Ruler (Wolves of Royal Paynes #2) - Kiki Burrelli Page 0,19

to find help, but we were so isolated… It didn't work." Sending notes was a daily task. Even when I'd realized no one would ever come, I still sent them, knowing if I stopped, I truly would've given up. "After the first year, I didn't think anyone would ever see one, but I kept sending them out."

"That's it!" a voice cried from inside the hotel. The curly one burst out the front door, evading Knox's hand when he tried to grab hold of his arm. "He answered your questions. He's not here to kill me. Right?" The curly one looked at me, expectant.

Did he think I had an answer to his question? "Um…right."

"See!" The curly one gestured angrily, but the anger wasn't directed at me.

Knox rubbed the back of his neck, his head ducking between his muscled shoulders. "Babe—"

"Don't babe me! You were being insanely protective again. Storri isn't a Portal spy." The curly one dropped to his knees two feet away and stared at me with a friendly but curious gleam in his gaze. "Hi. I'm Jazz. Knox is my mate, and he's really actually very nice. He just enjoys pretending he isn't." He threw the last few words over his shoulder like grenades.

"I'm Storri." Immediately, I felt stupid. That was the one bit of information everyone already knew.

"You must be so confused right now. I know I was when I was in your place."

My eyes rounded with horror, making Jazz frown.

"Oh! No, I wasn't in your exact place. But meeting these guys is a little much. And I had months to get used to them." As Jazz spoke, he reached for my arm and pulled me to my feet.

I kept hold of Faust's fur with my left hand, unable to completely let go of my anchors.

"I'm so glad Faust found you. How did you manage that, by the way? You had all sorts of animals coming here."

"I didn't." My mind spun a bit, and I looked down at Dog.

I told you.

Jazz's eyes flit from me to Dog. "You didn't what?"

"I didn't send the notes here. I just sent them out. I asked the animals to give them to the first person they saw."

"Well, let's just count ourselves lucky then that you had a few overachievers." Jazz tried to slide between me and Dog, but Dog lifted his lip in a growl, and when Jazz attempted to change sides, he found Faust just as unwilling to make space. "I'll just lead," he said, unbothered by the dual rejection. "I had Hallie start you a bath. I wasn't sure which room you would want, so I cleared out the one next to Faust's."

"A room?" I echoed dumbly.

Jazz ignored the men, somehow unperturbed by the way they resembled gargoyles, hard as rock and disapproving. That was how Knox looked, anyway. The two that looked like brothers stared with open curiosity.

I blinked to help my eyes adjust to the sudden change in light. It took several seconds before I could see anything inside. "This is…big." The staircase alone was larger than my tower. "This whole place is your home?"

"I know," Jazz said with a grin. "It's kind of stupid cool." He stopped speaking at the same moment he stopped walking. The move was so sudden, my heart jolted, and I reached down for Dog or Faust.

I'm here, Faust said, pushing his head into my hand.

"Am I the only one feeling this vibe?" Jazz asked, gesturing between us. "I saw you through the window, and it was like I knew you were who you said you were and that you were no danger to us. Did you experience the same thing when you saw me?"

Seeing him in the window had brought me calm. "I did."

"It's probably a nephilim thing," Jazz added, continuing up the stairs.

I frowned. "A what?"

Chapter Four

Faust

"My mother had sex with an angel?"

I sat on the floor in my wolf form, facing the bathroom door so Storri could have privacy.

Jazz hadn't stopped doting on him from the moment they'd met, and Hallie quickly joined his cause. It was difficult to look at the man and not immediately want to protect him. His big, oval eyes the color of warm caramel, and full pink lips gave him an innocence that couldn't be fabricated.

Which meant when Storri had told them both the man he'd trusted had betrayed him and locked him away, both had gotten angry enough that Storri had quickly changed the subject. He didn't like confrontation, even when he wasn't the