He shrugged. ‘Not unless I have to. Jaxon doesn’t like me working for Scion, but he does like my salary.’

‘You share it with him?’

‘Here and there. Jax is an old friend.’

I sipped my tea, savouring its delicate flavour. ‘An old friend with expensive tastes.’

‘Ah, you noticed.’ He smiled. ‘Well, he doesn’t get it all. I send some to my parents, too.’

‘What are their names?’

His smile widened at my curiosity. ‘Rune Nygård and Bryndís Ingadóttir – Bryn, to her friends. My mother’s from Iceland originally, but she’s lived in Sweden for most of her life. They’re both voyant.’ He dropped his gaze. ‘They’re good people. I miss them.’

Lightly, I said, ‘Anyone special back in Sweden?’

His chuckle was a bit hollow. ‘No. No one here, either, in fact. Jax doesn’t let us have relationships.’

I had already been made aware of this. Jaxon had taken me aside and been quite clear: no liaisons (his word, not mine). I was only allowed to spend one night with another person – no more. I was to be devoted to the Seven Seals and nothing else.

‘What about you?’ Nick said. ‘Nobody special?’

I gave him a wry smile. ‘My heritage isn’t considered an attractive feature here. Took me a while to learn to mimic an English accent, and my surname was hard to hide.’

His own smile faded. ‘I can’t imagine.’

‘I survived.’

‘I’m glad.’

Gooseflesh weaved its way up my arms.

I had to get this under control. Like he said, Jaxon didn’t allow relationships. Besides, Nick was kind to everyone, even people he didn’t like. I wasn’t special.

At school, nobody had looked at me with the same softness he did. Quite the opposite. As the only Irish girl in the place, I had been ostracised at best, harassed at worst. One of the students from the neighbouring boys’ school had once asked me out, but I had known it was part of a scheme to humiliate me and told him I was busy that night. And every night following. One of my few victories during my school years had been watching the smug look slide off his face when he realised the Irish girl had rejected him.

I had paid for it later, of course. My sparks of defiance had always come back for me.

‘Tell me how you met Jaxon,’ I said. Suddenly this conversation was stirring the dust on some very dark memories.