Awakening Kiss (Watcher's Kiss Book 4) (11 page)

But he was going to have to bring this up, and there was no smooth way to do it. He took her hand. “Enza…”

Wary brown eyes watched him. “This isn’t going to be good, is it?”

He frowned. “There’s no good way to say this. And shit, I’m not good with words anyway.” He paused. Above, mockingbirds sang quietly among the leaves. “You, ah…you’re not one hundred percent human.”

“What?” Her voice was whispered, fearful and she yanked her hand away.

“The thing is, I’m certain your father is a supernatural being, and specifically, one known as a Deserati demon.”

Enza’s breath hitched and the streetlamp at the end of the block flickered. “A demon? Are you kidding me?” She pulled back, putting distance between them on the bench. “Wouldn’t they be scary and disgusting?”

Shit. “Remember how I said that some creatures can look human? Well, some demons can. You wouldn’t be able to tell the difference.” A sudden need for honesty surged in his heart. He needed to be straight with her. She deserved to know his race.

“You think I’m half demon.” She slid farther away and folded her arms. “Rhys, I don’t know. I mean, so what if I can smell and hear well, and—”

“Enza, listen to me. There are good demons and bad ones. Good elves and dark ones. Different kinds of magic. It all hinges on a balance of power. That’s why I track, and Brenin too. We help things stay on an even keel. And there’s nothing wrong with being a halfling.”

“Halfling.” She spoke the word slowly, sounding out each syllable. “You think that, because of a few things you know about me?”

“Yeah.” He fought to give her space when that was the last thing he wanted. But he still needed to proceed with caution. “The clincher is your electrical thing.”

She flicked a gaze to the street lamps, which dimmed as if in eerie acknowledgement. “Why?”

He drew a breath. May as well get as much info out as possible. “Lightning is made of electricity. And in the species that I believe your father is, there’s a small percentage who can manipulate lightning. I think your technical challenges are an indicator that you might have this talent.”

C
HAPTER
11

E
NZA COULD ONLY STARE.
L
IGHTNING.
How the hell could a person…wait, they weren’t talking about people here. “I don’t understand,” she mumbled. “I thought I just had really bad luck with computers.”

“You may.” He tilted his head, voice gentle. “But this would be a damn good reason why.”

Staring at him, so sincere and patient, something inside her softened. She was different. His words made sense and they would be easy to believe. It would be comforting to know there was a cause behind her issues.

Though this was a confirmation she never thought she’d hear.

“Like I said, I wish there was another way to tell you. Ease you into it. But sometimes you get thrown into the deep end.” The low pitch of his voice was magnified in the dark, sending tiny vibrations along her arm. Something about him called to her. He
got
her.

Sensual voice. Sexy eyes. The way he’d kissed her seemed like it was absolutely supposed to happen.
Stop fighting this.

Music and laughter drifted on the warm air and the lights of the festival shone from the short distance away. How could the world seem so normal one day and completely upside down the next? Upside down—but maybe
she
was the one who’d been looking at it wrong. She dropped her gaze to Rhys’s strong shoulders and piercing eyes, feeling like she was on a tightrope and she had to either move forward or go back. And if he would be with her…

She’d go forward. She could never do it alone, but with him, she’d find the determination to explore the unexpected world that had opened to her. “What happens now?”

“There’s someone we can talk to.” He reached for her hand, tucking it into his. “A woman. A female Deserati demon who has that lightning power I mentioned. She’s a friend. She can help figure out what you can do.”

“How?” A sliver of uncertainity squesked into that one syllable. Enza had no desire to be examined or inspected.

“Not sure. There may be some questions. But she’s cool. I wouldn’t even bring her up if I didn’t trust her.”

Enza traced a pattern on his wrist.
Trust.
She could do this. “Then what?”

“Then we see about getting you trained, so you don’t accidentally fry anything.”

“Hey!” She frowned. “I’ve never accidentally fried anything. Stuff doesn’t burn around me, it just stops working completely.” She tried to glare at him, but met his brown eyes which twinkled with mirth.

“Teasing,” he whispered.

“Oh.” She paused, letting herself get lost in his eyes, taking a greedy second to be glad he’d found her. “I’ve really never fried anything.”

“Good to know.” He rubbed his thumb over her knuckles. “So let me call her later and set something up. Not even sure where she would want to meet. A lot of lightning activity would attract the wrong kind of attention.”

“From the weather forecasters?”

“I was thinking, from the bad guys. But yeah, weather folks too.”

“What does she look like?”

“Miranda?” Rhys paused. “Tall, red hair. She looks human, as long as she’s magically hiding her horns and tail.”

“What?” Enza’s voice rose. The bulbs in the building across the street dimmed for a split second as shock flared in her mind.

He shook his head. “Look at you and these lights. Does it usually happen this often?”

“No.”

“In stressful times?”

She contemplated the street lamps, thinking back. “Yes, but also emotional times in general. Or excitement. It took a while to pinpoint it. At first I thought it was random.”

“And the other night when I dropped you off?” He slowly skated his hand up her arm and captured a lock of hair blowing in the night breeze.

His massive presence was so at odds with the gentle touches he kept surprising her with. He countered each revelation with reassuring contact, softening the shock of his world and somehow making her want more. “You were really close to me,” she whispered.

“That okay with you?”

She nodded.
One hundred percent okay.
Something deep inside seized eagerly on the thought of a connection with him. Even though things didn’t make total sense—yet being with him felt like part of her finally did. Though his description of the woman she was supposed to meet required an explanation. “But if I’m…half…other…” Enza tapped a finger on her leg. “I don’t have horns or a tail.”

“No. You can thank your mom’s genes for that.” He slid closer, sliding his hand around her shoulders. “Halflings usually get some traits from their supernatural parent, but not all.”

“Thank goodness.” Enza traced the diagonal pattern in her jeans. “I can’t believe my mom slept with a demon and had no idea.”

“Even after seeing elves and nymphs?”

“Yeah. I would never have known. It’s still hard for me to imagine that certain things are real and walking around among us.” Even though she wanted to know more. Even though she’d been up close to the nymphs…it was all so darn new.

He rubbed his hand back and forth between her shoulder blades. “I need to tell you something else.”

The calm she had begun to feel instantly morphed into wariness. “There’s more?”

A frown pulled his sensual lips down. “Yeah. This is important.”

She swallowed. Her brain hovered in a balance between information overload and trust. But what else could he say? He’d already said her father was a demon and she was half one. What could be worse…well, maybe she should stop that thought in its tracks. “Go on.”

“What you just said about your mom—when you asked how she could sleep with a demon?”

“You said some of them blend in.” Her gut knotted at his serious tone.

“Yeah. And some of them are good. On our side.”

She nodded. “And?”

He drew a breath and let it out slowly. “I track supernatural beings, been doing this for a while, and yeah, my parents told me about all of this.”

She studied him, trying to read between his words. Her heart thundered against her ribs, like it was craving whatever he was about to share. “What is it?”

“I know all this, grew up with all of this…because I’m not human.”

She sucked in a breath as shock squeezed her chest. Mouth open, she stared at him. Remembered to blink. Kept staring.
Oh my god.
Disbelief mixed with dread, and a sliver of betrayal. She took in his powerful torso and thick biceps. Memories of the portal and The Arboretum flashed through her mind. He’d known exactly what was happening… She hopped off the bench and backed up a step. But she knew from previous experience that if he wanted to keep her here, she had no choice. “Wh-what are you?”

He leaned forward, but didn’t get up. “I’m a Lash demon.” Eyes laser-focused on her, bright with concern.

“D-demon?” She closed her eyes for a moment. Opened them. He still sat there, looking totally normal.
He’s a demon. He says I’m half demon. Oh my god.
She fought for calm. “How can you be…you look like a regular guy.”

“Those nymphs looked like regular girls.”

“Yeah but…” she shook her head as thoughts bounced around like pinballs.
How can he say that? How can it be true? He won’t hurt me. There are creatures in the city who aren’t human.
She took a deep breath. “Why didn’t you tell me before?”

“At The Arboretum? Or at your shop?” He raised a brow. “Which place would’ve been better to drop this news?”

She crossed her arms and scowled. Good point. “Neither.”

“At The Arboretum, I thought you’d had enough shit thrown at you. Hell, I was just glad you got in the car, because I wasn’t about to leave you there.”

“This is crazy,” she whispered. “You’re a demon? I know you just said that. But wow.” She rubbed her temples. This was too much. Yet he was still patient. Concerned for her. Confusion swirled through her mind. One thing remained clear—he wouldn’t harm her. She knew that inherently.

“My group, the Watchers, is made up of males and females from my race,” he went on. “We track, fight, protect. We have lots of trained teams—that’s why the nymphs knew what I was.”

“Wait, so…is Brenin a demon too?”

“Yeah, and a few other guys who live with us.”

She sat back down on the bench, reached for his hand, and took it in both of hers. Turning it over, she traced the tiny lines in his palm. Felt the rough strength of him, and also the seeming normalness, and weighed it against his revelation. “Your skin is smooth, warm. Just like a person.”

“Just like yours.” He laid his free hand on her knee.

She looked up into his face, concern flickering in those brown eyes. A demon. The word skittered around in her head. She’d kissed him. And had wanted more. The memory of his lips and tongue brought heat to her cheeks. Those parts of him had seemed completely human too.

“Whatcha thinking?” His disarming smile teased her.

“Um…” Busted. “I kissed you. I kissed a demon.”

“And I kissed you, a halfling.” He raised her hand to his mouth. “And?”

“I liked it,” she whispered.

“Me too.” He dotted kisses along her knuckles. “You’re taking this well.”

“I think I’m partially in shock,” she said. “First we met nymphs. Then you suggest my dad is a demon, which means I’m half demon. Now, you tell me you’re a demon, and I didn’t know they really existed until tonight.”

“Sorry it had to be so abrupt.”

“It’s not your fault.” Her shoulders sagged. “Honestly, I’ve always felt different. It was never something I could put my finger on. Even the electrical glitches and never getting sick—I thought the one thing was me being unlucky and the other was just good health. I guess now I know why.”

He stroked her cheek. “It was your supernatural side.”

“I think I’m still a little bit in shock.”

“I don’t blame you. You take as much time as you need to let this sink in.” He framed her face with his hands. “I’d like you to talk to Miranda soon, because it’s important to identify the lightning ability. But the rest of it, you can take at your own pace.”

She gazed up into eyes sincere and soft, and the rest of her worries eased. Trust in him anchored securely in her heart. “Okay.” She scooted close and rested her head on his shoulder, simply breathing in the delicious comforting smell of him. His arm curled around her and she’d never felt more safe.

Above them, night birds flitted through the trees. Upbeat dance music and cheerful voices drifted from the festival. Here in the park, in this moment, it was just them. Her world had shifted, but she didn’t feel lost.

Maybe that made no sense. But she had Rhys at her side. That was all she needed right now.

C
HAPTER
12

S
HE WASN
’
T SURE HOW LONG
they’d sat like that, cocooned in the calm quiet of the tiny city park. His fingers squeezed her bicep gently, rousing her from her haze of accepting what only a week ago would have made no sense. She looked up into his model-handsome hotness. “What is it?”

“I should get you home. Think you’re getting sleepy on me.”

“I’m not that tired, but I could definitely get off this bench.” She stood and stretched, noting Rhys’s gaze track down from her head to her feet. God, that kiss.

Her body didn’t seem to care what label Rhys attached to himself. No, it only recognized two things.

Trust…and desire.

He grabbed her hand, enfolding hers in warmth, and led her to his car. The big black Escalade loomed like a yacht on the cramped side street, sandwiched between two small foreign cars. Enza climbed in and held her breath as Rhys maneuvered the vehicle out without managing to bump anything. A glimpse in the rearview mirror showed another car waiting for their spot.

The festival wasn’t far from Enza’s apartment. Stoplights, one after the other, turned green as they drove. Rhys chuckled. “You doing that?”

“Ha.” She stifled a giggle. “I wish.” That talent would have come in handy at times.