“Surprising or not, it’s imperative that we keep what she is on the down low.” Zayne got us back on track. “I need you to agree to this, Nic.”

“I’ll do what I can, but both of you need to prepare for when the clan discovers the truth.”

“I never said I wasn’t prepared. I am.” Zayne moved so that his body blocked mine. He faced his clan leader, the man seated in the position that was supposed to have been Zayne’s. “I was a Warden, but now I’m a Protector. Her Protector. If any of them so much as asks a question about Trinity in a way that is of the slightest concern to me, it will be the last thing they do.”

22

“Do you think that was necessary?” I asked the moment we stepped out of Nicolai’s office into the empty hallway.

“What?” Zayne headed down the narrow hall brightly lit by sconces. It was late, and the large compound was quiet in a way that reminded me of the home I’d grown up in.

I ignored a sting in my chest as I hurried to catch up with his long-legged pace. “What you said to Nicolai in there. You know, to your clan leader.”

“I know who Nicolai is, Trin. Just like I told him, I haven’t forgotten for one second who I was speaking to.”

“Sure didn’t seem like it.”

One large shoulder lifted in a shrug as we entered a silent, roomy and yet somehow still cozy kitchen that managed to have a table that could seat an entire football team. “He needed to know I won’t think twice about eliminating threats to you, no matter who they come from.”

Zayne pushed open swinging white double doors that led into a smaller kitchen that had wall-to-wall stainless steel appliances. I guessed the food was prepped here. Normally I’d wonder why anyone needed two kitchens, but there were a lot of Wardens in the compound.

“While I appreciate that, you can’t go after someone just because they ask questions about what or who I am—” I swallowed a squeak as Zayne spun to face me. “Hi?”

Zayne dipped his chin and a curtain of blond hair slid forward, brushing his jaw. “I’m your Protector. No one, demon or Warden or human, is going to put you in a position of danger.”

I met his stare. “You’re my Protector, not my rabid guard dog that bites anyone who gets too close.”

“Oh, I’ll do way more than bite,” he replied, and I rolled my eyes. “My job is to keep you safe, and I’m not about waiting around for questions to become problems.”

“But they’re already asking,” I pointed out. “And Nicolai is right. Eventually they are going to find out. Maybe...maybe we’re wrong? Maybe we need to tell the clan. Take that risk.”