Warrior's Hope (Dark Protectors #16)(46)

There was something off about him, an energy she couldn’t read. She had been attuned to him since they were toddlers, and right now, he was as distant as someone across the globe, even though he stood right next to her. “I’m guessing it was bad?”

“Worse than bad,” Paxton admitted, dropping onto the sofa. He scrubbed both hands down his face. His knuckles were raw and bloody.

“Why didn’t you heal those on the ride home?”

“I couldn’t.” He stretched out his hands and looked at them.

Shock reverberated through her, and she pressed a fist against her mouth. “Is it my fault?”

He turned, looking at her. His eyes were an electric silvery blue. “Why would this be your fault?”

“I don’t know.” She threw up her hands. “We kissed, and we kissed big-time. Maybe I somehow infected you with whatever’s wrong with me.” Her ears rang, and she couldn’t focus to figure out what she was trying to say. Her face heated when she thought about the orgasm. It had been spectacular.

He snorted. “You can’t infect me with being human, Hope. Come on, we know that’s what’s going on with you. No, that’s not my problem. That drug the Kurjans injected into me has just gotten stronger. It’s flowing through my veins, spreading into my muscles. Emma is attempting to identify the unknown compound, but...”

Anger roared through her so fast she had to grasp his thigh for balance. “We’ll figure this out. I’ll go talk to Drake.”

“No,” Paxton said, turning and yanking her onto his lap. “You will not go talk to Drake. I will fix this somehow.”

“We’ll do it together,” she said, cupping his jaw. He had raspy whiskers and a definite shadow. There was nothing soft about Paxton Phoenix, and for a moment, just a brief moment, she missed the sweet little boy he’d been. “Did you find out who your father was working with in the Kurjan nation?”

“No. He gave me some low-level names. I don’t think anybody higher up met or talked with him.” Pax’s voice was demon hoarse, and he seemed to rock in place.

“Tell me about your father,” she said.

His scoff moved his huge chest. “Well, now that’s the problem, isn’t it?” Gingerly, he lifted her off his lap and placed her gently on the other end of the sofa.

She rubbed her arms, suddenly chilled. “What do you mean?”

Pax’s chin dropped to his chest. “I shouldn’t have put you on my lap. I’m sorry. Oh God, this is so screwed up.”

She stilled, knowing the world was about to crash around her. “Did you kill him?”

“No,” Paxton said, “I didn’t. He is in a holding cell right now. I beat him up pretty good, but I got him out of there.”

The pain in Paxton’s eyes was palpable. “Pax, whatever he said, ignore him. He never knew you.”

“Oh, he knew me a little bit,” Paxton said, the sound desolate.

This was getting out of hand. There was a desperation in his eyes that she had never seen before. “I think I should call my dad.” Zane would know what to do.

“He’s not here,” Paxton said wearily. “He returned to the battlefield with two squads to see if there was anything left of the Seven’s documents. He wanted to be one of the people to sift through the rubble for some reason.”

“Oh,” she said softly. “How do you know that? Were you looking for him?”

“You could say that,” Paxton said dryly, putting up invisible shields around himself.

She couldn’t see them, but she could feel them. “Pax. Don’t let whatever your dad said hurt you and drive people away. Let me in. I can help you.” Her heart was breaking, and he was acting as if he didn’t care.

The expression in his eyes was bleak. “I think maybe your instincts have been right all these years—we weren’t meant to be together. It would be abnormal.”

She blinked, her body reacting as if he’d punched her square in the solar plexus. She had never said that they shouldn’t be together. It was just that her fate lay on a different path. Her duty was to find peace, and it was one she accepted willingly. “You can’t listen to that guy. I don’t care what he said to you.”

“Oh yeah?” Paxton asked. “He’s not my father.”

She jolted. “Seriously? Huh.” She thought back. She couldn’t remember much except that his mother had been a nice demoness. She wasn’t around for long. “Wouldn’t somebody have known?”

Paxton tilted his head. “I don’t think so. They kept to themselves when they weren’t with separate squads off fighting. So they weren’t close to your parents. They weren’t close to anybody. They just did their jobs and then came home. It’s entirely possible they weren’t mated.”

“But that means your mom was probably mated to somebody else,” she said. “I don’t understand.”

“I know,” Paxton muttered, “but it doesn’t necessarily mean she was mated to somebody else. There have been times, as you know, when unmated immortals have procreated. I guess I could have been one of those babies?”

Elation roared through her. “Well then, that’s good. We hated that guy. It’s good he wasn’t your father.”