“You’re a descendent of the Phantoms,” I said, finally resorting to guessing. “You are third generation, which means…”
“Yes, yes, they’ve been reproducing. Tell me something I don’t know. I grow bored of ignorant people. Where did you think the stories came from?”
“Stories?”
He took a long swig of liquid from his goblet. Blood trickled down his chin. He swiped at it with his hand and licked the blood away from his fingers. “Yes, the stories of vampires and werewolves? Where have you been living?”
“The information, please?” Adonis changed the subject.
“Ah, yes. It has come to our attention that a certain force has been… raised up? Yes, I can see by the look on your faces that much is true. Like I said, we only serve the side that benefits us. At this point that side is the Seekers, though I am loath to admit it. The Phantoms have tried to control us for far too long. We like to be left in peace. We don’t harm those who don’t wish for it. I know someone who is willing to help you.” The man turned toward me. “In fact, I think you may be familiar with him, dear girl…”
Right, because I’m familiar with Phantoms, witches, vampires, and werewolves.
“Seth?” the man called loudly. “Come out, dear.”
My eyes grew large as another man suddenly appeared in our small circle.
Crystal blue eyes that glowed like ice stared back at me. With skin a mesmerizing color of bronze and curly blonde hair, I suddenly forgot to breathe.
“Seth, this is Athena.”
“I know.” His voice… oh, I was in trouble. At times like those I wished I had Nike with me, but she had been out of the loop for ages. Now she only serves in the Heavenly Courts. Traitor.
Seth was drop-dead gorgeous. He and Adonis could be brothers. Wow. I wondered if Adonis saw the beauty in front of him. I was jealous, and I was a female.
He walked purposefully toward me, all seven feet of him. A grey muscle-shirt stretched across his broad chest.
I felt warm and fuzzy as he took a seat next to me. His breath fanned my face as he exhaled in my personal space. I shivered a bit as his eyes seemed to pierce my cool demeanor.
“I’ve been waiting for a thousand years to meet you, Thena.”
“That’s it,” Adonis grumbled next to me, and before I knew it he had managed to squish himself between us. “The information please?” he demanded.
“I am the information.” Seth winked.
“Say hello to your new partner,” Seth announced, his words smooth and beautiful, almost as if he was singing them rather than speaking. Suddenly, it was just the three of us: me, Adonis, and apparently our new partner, against the evil of the Darkness. How bad could he be?
Chapter Nine
Words escaped me. The blaring loudness of the club faded into the distance as Seth rose from his seat to sit on the other side of me and put his hand on my leg. I was normally one of those personal space people. I got irritated if anyone breathed the same air, let alone touched me.
Not Seth.
My eyes followed the direction of his hand as his fingertips brushed my thigh. His fingers grazed my skin, and I swore in that moment I could feel the heat from his hands, even though I had layers of clothes separating us.
“Partner?” Adonis choked out the word. I wanted to warn him not to kill unnecessarily, especially since we were supposed to be the good guys. If this guy was going to be our informant, so be it; but did he have to be so blazingly attractive?
It was at times like these I wondered what I’d done to deserve such punishment. With Adonis on my right and Seth on my left, I felt something akin to extreme unfairness beat in my chest.
No woman would stand a chance against even one of them.
And I’ve got two.
Yay.
El and I will have words later… if, in fact, I ever did make it into Eden. I threw my eyes up to the sky for good measure, in hopes that the Creator of the universe would take note of my plight, then realized it was probably all in vain. He didn’t care about my inability to speak in front of attractive people, not with the Watchers free from the Abyss.
“The information you know. Can’t you just tell us?” Adonis asked, clearly grasping at straws. He rose from his seat and began pacing in front of me, probably wishing he had a good reason to end Seth’s life.
“No,” Seth answered smoothly as he brushed a blonde curl out of his eyes. Every movement he made seemed, not necessarily calculated, but smooth. Almost too smooth. Which sounded bizarre, even to my ears. There was something very off about his mannerisms.
He knew I was thinking about him because suddenly his eyes flickered back to mine. He smiled sadly and said, “You can ask, Athena. You don’t have to hurt yourself trying to figure it out. We’ll be here all day with how slow your brain is working right now.”
Adonis choked on his laugh then put a stern look on his face.
“What are you?” I asked bluntly.