Free Courting Mortality (Brothers of Fate Book 1) by Allyson Lindt

tension and the grime. Make lo—
    He cut the thought off, before it could manifest completely. That was a dangerous path to go down. In fact—he turned his attention to Loki—he had other priorities. Like keeping her alive. His desires weren’t as important as her survival
    He sneered, and balled his hands into fists again. Even if it wasn’t the curse, the accidents all hinged on Loki. And that meant, because of his own interaction with her, Eli had put her in danger. He wasn’t going to let her suffer again, but he could turn his frustration on Loki. “Seriously, what’s your issue with her?”
    Loki rolled his eyes. “I already told you. I hate seeing you happy.”
    Eli roared and lunged. He had to make sure she was safe. That this wouldn’t happen again.
    Loki shook his head. “Not today. Probably not for several centuries.” He vanished before Eli reached him.

Chapter Ten
    Marley pulled on her favorite bathrobe, and tried to sink into the fluffy terry cloth. She toweled her hair dry, scowled at the fog on the mirror, and left her bathroom behind. The shower hadn’t helped chase away her confusion. Was ten am too early to drink?
    She made her way to her living room. When she’d climbed back to the road, leaving Eli and Loki in the clearing, she realized she didn’t have her phone on her. She normally kept it mounted on her dashboard when she drove, because she liked listening to music in the car but hated morning radio programs.
    There was no way she was walking back into that clearing. Her logic circuits couldn’t handle that sight again. Especially as other pieces of her memory started to click into place. Odd things she’d seen Eli do in the past. Accepting she’d watched him crush steel plates, and make flashlights glow, and get knocked into a tree by a ball of lightning and not die, meant admitting to concepts she wasn’t ready to deal with.
    So instead of calling the auto club, she’d walked until someone picked her up. She’d been covered in blood, so that had taken a while.
    It was nice to finally be home. She just wished she understood what had happened. She still couldn’t wrap her brain around what took place in the clearing. And she couldn’t get rid of the pit in her gut, either. Couldn’t ignore how incredible the night before had been. And how it was apparently a lie. Or a joke. Or something. She didn’t even know anymore.
    Part of her brain asked why someone would set up such an elaborate prank just for her. Or for anyone, really. Unless she was on hidden camera. She resisted the urge to look around her.
    That same part of her insisted she couldn’t rationalize this away. The pieces didn’t click into any explanation other than the one Eli had given her. But gods? No. It wasn’t true. She was remembering things wrong. She’d rolled her car. Even if she had walked away unscathed, she had to have hit her head, for there to be so much blood. Never mind that she hadn’t found a wound. Her memory couldn’t be trusted.
    A knock on the door jerked her from the rationalizations. Eli? No. She shoved the hope aside. She didn’t want to see him. Not ever again. Even though just thinking something so final pricked her eyelids. It was probably a…
    She didn’t even know. Her gut flipped in on itself and she pulled her robe tighter around her, when she opened the door and saw who was on the other side.
    “I had to make sure you were all right.” Loki’s cold tone didn’t match the sympathetic statement.
    Ice snaked down her spine, erasing the warm comfort of the shower she’d just left behind. “I’m fine. Thank you. But I think you need to leave.” She swung the door shut as she talked.
    He didn’t say anything else, and the door latched shut between them. She snapped the deadbolt into place, and an irrational fear pulsed inside. Why didn’t she have more locks?
    “I’m not a vampire.” Loki’s voice startled her, and she whirled. He stood in the middle of her living