community in danger.

The only way this was going to work though was if she could figure out which it was, and quick.

She washed her hair and breathed in the steam, feeling antsy despite her exhaustion.

Spying on him felt gross, but she had to know.

Tonight.

Nova would gear up and stalk him until she had her answer. Every night until she knew for sure. Until then, she’d have to make excuses to avoid seeing him. It would be easy to pretend she was looking for a job.

That settled, she turned off the shower, wondering if the usual weapons to kill angels would work on him. She’d have to look into it.

Just in case.