His lovely light brown eyes flecked with gold narrowed in a perplexed frown. “Destin Jourdain?”
She considered confiding in him that she and her team had been hired by the man to look into Rodolfo, when his next words, growled with enough animosity to have her pulling her hand away, confirmed her suspicions that Travis St. John was indeed part of the supernatural world. “What does the leader of the Order of Witches have to do with it?”
His eyes had lightened to gold, the pupils doing something odd before he closed his lids over them and inhaled deeply. Realizing her mouth was open in awe, she clapped it quickly shut and took her own deep breath to calm her now jangling nerves. Was something burning?
Travis opened his eyes again to reveal that they were back to their human color and Morgan could no longer stand not knowing. Leaning forward, she whispered, “You’re an angel, aren’t you?”
At his look of surprise, she quickly assured him, “It’s okay. I won’t say a word. A friend of mine gave me the heads up that some of the angels had crossed over from their realm and are now residing on this side.”
He opened his mouth in preparation to respond, only to snap it shut as his spine stiffened before he growled, “We’re about to have company from one of your kind.”
Chapter Eleven
Company from one of her kind? Was Rodolfo in the vicinity? The male never left the safety of his stronghold. Shit. If the Born were about to make an appearance, as stiffly as St. John was holding himself, she wouldn’t be at all surprised if her angel struck Olivier Rodolfo down in full view of the other patrons of the restaurant.
Preparing to intervene should it become necessary, Morgan braced for disaster and kept a wary eye on the door. A moment later, Kane swaggered through with Jamie at his side. Her relief was instantaneous and extremely short-lived. With Kane’s senses not being as acute as Morgan’s, he hadn’t previously experienced the odd sensation of an angel within their midst. Only now in this closer proximity was he feeling that sudden rush to attack. His eyes flashed red and his lips peeled back from his elongated fangs in a predatory snarl that would have been witnessed by all had it not been for Jamie’s quick thinking.
The Turned vampire launched herself into Kane’s arms, yanked his head down to her shoulder by the hair as she wrapped her legs around his waist and shouted, “Yes, I’ll marry you!”
The restaurant erupted with cheers, excited hoots, and the musicians broke into a fast-paced, jazzy rendition of “Here Comes the Bride”.
Morgan couldn’t help but chuckle despite her wariness that any moment Kane might yet expose them. “My team,” she murmured to Travis by way of explanation as she got up from her seat to go to them.
“What are you guys doing here?” she quietly hissed, patting both of them rather sharply on the back in a show of annoyance that others would see as congratulations.
Still clinging to Kane like a spider monkey, Jamie shot Morgan a sheepish grin as she continued to hold her teammate’s head down. “I tracked your phone. We wanted to meet your mystery man.” Rolling her eyes, she delivered a solid whack to Kane’s bicep as he began to growl. “We weren’t expecting this.”
Her voice at a level inaudible to human ears, Morgan told Kane, “Control it or leave. Now.”
She heard his deep inhalation that did nothing to alleviate the tension in the muscles of his back before he lifted his head despite Jamie’s restraining hand, and nodded. “I’ve got it,” he said, and then added with a look of amazement at Morgan, “How can you stand it?”
“You get used to it,” she told him. What had it taken for her? Four meetings before she felt she could fully control her instincts? “Come on. I’ll introduce you.”
Standing beside the table, Morgan made the introductions and while Jamie pumped Travis St. John’s hand with unabashed enthusiasm, Kane kept his distance, giving the man only a stiff nod of acknowledgment.
“You needn’t worry we’re going to interrupt your date more than we already have,” Jamie assured Travis with a bright grin. “We just needed to ascertain for ourselves that our girl was in good hands.”
Travis returned her smile. “And do I pass inspection?”
The blonde rocked back on her heels slightly, her finger coming to her mouth in mock contemplation as she looked Morgan’s date over. “You’ve got my vote,” she announced, the grin returning to her face before she looked at Morgan. “We’re going to go see if anyone is foolish enough to try their hand at drunk darts. Have fun.” Grabbing up Kane’s arm, she propelled them both toward the back of the restaurant where there were a few electronic dartboards set up against the wall.
Still smiling at her team’s antics, Morgan settled once more into her seat as Travis asked, “Drunk darts?”
“We have a high tolerance when it comes to alcohol but those two nuts will pretend they’re drunk, stagger around, slur their words and then hustle some unsuspecting person out of their money in a game of darts.”
Feeling a sense of relief in not having to watch her words constantly, Morgan relished the idea of being open with Travis, being able to satisfy her curiosity without the use of doublespeak. “Tell me. Why did Jamie not seem to be affected by you the way Kane and I are?”
Travis shrugged, taking a sip from his beer. “We’re natural enemies, my kind and the Born. Turned vampires are different. They may feel a sense of foreboding or danger that has them deciding to walk the other way, but for the Born, from what I understand, we really kick your fight or flight instinct into high gear.”
Morgan nodded, the words making complete sense. With a flirtatious smile and a tip of her head, she asked, “Are we enemies?”
Travis grinned, exposing that adorable dimple in his cheek. “Are you going to kick my ass?”
“Not tonight,” she returned.
“Then we’re not enemies.”
For a few moments, they both focused on their dinners that were rapidly cooling, Morgan feeling inordinately pleased with how well things were going.
