At first, I thought he was ignoring her as well, but then I caught sight of him watching her from under hooded eyes. Eyes that flashed with the sort of burning anger I often saw in a pissed-off Shadow. Reece’s eyes were a blue fire, the part that burned hotter than normal flames.

Shadow the second strikes again.

But why?

What the heck was up with the animosity between Angel and Reece? Had something happened in the realm that I’d missed? Or was this much deeper than that? A past event I wasn’t aware of?

Had I ever seen them together before? If I had, I hadn’t been paying attention at the time.

“Sunshine,” Shadow called, forcing my attention away from the weird tension between my friends. For a beat, I felt like he’d cut me off in the middle of my favorite drama show, until I remembered that we were trying to save the world.

Drama would have to wait.

He was already seated, as were all the others, including Angel, so I hurried across to my mate, all but dropping into his lap. He pulled me farther across him, and I wasn’t going to lie—there was a huge part of me that wished everyone else in this room would temporarily disappear. Being close to Shadow always sent my mind in one direction. South.

But there was no time for slutterbrain today.

“Did we all achieve what we set out to do?” Shadow asked, and this was just enough distraction to get my mind out of my vagina.

Len leaned forward in his chair. “I have the stones to protect us from future memory disturbances.” The firelight reflected off his hair and skin, making him look paler and blonder. He shone like Angel, seeming much more powerful than he had when he’d left.

He parted his long, silver trench coat to reveal an entire vest of gems. “I also gathered every extra gem and spell we had. I don’t know if it’ll be enough, but if this doesn’t help to take her down, then I don’t know what will.”

His eyes flashed toward Angel, who was perched on the edge of the couch, her wings tucked neatly behind her. “Looks like you brought extra power as well,” he said to her. No one had missed her new golden glow, and I wondered if that was part of the reason Reece was so huffy.

Angel shrugged. “It was just sitting there unused. I promised I would never go into battle again, but in this situation, it would be a greater crime to remain on the sidelines.”