He would lay down his life to keep Luca safe.
“But I’m also a grown man capable of making my own decisions.”
“I know.”
“Then stop treating me like a wilting violet.”
“Wilting violet?” Nox almost smiled, but the seething look Luca gave him snuffed it out.
“Yeah, someone who can’t defend themselves, who needs saving all the time. Or maybe that’s how you actually see me.” Luca’s tone dared Nox to answer.
The steering wheel dimpled under his hands.
Luca huffed. “Great.”
“Just because you can’t defend yourself against Anubis doesn’t mean I see you as weak.” Like Nox, a single creature could take out a person armed to the teeth.
“And they were clearly not Anubis.”
“They also weren’t human.”
Silence.
Nox glanced at Luca.
He stared out the passenger window.
“You knew,” Nox said.
“I felt it… them.”
“You felt them?”
Luca sighed. “Yeah, but not like I do with you.”
Nox and Luca’s connection was almost telepathic, like Nox had experienced with Koda and the others on his team. A bond forged when Koda had shared the ichor, bringing them back to life.
When Koda died, the ichor transferred to Nox. That meant whatever allowed Nox and Luca to share emotions had been created by different means, with no answer other than how much Nox loved him.
Knowing Luca had sensed the thoughts of strangers left a block of ice in Nox’s chest.
Luca laughed a little. “Jealous?”
“Maybe.” More like scared.
“It was different, I promise. What I felt with them was like what I felt when we first met.”
It hadn’t occurred to Nox that Luca sensed he wasn’t human. “What did you feel?”
Luca shrugged. “I was scared of you. I didn’t want to trust you. But there was this part of me that knew you. Like I’d always known you. Even though I couldn’t have.”
Was that why he’d been drawn to Luca beyond Koda’s command?
Nox had worried it was because the Anubis thought Luca was its Alpha, but that never explained why Nox had been so drawn to Luca.
Or how in a matter of hours, what began as obeying Luca’s brother turned into a necessity.
“Do we have the money to stay at a motel tonight? I’d like to get a shower. It’s getting too cold to wash with jugs of water.”