“What?” I asked, blinking in innocence. “You clearly don’t want to make out with him. And, you know—” I gestured toward his general physique. “—he’s kind of hot in a weird, nephilim sort of way.”

Brooke bit down, fighting her natural instinct to sharpen her claws on human flesh, and slammed a fist into her pillow before throwing herself back onto it. “It’s not going to work.”

“Brooklyn Prather. You act like I had ulterior motives for putting the moves on your man. Don’t you know me at all?”

“Yes.” She pulled the covers up and crossed her arms over them. “That’s exactly why it’s not going to work.”

I shrugged at Cameron, who sat glaring at me. It gave me the warm fuzzies, knowing I could frazzle my friends so. As I headed downstairs for a glass of water, I wondered what I could do to Glitch. His fear of turtles came to mind. Where would one find a turtle in New Mexico in the middle of winter?

I contemplated that as I started down the stairs and heard voices coming from the kitchen. It was well past my grandparents’ bedtime, and I had every intention of telling them that until I realized the voices were not theirs.

“I’m just wondering what your role in all this is.”

I stopped to listen. Eavesdropping was an ugly job, but someone had to do it.

“I wonder that myself sometimes.”

Jared. Mac was talking to Jared. I inched down another step. The guy had ears like a wolf. Jared, not Mac.

“I mean, you aren’t in any of the prophecies,” Mac said.

“Neither are you,” Jared countered.

A soft laugh filtered up to me. “You got me there, Your Grace.”

I loved it when they called Jared, a true prince of heaven, Your Grace. He, however, did not.

“Jared’s fine.”

Yes, he was.

“Jared it is, but I still wonder about how you play into all of this.”

“I was sent,” Jared said. “That’s all I know, but you can think of me as a defensive guardsman, here to tackle the obstacles that get in Lorelei’s way.”

“But you were initially sent to take her.” Mac’s voice hardened. It wasn’t Jared’s fault his job title was the Angel of Death. People took that stuff so personally.

“I was, yes, but I knew something didn’t fit. I knew what she was the moment I saw her.”

“And what was that?”

“The last prophet,” he said, matter-of-fact. “A direct descendant of Arabeth. And I knew what she was destined to do.”

“So you disobeyed your orders? You saved her instead of taking her?” Mac asked him.

“Yes. I disobeyed my orders. Why would the only person purported to save the world from a supernatural war be killed before she could accomplish such a feat? It wasn’t right.”

After a long pause, Mac said, “I didn’t think you guys could do that.”

“We can’t.”

“Well, I’m grateful either way. It’s just—”

The voices stopped just when I was getting into the conversation. I eased closer, straining to hear every syllable.

“It’s just you look at her with … something else.”

I could almost hear the smile in Jared’s voice when he answered. “That’s because I feel something else. I’m in love with her.”

I froze. Jared was in love? Jared was in love with me? I let my lids drift shut and reveled in the sound of those words.

When Mac didn’t respond, Jared continued. “If it makes you feel better, we’ve been together for centuries.”

My lids flew open. What did he mean by that?

“I’m not sure I understand.”

Intrigued, I leaned closer still, easing over as far as I could until my foot slipped off the step.

Looking back, I couldn’t say that I fell head over heels down the stairs, but it sure felt like it. My foot landed at an angle on the next step and then the rest of the staircase came up to meet me, one step after another until I crashed on the kitchen floor. Thankfully, I was in capri pj’s and not a nightgown. It could have been so much worse.

“Lorelei!” Mac called. He jumped up to help me, but nothing was more bruised than my pride. Heat rose up my neck and over my face as Mac picked me up and brushed me off.

Jared grinned from behind him. “Been there long?”

I gritted my teeth. He’d heard me. Freaking wolf.

“No,” I said, my brows squishing together. “I just came downstairs.”

“You did indeed,” he said before winking at me. For a potential boyfriend, he didn’t seem very concerned about my well-being.

In fact, he’d been pretty calm since I got back. Too calm, maybe. Like he knew something we didn’t.

“You okay, Pix?” Mac asked.

I gave him my attention, loving the sound of my nickname on his voice. “I’m okay. Thanks.”

Mac led me to a chair beside Jared. They’d been sitting at our tiny kitchen table. Mac was drinking coffee while Jared sipped on an orange soda. That would be my influence. I took the can from him and took a sip myself.

“So, what were you guys talking about?”

“You,” Jared said without missing a beat.

“Yes, Jared was just telling me how long you two have known each other.”

“A few months,” he said to Mac before challenging me with his eyes. I could hardly argue about what I’d just heard without giving away the fact that I was indeed eavesdropping.