Perhaps armour was not the best choice of clothing for blending into this world.
“Bleu,” Loren said and his second in command looked across at him. “We are not blending. How do we blend in this world?”
“Easy.” Bleu closed his eyes and mortal clothing appeared over his body. Dark jeans like those Olivia wore covered the armour on his legs and a black t-shirt concealed that on his chest. He completed the ensemble with a long black coat that reached down to his ankles, loose enough that it hid the sword hanging at his side.
Loren owned no such clothing, therefore he couldn’t call it from his apartments to him as Bleu could.
Bleu’s green gaze gained an amused glimmer. “I swear they are clean.”
Before Loren could ask what he meant, black jeans hugged his legs and an equally dark button down shirt covered his upper body. A long black coat similar to Bleu’s flowed over him, falling down to just above his ankles. Loren had never worn anything so common.
“The clothing of a mortal barbarian suits you,” Bleu teased and Loren pinned him with a warning glare. “Come. I think I know where our prey will be.”
Bleu crossed the quiet road, heading left towards what appeared to be a neighbourhood still busy with people even at this time of night. Loren caught the sound of music coming from some of the illuminated establishments in the distance. He followed Bleu but paused before leaving the quiet road behind and looked back along it towards the Archangel facility, his gaze drawn there as well as his heart. It told him to return to Olivia.
It demanded it.
He had to find out everything he could about his brother though and needed time for the bond between them to fade in strength, and that meant leaving her alone for a few hours. Not alone. She had Archangel and her friend, Sable, to protect her. They were a powerful organisation whose hunters had proven themselves determined to take on any demon or fae they viewed as a threat, aiming their weapons at him several times in only a few short hours. Olivia would be safe with them.
Loren turned away and found Bleu watching him. He caught up with him and Bleu fell into step with him. Loren could feel him building up to saying something. His friend had been quiet too long, not mentioning everything that had happened. It wasn’t like him.
“Spit it out.” Loren couldn’t stand the tense silence anymore.
Bleu raked his eyes over Loren. “What was that all about?”
Loren wasn’t sure what to tell him. He wasn’t sure what it had been all about. Was it a product of the bond? Or was it something else?
“Do you desire the female?” Bleu’s light tone didn’t lessen the gravity of what he had asked.
Loren sent his armour away from his hands and scrubbed one over his face. It was no use lying to himself, or to Bleu.
“Yes. I do desire Olivia.” There, it was out in the open now. Bleu could talk some sense into him, reminding him of his duty and his mission, and he could get his head and heart straight.
“It’s the bond,” Bleu stated flatly.
Loren sighed. If only it were that simple. “It is not the bond.”
“It’s the bond,” Bleu said it again, as though if he said it enough it would be the truth.
“No... it is not the bond. It is her... she is...”
Bleu growled. “Don’t say it. I don’t want to hear it. I just want to kill something.”
Loren smiled at him, amused by his black scowl and the frustration flashing in his eyes. Loren’s gaze shifted a few centimetres back, to the concealed tips of his ears.
“Are you sure that is all you want?” Loren’s smile turned wicked.
Bleu shot him a black look. “What’s that meant to mean?”
Loren lifted his shoulders in an easy shrug and then grinned. “I saw your reaction to the female slayer.”
Bleu huffed. “I’m not interested in her in particular... but it’s been a long time since I’ve been in this world, and with a female... and I know it’s been ridiculously longer for you... so that’s why you were all over that female today. Celibacy and a bond. A ticking bomb.”
Loren let it go because he knew it was more than that. He hadn’t been with a woman in four thousand plus years, but that wasn’t why he desired this one so fiercely, and neither was the bond between them.
He had thought Olivia beautiful when he had come around to find her watching over him like a true angel.
Just thinking about her had his blood pumping and filled him with a dark need to return to her and sample her mouth, and taste her flesh again. He wanted to run his lips down her throat to the marks he had placed on her smooth flawless skin and sink his fangs into her, drawing her blood into his body, strengthening the connection between them.