Thirty minutes later, most of us were on the dance floor jumping around like maniacs. My head felt a bit heavy, already feeling the effects of the wine and whiskey. Ryan and Jared watched us from the table and I waved to both of them as I bounced up and down.

I returned to the table and sat on Jared’s lap. He pul ed me toward him to talk in my ear.

“I love you, but there is no puking in the Escalade.”

I laughed and planted a kiss on his mouth. “I’m fine! I’m Irish, remember?”

Jared nodded and leaned into my ear again. “Even the Irish throw up, Nina.”

It seemed like the night had just begun when Tozzi announced last cal . I lost count of the drinks I’d had, and my eyes struggled to focus.

Jared supported most of my weight as he escorted me to his SUV. He lifted me effortlessly into the passenger seat, and I leaned my elbow against the console, resting my head against my fist.

By the time we arrived at the loft, my head felt too heavy to hold up. Jared pul ed open my door and I slipped in and out of awareness as he carried me up the stairs.

“I’m going to take a shower,” I said, stumbling to the bathroom.

Jared fol owed me. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? I don’t want you passing out in there.”

“Why don’t you join me, then you can make sure I don’t?” I said, steadying myself against the door jamb.

Jared raised an eyebrow, and I frowned at him before grabbing a towel and shutting the door behind me.

I fought with my clothes in slow motion. My eyes wouldn’t stay open, and I was incessantly giggling for no good reason, which made me giggle more. I turned on the shower and stepped under the water, letting it rush over me, plastering my hair onto my face. Every movement I made felt like it was at a snail’s pace, but I managed to exit the shower before my palms pruned.

I ran a comb through my hair and clumsily brushed my teeth. I giggled again at my blundering of the most mundane of tasks and I heard Jared chuckle outside the door in response.

“Everything al right in there?” he asked, knocking on the door.

I giggled again and spit loudly in the sink. “Everything’s fantastic!”

Jared laughed again, and I opened the door and stumbled to the bed.

“I’m going to hop in the shower. Don’t try to go downstairs or look over the railing or anything like that, okay? Just stay put until I get out.” I understood his words, but they seemed to blur together.

I fel onto the bed face down and moaned into the comforter at how perfectly wonderful it felt. “I’m not going anywhere,” I said, my eyes sealing shut.

Jared reappeared in less than five minutes. “Did you plan on sleeping in your towel?”

“Maybe,” I said, feeling melted to the bed.

Jared walked over to his closet and pul ed a t-shirt off its hanger. “Okay,” he said, sitting me up, “raise your arms.”

I complied, and he slid the oversized t-shirt over my head. I buzzed my lips as the neck line went over my mouth making Jared erupt in laughter.

“You are something else,” he said, covering my legs with the blanket. He stepped away for a moment and then returned, throwing a piece of light blue fabric onto my lap. It took me a moment to realize that it was a pair of my panties.

“I’l let you…take care of that.” He started down the stairs, and I spoke up.

“Jared?”

He turned around, immediately catching the panties I clumsily shot at him. I burst into a delighted cackle, knowing if he had been merely human I would have caught him square in the face.

Jared smiled with inexhaustible patience. “These are for you, not me,” he said, tossing them back. They landed perfectly in my lap.

I giggled again as he descended the stairs, feeling exhausted and wide awake at the same time. I could hear every step and movement Jared made downstairs, yet the fog in my head kept the sounds blurred together.

I was already settled on my side of the bed when Jared returned, and he wasted no time nestling himself next to me. Though the rest of my senses were lacking, my skin was aware of the heat created when his skin touched mine. Every part of me felt content and peaceful in his arms, as if I was meant to be there. I kissed his chest, but my lips didn’t want to stop there. I continued until I reached his neck, and Jared took a deep breath, wasting no time to hold my shoulders far enough away to look into my prurient eyes.

“Nina….” Jared warned, but I put my mouth on his to stop any further protesting.

I skipped over our usual cautious beginnings and let go of al my inhibitions. I leaned over him, lifting my knee at the same time to straddle his hips.

Jared’s lips were not as urgent as mine, but I persisted.

I felt Jared’s torso rise against my lips as they left his chest to slowly kiss my way up the midline of his throat. When my lips reached his lips again, his mouth was less cautious. He turned, rol ing over me, positioning me on my back. I smiled at my imminent victory.

Jared pul ed away from me, his breath disparate from just moments before. “Nina, we can’t do this tonight.”

I let out a gush of air I’d been holding in anticipation of my triumph. “Why not?”

Jared kissed my nose and smiled. “Wel —although I’m incredibly tempted by the slurring and stumbling—I’d like for you to remember our first time.”

I relaxed my legs, letting them fal to the bed. “Why do you have to be so freaking noble?” I complained, pounding the mattress with my arms for emphasis.

Jared chuckled and curled up beside me. “Yes, I’m so noble that I struggle with it every second I’m alone with you. Don’t give me too much credit.”

“I’m sorry….” I sighed, knowing I would feel guilty in a clearer state of mind.

“Don’t apologize. I can’t say I don’t enjoy it,” he chuckled. “…Nina?” he said, whispering my name.

I could hear him, but I couldn’t respond. I realized just how fast I was sinking when my mind wanted to answer him but my mouth refused to form the words. He kissed my exposed shoulder and relaxed his head on the pil ow behind me. As I floated into unconsciousness, I felt his arm tighten around me once more, blanketing me with the warmth of his skin. I thought I heard him whisper something else, but I was too deep inside the darkness to make out the words

Chapter Twelve

Eli

My chest hurt. My eyes hurt. My head felt like a railroad spike had been driven through it. I wanted to scream, but that would only make it more excruciating. The only part of the moment that offered a grain of comfort was that I was stil in Jared’s bed. I felt colder than I usual y felt when waking up in his apartment, and I knew at once he wasn’t with me.

“Jared?” I rasped, unable to speak louder than a whisper.

I felt the bed indent beside me and I winced at the nausea the movement induced. The fissure I managed between my eyelids let in an infinitesimal amount of light and I cowered from it, bringing my hands over my eyes.

“I’l get the light,” Jared spoke in a hushed voice.

The assaulting brightness that seeped through my eyelids faded and I tried again.

“Much better, thank you,” I whispered, pul ing myself up on my elbows.

“I brought you breakfast.” Jared nodded to the bedside table. Two aspirin, a large glass of water and a triangle of toast sat on a plate beside my picture.

I forced a smile and immediately reached for the aspirin. Jared handed me the water and I tossed the pil s to the back of my tongue, gulping down the cool liquid. It felt uncomfortable against my parched throat, as if my body wanted to reject any further fluids that might cause more anguish.

“I feel awful,” I groaned.

“I know.”

“I don’t usual y get a hangover. I must have been absurdly drunk,” I said, rubbing my face with the tips of my fingers.

“You were,” he said flatly.

I sank into the mattress. “I’m sorry you had to babysit me. As if you don’t have to do it, anyway. I’m so embarrassed.”

Jared attempted a smile. “Don’t apologize for having a good time with your friends. It’s just…uncomfortable.” His eyes unfocused and his eyebrows pul ed in.

“What’s uncomfortable?”

Jared rubbed the back of his neck. “This hazy, painful, tired, irritable heaviness you’re feeling.”

“Oh,” I breathed, stil not understanding. I hadn’t considered that Jared would be sensing the same symptoms. I sank deeper into the mattress, feeling very selfish. “Do you have a headache?”

Jared laughed with a puff of air. “I don’t know. I’ve never had one before. I’m sure it’s a lesser version of what you’re feeling.”

I raised an eyebrow. “I thought it was faint, like a mosquito buzzing in your ear?”

Jared looked away from me, clearly troubled. “It’s getting stronger.”

“How?”

“I’m not sure. My father never mentioned our senses increasing more than what I’ve always experienced.”

“I’m sorry, Jared. I didn’t know or I wouldn’t have—”

“Hey,” he interrupted, “don’t worry about me. I just need to figure out what this is. It bothers me that I don’t feel one hundred percent.”

“Oh.”.

“What?” Jared asked, as if I’d pul ed him out of a deep thought.

“The no-drinking policy. You feel off balance this morning and you like feeling in control al of the time.”

“You say it like it’s a bad thing,” he said defensively.

“You don’t have to be perfect al the time, Jared. It’s okay to let your guard down.”

I leaned in to hug him but he pul ed away just enough to make me hesitate. As soon as he realized what he’d done, he seemed to regret it, which made him even angrier.

“You sound like Claire,” he snapped.

“Claire and I are in agreement on this one, then. You are half-human. It’s okay to make mistakes,” I said, my words more rigid than I’d meant them to be.

“Not for someone like me. Certainly not for someone that has the daughter of Jack Grey for a Taleh. It’s like you have no sense of danger, Nina.

After everything you’ve been through lately, I don’t understand it.”

He mentioned my father to get a reaction, so I kept my temper in check. I raised an eyebrow at his mini-tirade. “Did I strike a nerve?”

Jared’s unending patience from the night before had run out. “If I let my guard down you die. Do you understand that?”

I took a drink of water and nodded. “We die.”

Jared took the glass from me and slammed it on the table. “Do you think I care about that? I would die for you a thousand times if I could. You’re the only thing that matters.”

I crossed my arms, incensed with his tender words mixed with their biting tone. “What is wrong with you? Why are you so upset?”

Jared leaned his elbows on his knees, looking to the floor. “I had company this morning.”

“I didn’t hear anyone come in,” I said, surprised.

“It’s because he doesn’t use doors. It was Samuel. He was a friend of my father’s. He’s concerned about the situation I’ve put you in.”

I held up a hand. “Back up. What do you mean he doesn’t use doors?”

“He’s an Arch.”

“An Archangel was here this morning?” I asked, mystified. “Do they look like Gabe? Do they look human?”

“Yes,” he answered.

“So if they look human, how do you know?”

“Archs have the same light hair, flawless skin, and the bright blue eyes, although Samuel and his family are the exception. They are nobility among the Archs, and are a contrast to the rest of them.”

“Contrast?” I had hoped I would learn to decipher Jared’s cryptic explanations, but I stil failed consistently.

“He’s a Cimmerian, a line of dark angels. They are the strongest of Archs, they’re sovereigns and they’re warriors. They are assigned to those that are marked by Hel —the humans who are born to be stalked and tormented. They go toe to toe with demons quite frequently.”

“Oh,” I said, thinking about what kind of creature had been just a few feet from me while I slept. Anything built to wrestle demons had to be a frightening sight to behold.

Jared continued, “In addition to that, I can smel them a mile away. It’s very difficult for them to sneak up on us. Or each other.”

“Like fresh laundry, soap and a thunderstorm?” I asked, the corners of my mouth turning up.

Jared frowned for a minute in thought and then his mouth mimicked mine. “I hadn’t thought about it. To me it’s those things times ten. I would describe them as smel ing like the cleanest air I’ve ever experienced.” After a short pause, he looked at me with curiosity. “What made you say that?”

I smiled, grabbing his hand. “That’s how you smel .”

“I do? Hmmm. Good to know,” he said, nodding his head in thought.

“So…Samuel…?”

Jared nodded, his eyes darkening again. “He’s noticed an increase in activity in the area.”

“What kind of activity?”

Jared swal owed and shifted closer to me on the bed, holding my hand tighter. “The Others don’t understand my draw to you…even with me being half-human. It’s interesting to them. So their visits here have increased.”

“But I haven’t…they haven’t bothered me.”

“They don’t engage us unless they have to.”

I swal owed. “So you’re saying when you’re near, they won’t hurt me?”

Jared’s eyes clouded over. “They don’t want to cross that line, trust me. They know better than to get too close to you when I’m near.”