I was still stuck on the kiss, so I grabbed a bar stool and sat. The old Zayne could be touchy and sometimes flirtatious in front of others. He’d even gotten caught up in the building tension between us before, seeming to forget when we weren’t alone, but to be that bold? That was a new side of him.

I liked that side.

He met my gaze, and there was no mistaking the heat in his eyes. I had to wonder if he knew what I was thinking as he dragged his damn lip between his teeth and then turned to the fridge. “You guys need anything?”

There were a chorus of noes as I toyed with a coaster, knowing my face was a thousand shades of red at that moment.

And I couldn’t seriously care less.

“Fallen angel.” Danika and the others joined us at the island. “I still can’t believe you’re here. I saw your...” She trailed off, and I knew where her mind had gone. She and others had witnessed his body turning to nothing more than dust, just like all Wardens did upon death. Her inhale was ragged. “I was so mad at you even though I knew it wasn’t your fault.”

“It is...different seeing you standing there.” Dez folded his arms against the island and leaned in. “So, if I’m staring at you a little too long, that’s why.”

“You sure it’s not my amazing hair?” Zayne asked, closing the fridge door. Of course he’d gone for the OJ and not the soda. “I know you’ve always been jealous of my luscious locks.”

“Yeah.” Dez drew the word out. “That’s exactly it.”

Chuckling, Zayne managed to find two clean glasses and poured us a drink. “You all think it’s weird seeing me? Imagine what it feels like to die, but then to wake up.”

Even though the whole topic of Zayne dying wigged me out, it appeared to utterly fascinate the Wardens. Zayne answered all their questions, but it was in the vaguest means possible. What he had shared with me and even with Cayman he wasn’t willing to go into a lot of detail about now. As I drank my OJ, I had a feeling he didn’t want to relive everything for a third time and it had little to do with trust. These Wardens that were standing in the kitchen were like family to him. So was Gideon, even though he wasn’t here.

“Based on what Dez said about you, I got to admit, now that I see you,” Nicolai said, “I’m kind of disappointed.”

“Wow.” Danika turned to look at Nicolai.

“Sorry,” he replied, and I squinted, thinking he smiled. “But where are these wings Dez kept talking about every five seconds.”

I grinned around my glass.

“It wasn’t every five seconds,” Dez muttered. “More like every twenty seconds or so.”

“I still have them.” Zayne turned, scanning the counter behind him. He picked something up.

“Are they...invisible?” Danika asked.

“Only when they need to be.” Zayne leaned across the island, and I looked down, seeing my glasses. I had no idea that I’d left them in the kitchen.

I smiled, taking them. “Thank you.”

He nodded as I slipped them on. The Wardens’ faces became a little more clear, but not by much. Glasses only went so far with cataracts and RP.

“So is it magic?” Danika asked.

“Kind of. Apparently it’s some kind of old-school angelic magic that was used back when angels worked alongside man. They remain hidden until I need them.”

“They look like a tattoo on his back,” I said, finishing off my OJ. “It’s really cool, and yes, the wings are as amazing as Dez has surely told you.”

“Not quite sure I used the word amazing,” Dez muttered.

“Maybe not those exact words.” Nicolai leaned a hip against the counter. “Pretty sure you said something like you were so distracted by his huge-ass wings that you didn’t even realize he’d thrown you into the fountain until you sank under the water.”

Dez’s exhale could’ve been heard next door.

“Sorry about that,” Zayne said as he walked around the island, coming to stand behind me. “I wasn’t in the right frame of mind.”

“Never would’ve guessed that,” Dez stated dryly. “But there’s no need to apologize. I needed the bath, anyway.”

I laughed as Zayne placed his hands on my shoulders. “To be honest, he held back.”

“Oh, I know. He could’ve done some real damage,” Dez agreed.

“The fact that Dez walked away from that little meet-and-greet is proof that you were still in there,” Nicolai said.

“I was.” Barely hung unspoken in the space between all of us. Zayne dipped his head, kissing my temple, just above the arm of my glasses.

“I had doubts,” Dez admitted, surprising me. “I hated that I did, but I was trying to prepare myself in case...in case you didn’t come back to us.”

“I don’t hold that against you,” Zayne said, and I knew he didn’t.

“Good.” Dez appeared to have smiled. “Next time try to give me a warning before throwing me into a fountain.”

Zayne laughed. “That I can do.”

They went back and forth, ribbing each other until Nicolai cut in. “We’re also here on some official Harbinger business.”

That perked my little ears. “Did something happen?” I really hoped not, but I wouldn’t have known since I’d been superfocused on Zayne, which probably made me a very bad Trueborn.

Oh, well.

“Not that we know of, but we did discover something,” Nicolai told me.

“It was actually my idea,” Danika chimed in with a grin. “So, I got to thinking about this whole ley-line thing, and how Gabriel is using them to open this portal. They’re basically energy lines, right, and energy can be disrupted. Anything can.”