Free Dark Spirits by Rebekkah Ford Page B

musky, with a hint of the ocean in the mix. I breathed him in, but then realized I was doing the same thing I did with Nathan.
    “I missed you too,” Brayden said as I released my arms and stepped back, feeling guilty. His gaze moved up my body and hesitated on my breasts, causing me to look down. The top three small buttons on my tank top were open, revealing part of my black lace bra.
    Oops.
    I could feel the heat in my cheeks and quickly zipped up my hoodie. When his eyes reached mine, I noticed they were turning bright green.
    I crossed my arms over my chest. “Brayden,” I said, trying not to notice how good he looked with his short, dark hair, messy on top and his daring, handsome face. “If this is going to be a repeat of the last time we saw each other, I’m leaving.”
    He closed his eyes and breathed through his nose several times. Nathan used to do that when we first got together. At the time I didn’t understand why, but now I knew. It was a way to take control of one’s physical desires.
    “I’m sorry, Paige,” he said, opening his eyes. They were no longer bright. “It’s just immortality was good to you.” He paused and smiled when I gave him a weird look. “What I mean is immortality has totally enhanced your beauty. You were always beautiful, but now” –he let out a slow whistle, making me blush– “you’re a goddess.”
    I laughed. “Yeah. Whatever. First Nathan tells me I’m a siren who can lure anybody into my arms, and now you’re calling me a goddess. I think you both are on crack.”
    Brayden’s smile faded. His expression suddenly became serious. “I’m sorry for the way I behaved the last time we were together. That was wrong of me to do. I hope you know that I’d never hurt you.”
    We stared at each other for what seemed like eternity when really it must have been half a minute. Regret and sadness etched his face. I finally looked away, trying not to feel bad for something I shouldn’t feel bad about. I told myself he had crossed the line that night, but in all honesty, I couldn’t help the relief I felt from his genuine apology.
    “I know,” I said, breaking the awkward silence, “and thanks.” I cleared my throat and looked at him. “How are you?”
    He sat on the crimson futon couch across from the door and patted the seat next to him. I sat beside him, and he rested his arm on the back of the couch, turning to me.
    “Actually, I’m still stunned that you’re immortal as well. When my mentor told me you were, I didn’t believe her. I thought she was joking. And truthfully, I didn’t fully believe it until a few minutes ago.”
    “I know what you mean,” I said, curling my leg under me. “When Anwar told me you were marked for immortality, I was totally shocked. But then I remembered you mentioning seeing a cat like Zeruel beside your garage, and I knew then it was true.” Zeruel was a house protector for those mortals marked for immortality. None of the dark spirits would go near him because inside that cat resided the light of creation, and the dark spirits were afraid of getting trapped inside it.
    “I bet that didn’t go over well with Nathan,” Brayden said, smiling.
    “No, he wasn’t happy,” I admitted, staring at my lap, recalling how furious Nathan was.
    “Carrie told me Nathan is hiding things from you. Is that true?”
    I looked up and saw a hint of annoyance in his eyes. I knew he and Nathan disliked each other, and I didn’t want to add fuel to the fire; however, I couldn’t lie to him either. I shrugged. “He doesn’t want me to tag along because he’s afraid I’ll get hurt.” I could hear the sadness in my voice and was sure Brayden could too, so I tried to compensate by adding, “I can understand why since Aosoth almost killed me, and both her and the ‘old one’ plans to kidnap me.”
    “That’s bullshit,” Brayden barked, startling me.
    “What?”
    “You’re in a partnership, which means all decisions should be