30

Killian blew me a kiss as he walked out the door, and then I focused on my task at hand.
FOR THE FIRST HOUR, my heart picked up its pace every time someone entered the shop. Each time, I expected to see the gorgeous dark angel who’d found me in the woods this morning. But she never came. Maybe she had no clue who I was after all. Or maybe she didn’t care.
Angels were supernatural and could fly, and they had super strength and other magical abilities, but their nose wasn’t as sensitive as a wolf’s or a bear’s.
Maybe I was safe after all. Maybe I hadn’t needed to reveal my secret to Killian. In fear, I’d rushed to tell him, not wanting him to hear it from anyone else. Knowing what I was put him in so much danger, but I couldn’t rewind and change the past.
But boy, I sure wished I could. That ability would have been so nice to have. My pack would still be alive, and I’d be with Dad, training for the day I took over the pack.
Someone cleared his throat, and I looked up to see a man who looked a few years older than me. “Are you okay, miss?” His sharp angular face brought out soft blue eyes that were full of concern. He pulled his wallet from his khaki pants and scratched his golden-brown hair. He had a regal presence to him, and he smelled like maple syrup, which screamed vampire.
“Yes, sorry.” I forced a small laugh that sounded like a cough. “I spaced for a minute.” “Spaced?” His face lined with confusion.
“I was daydreaming.” God, that sounded horrible. “But don’t worry, it wasn’t about you.” Come on, Sterlyn. Get your shit together.
The vampire laughed and handed me his credit card. “I asked for a black coffee.”
“Of course.” I inhaled deeply, forcing my body to relax. I took his card and swiped it and then hurried off to fill a cup.
I didn’t even know vampires drank coffee. Obviously, they did, or he wouldn’t be here, asking for it. Generally, the vampires we had encountered were focused on one thing-blood. We had to protect the nearby town several times because of vampire outbreaks. When a vampire lost their humanity, they turned deadly, draining humans to death, and the sun began to harm them. Each kill weakened their soul to the point where even the moonlight could hurt them.
As the cup filled, a rose scent hit my nose, and the sense of peace I’d found evaporated like the feeling had been a figment of my imagination.
My hands shook as I put the lid on the coffee. Freaking out would only make the situation worse. I turned, plastering a fake smile securely on my face, and handed the attractive man his drink. “Do you need anything else?”
“No, thank you.” He winked and headed out the door, walking up to what had to be shifter. I kept my gaze on him, not wanting to meet her gaze.
Rosemary tsked as she propped her hip against the counter. “I’m thinking Killian wouldn’t approve of you checking out Alex like that.”
“Alex?” What was she talking about? I’d expected her to throw her accusations at me. Not talk to me like nothing had happened.
“The vampire prince who got coffee and left. The one you watched walk out the door like he was the only thing you could focus on?” She tapped a finger against her lip and then wagged it at me. “That’s right. You aren’t from Shadow City or Shadow Ridge. Where exactly did you come from again?”
“A place not too far from here.” The emotion wafting off her was confusion. Like she was trying to figure out something. I had to be very careful how I played this.
“How far?” She leaned closer to me. “Like an hour or several?”
Unfortunately, there was no lying now, so I was stuck in this conversation. “About twenty miles. Do you want something to drink?” Giving her an approximate mileage wasn’t the best idea, but it would be hard for her to pinpoint. And if she was sniffing out silver wolves, no one would say anything. The only ones who knew, outside of me, Killian, and a bunch of murderers, were dead.
“Yeah.” She looked around the register at Carter. “How about a mocha with four extra shots of espresso?”
“On it.” He nodded like that request wasn’t odd.
I almost wanted to say something about her heart not liking it, but I figured the joke would fall flat, and with her being one of the strongest supernaturals around, there wasn’t much that would hurt her heart, to begin with. I rang up her order and prayed she wouldn’t continue her investigation.
“Funny thing happened this morning,” she whispered. “I flew over the woods and caught some shifter chasing a rabbit.”
Yup, she thought it was me, but the confusion rolling off her calmed me. She was watching my reaction, trying to glean something from me.
“Depending on the shifter, that would make sense.” I looked at her and smiled. She wanted me to slip up and say wolf to confirm it was me.
The edges of her mouth tipped downward for a second before she schooled her expression into a mask of indifference.
“That’ll be $6. 73,” I said, forcing my voice to sound even. I needed her to drop this entire conversation, but I couldn’t let her realize that she was affecting me.
She rocked on her heels as she pulled some cash from her back pocket. “You know, I love your hair. Do you dye it?” Her gaze remained on me.
Luckily, I had dyed my hair once. I was so tired of having the silver hair that continually reminded kids my age I was their future leader. I had wanted to blend in, but much to my horror, the color didn’t stick. My hair stayed the exact same shade it was now. “Yeah, I’ve dyed it.” “Interesting.” She handed the money to me.
I made sure to keep my hands steady as I made change. “Is your hair natural?” Everything inside me wanted me to change the subject, which meant I couldn’t.
Her eyes widened marginally. “Yes, this is my natural hair color. Angels don’t normally alter their appearance. We don’t even wear makeup.” The superiority of her tone grated on my nerves.
“I figured fallen might think differently.” I was pushing her buttons on purpose. If I made her mad, maybe she’d drop the third degree. In reality, I wasn’t sure if she had fallen or been born to fallen parents.
“Well, you obviously don’t know much about angels, do you?” She lifted her chin in defiance before something settled over her.