with Rodán choosing me to lead most of our special teams over the past nine months or so. They were used to me taking a leadership position.
Whatever the case, I was grateful.
When it was time to track, everyone left but the team I’d picked out to crash the Nymph-Vamp party tonight.
I gave the address of the apartment building the Nymphs lived in. We arranged to meet just outside the apartment half an hour before the Vamps—or Vamp wannabes—were supposed to arrive. That way we could get in beforehand.
“We’ll observe as long as we can to understand their approach,” I said. “When I give the signal we’ll take the Vamps into custody—if I determine that they are in fact Vampires.”
After we separated with plans intact, Colin and I walked in comfortable silence the short distance to my place. We had almost three hours left before we were to meet the rest of the team.
When we entered the apartment, my normally aloof brat of a cat ran out of the kitchen and into the entryway, straight for Colin as usual. I rolled my eyes as the Dragon picked up Kali and she started purring and rubbing against his chest.
“I’m the one who feeds you,” I said to her. “Why don’t you purr for me?”
“I can tell Kali is yours, Nyx,” Colin said as he stroked the blue Persian. “She likes to snuggle close and rub against my chest.”
“There’s a difference. I’m loyal to those who take care of me.” Kali gave me a look of disdain before she went back to purring and reveling in Colin’s gentle strokes. Well, I had to admit he was a pretty fantastic guy. “And unlike Miss Kali, I don’t shred my pretty lingerie.”
I shook my head and got out some Fancy Feast, putting it in Kali’s Waterford crystal dish. Colin set her down and she walked like a regal queen to her meal.
Colin led me into my living room. When he brought me to a stop, he wrapped his arms around me. I put my head against his chest and let myself sink against him. Some of the tension of the day lessened for the moment.
My fear for Rodán wanted to come out in a rush, and I had a difficult time holding it back. I couldn’t allow myself to think of anything bad happening to him.
“Rodán is too powerful for anyone to hurt him.” Colin kissed the top of my head and his lips tickled my scalp as he spoke. “He’s countless centuries old, Nyx. At least as old as your father.”
I met Colin’s gaze, surprise widening my eyes. “He’s as old as Father? How do you know that?”
Colin gave me a gentle smile and caressed my cheek. “You forget I have resources.”
I tilted my head to the side. “What else do you know about Rodán?”
Colin secured me tighter in his embrace as he placed his hand on the back of my head and held me close. “Things you already know, Nyx. It wouldn’t be easy to take him down. He’s powerful. One of the most powerful beings I have ever met. I can’t imagine that anyone could truly hurt him.”
I breathed in Colin’s masculine scent and let out a shuddering sigh. I found comfort in the clean smell of his T-shirt and his faint Dragon scent that’s a little smoky but more like a campfire in the woods. An evergreen breeze with a tinge of smoke.
“Unless they took him by surprise.” I closed my eyes and tried not to think about the mess in the apartment—and the blood. Whose blood?
Colin just held me as we stood there and I felt his warmth through the leather of my fighting suit. He felt comfortable, reassuring, almost convincing me that everything was all right. That we’d find Rodán and he’d be fine.
After I’d taken off my weapons belt and my boots, Colin and I sat on my couch. He put his arm around my shoulders and I snuggled against him as he used the TV remote to find a movie for us to watch.
Something so real and warm rose up inside me that I could barely hold back from saying anything about it to him.
My heart had healed over Adam. Not fully, because in some way I would always love Adam.
But Colin … the intensity of what I felt for him filled my chest and seemed to travel through every limb. I knew it then. Colin meant more to me than I had even realized. Could it