“Maybe he did. Maybe ghosts can travel to the moon.”
I laughed as I shifted my gaze back to the ceiling. “Yeah, I don’t know about that.”
“Would be kind of cool, though.”
“Yeah, it would.” My eyes drifted shut. “I really did try to wait up for you, because of...of Greene, and also because I wanted to know if you found any more zombies.”
Zayne was quiet for a moment. “I checked on you when I got back. You were out cold. Didn’t even hear me take a shower,” he said. “We didn’t find more zombies. After cleanup, I went to the Eastern Market platform. Greene had already been taken down. A cop found him. He was still there.”
“Did you talk to him?”
“Yeah, but he didn’t see anything.” Zayne curled his knees just the slightest. “There were no signs of a struggle or traces of blood, and the cop was in the area the whole time. He would’ve heard a fight. Greene was killed elsewhere and then brought there for a reason.”
I processed that. “I’ve been thinking about that. Greene was...displayed like the other Wardens and demons have been—left to be found. I don’t think it takes a leap of logic to say that the Harbinger is behind all of it.”
“Agreed.”
“Were the bodies of the other Wardens ever found where others had been minutes before but hadn’t seen anything?”
Zayne was quiet for a moment. “Not that I know of. Most of them were found in extremely busy public places. That platform is deserted at that time of night.”
“So, this was a message.” I paused. “To us. The Harbinger killed Greene and brought him to a place we’d just been, and the demon has to be working with it.”
“I know where you’re going with this thought. That it’s possible that either the demon or the Harbinger know who we are—know what you are.”
I rolled onto my side, facing him. Hair fell across my face, but I left it alone, keeping my arms folded between us. “Do you think that?”
“I think it’s possible.”
“That means the Harbinger has the upper hand,” I whispered. “A very big upper hand.”
“It’s an upper hand, but that just means we need to be more aware,” he said, and I felt him move. “Hold still. My hand is going to come close to your face.”
A heartbeat later, I felt his fingertips brush my cheek. The touch didn’t startle me. He caught the strands of hair and brushed them back, tucking them behind my ear. His fingers lingered, his thumb grazing the line of my cheekbone. After a second, he dropped his hand.
“Thanks,” I murmured.
“No problem.”
“I’m only a little jealous of Warden eyesight,” I added. “Then again, if I had fully functioning eyeballs, I’d still be jealous.”
“Yeah, being able to see in the dark does have its benefits,” he said.
Silence fell between us as we lay there, face-to-face. I don’t know why my next thought came to mind, but it did, and for some reason, asking things in the middle of the night wasn’t so hard. “I have a random question.”
“You? Never...”
I smiled. “How often do you do the, uh, deep-sleep thing? You know, the stone-sleeping thing. Misha used—” My chest squeezed as I inhaled sharply. “He used to nap a lot in that form, but I haven’t seen you do it yet.”
“I do it when I need to,” he answered. “Used to grab a couple of hours here and there. Napping like...yeah, like him, if I was feeling worn down or had been injured, but ever since the whole bonding thing, I haven’t had to do it.”
“Oh. That’s kind of interesting.”
“It’s a lot interesting, and I wish I knew why, but unless your father is going to reappear with a Protector handbook, I guess I won’t know.”
“Yeah, I wouldn’t hold your breath for that.”
“Does it ever...” He exhaled. “The way it is with your father—does it bother you?”
“No one’s ever asked me that,” I said as the realization hit. “Wow. I don’t even know how to answer that.”
“Try,” he said softly.
“I... I don’t know. I don’t even think of him as my father. Thierry and Matthew helped raised me. They’re my dads. But does it irritate me that he hasn’t been around? Yeah. And it pisses me off that he knew Misha was the wrong choice and did nothing. Didn’t even seem to freaking care. Like he has no emotions or—” I cut myself off as the anger surfaced. “It doesn’t matter.”
Zayne tapped my arm. “I think it does.”
“No, it doesn’t. Anyway, it’s probably a good thing you haven’t needed to do the deep-sleep thing. I have an overwhelming urge to annoy the living crap out of any Warden when they’re in that form.”
“Good to know, but your father—”
“I really don’t want to talk about him. Besides, I have another question.”
“I wish you could see my surprised face.”
I grinned at that. “Why does your apartment look like no one lives here?”
“What?” He laughed.
“You know what I mean.” Unclasping my hands, I lifted one. “There’s nothing here. No photos or anything personal. No clutter—”
“How is not having clutter a bad thing?”
“It’s not, but it’s like...”
“It’s like what?” Zayne shifted again, and I felt his fingers brush my bare arm.
It was hard to ignore the jolt of awareness that followed his touch. “It’s like you don’t really live here. More like you’re...staying here.”
Zayne didn’t respond. Not for a long time. I thought that maybe he’d fallen asleep, but then he said, “It’s just a place to rest my head, Trin.”
I thought about that. “That’s...kind of sad.”
“Why?”
I wiggled my shoulders in a shrug. “I don’t know. You should think of it as a home.”
“Do you miss your home?” he asked.
My lips pursed. Yes. No? Both. And yet neither? “Some days,” I said, settling in the middle.
“Strange answer.”
It was, but... “I miss my stars,” I said. “But we’re not talking about me. We’re talking about you.”
There was a quiet laugh. “Then ask me a different question.”
I blinked at that. “Okaaay.” I drew the word out as another question I had no business asking filled my thoughts.
“You want to ask another question.”
My head cut toward his. “How do you know that?”
“The bond.”
“What?” I started to sit up.
“I’m kidding.” He laughed, catching my arm and stilling me. “I can see it on your face.”
“My face?” I settled back.
“You wrinkle your nose whenever you’re thinking about something you want to say and trying not to say it.”
“Really?” I had no idea if that was true. The nose part, that is. Everything else was, as Peanut would say, totes true.
“Really. I’m observant like that.” Zayne’s hand slipped into the space between us. His knuckles rested against my arm. “What do you want to ask? I have a feeling this is going to be a good one.”
I arched a brow. Then I told myself not to ask it. My brain did not listen. “You seemed really happy to see Stacey.”
The moment that came out of my mouth, I wondered how fast I could roll off the couch and run headfirst into a nearby wall. There were so many more important things we could talk about besides his less-than-cozy apartment and friends with benefits.
“You sure that was a question?” he asked. “Because it sounded like a statement, but yeah, I was happy. I hadn’t seen her in a while.”
I pressed my lips together, thinking about her warning. “She seemed happy to see you.”
“I guess so.” Zayne pulled his hand back as he settled into the cushion. “Stacey and I are just friends.”
The snort that left me sounded vaguely like a wild boar running from hunters. “Yeah, I don’t think you can say you’re just friends. Not that I care or anything. Or that it’s any of my business.”
“Okay. You’re right. We were more than friends,” he replied. “Not that you don’t know that already. Or care.”
Shifting onto my back, I crossed my arms. “I totally don’t care.”
“Then why did you bring it up?”
“Because I’m nosy,” I admitted. Then I forced myself to say, “She seems pretty cool.”
“She is. I hope you get to know her. I think you’d like her.”
I wasn’t so sure about that. “I didn’t know she’d been here.”
Zayne was quiet for a moment. “There’s a lot you don’t know, Trin.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Exactly what it sounds like.”
I stiffened. His tone wasn’t cold or anything, but there was something off about it, and he was totally closing a door on that conversation. Which was his right, but it made me feel like I...like I’d crossed a line, and maybe I had.
And boy, didn’t that shine a huge glaring light on the awkwardness of our relationship? There was almost a professional aspect to us, with the whole Protector and Trueborn bond. We were friends, but we’d briefly been more, and a part of me felt like we were still tiptoeing around that line despite the fact that the line was actually a wall. And even though I’d filed away what I felt for Zayne, I was still a jealous little monster when it came to Layla and Stacey. I had no right to those feelings, and Zayne was...well, he was Zayne, and I had no idea how he felt about any of this.