“I’m not saying you’re wrong, I’m just bitching,” he said. “I mean, I heal. The hail isn’t going to do a damn thing to me, but you? Have you looked in a mirror since we got back to your condo? You’ve been hurt since then, too. I thought you healed faster or something. I know you get sluggish in the cold, but does it mess with your healing too?”
“On a hot day, resting in the sun, sure, I heal a little faster than humans, but I’m not like you or most other supernaturals. I’m fragile, but I’ll be fine. I know how to work through the pain, and nothing is fatal or permanent.” And I’ll pretend like I’m not insulted or touched by your concern. Prick. “This is a bad day for me, but it’s not something I can’t handle.”
I cut the engine and jumped out, leaving him there. I didn’t realize he had paid that much attention, but it wasn’t surprising anymore.
I hated the weather the moment I was exposed to it. I had kept the BMW warm to stay awake and active, especially since I was injured, but it was blisteringly cold outside for me, and it probably wasn’t even under thirty. The rain was a bit icy, a serious problem for me. The hail was huge, near golf ball size in some cases. The winds were too strong, threatening to move me.
This is bad.
Levi had had several hours to ramp up this storm for whatever purpose. Being so close to the origin meant we were in the worst of it, and it was ugly.
“Kaliya, I’m serious. We can park a little closer, so this doesn’t beat you up!” he called over the car. Starting to walk away, I didn’t respond. Before I made it ten steps, he was beside me and grabbed my shoulders from behind. He moved around me and walked in front, which was nice since we were walking into the wind. The hail had been hitting me in the face.
If he had been Cassius, I would have called out the chivalrous behavior, but he was Raphael, and I was beginning to realize Raphael wasn’t the same type of good guy. I liked Cassius, but he was good because he felt it was his duty to help those in need. He truly believed that, but sometimes, it felt false. He also held a lot of himself back when I knew there was something ruthless inside him, something he tried to crush. Something that drew him to dangerous women like me and apparently, Sorcha.
Raphael was different. I couldn’t quite put my finger on how, but I appreciated the difference.
As we walked that first block, trying to keep the hail from hitting us in vulnerable places, Raphael reached out and pulled me closer by the bottom of my shirt until I was against his back. He grabbed one of my hands and wrapped it around his core—all without a word.
He’s not false.
It was an ‘ah-ha!’ moment. Raphael was anything but false. He was quiet but honest. He was conflicted, but it was written all over his face. He was good because he could be and was raised to be, but he made no false pretenses about it.
He was real, and I could feel his blazing heat through his shirt. As I felt a shiver run through him, I wished I had grabbed him a jacket, so he wasn’t so exposed.
“It’s fucking cold out here,” he said loudly, mirroring my thoughts. “What do you think the temperature is?”
“Probably thirty to thirty-five Fahrenheit. Colder than normal. It’s because of the storm.” I gave in and wrapped my arms around him. “Luckily, you’re a furnace, or it would be way too cold for me.”
“Oh, I know,” he said, still loud enough to get over the wind. “Since winter rolled in, I’ve caught you asleep on the balcony more times than I can count. You keep the inside hot as the summer desert and your room freezing like the Arctic. Two plus two equals four.”
I chuckled into his back, trying to cover up some existential fear about having someone this close, even if there was nothing going on. Shit, he’d watched and figured me out. Something about that was cool with a dose of terrifying. For months of not talking, he was learning about me, paying attention. Here I thought I was just someone he had to deal with. He certainly never spoke to me about anything he