Silver at Midnight: A Paranormal Romance Urban Fantasy (The Keepers of Knowledge Series Book 5) by Bridgette O'Hare (best large ereader .TXT) 📕

“How can it get more . . . oh, cac. Cian. He kissed ya, didn’t he?” Kara shook her head.

I nodded slowly, my lips pressed hard together.

“And you like him.”

“I do. I didn’t plan t’, but aye.”

“How are ya feelin’ about Darek though? This is one heckuva monkey wrench. I know the reason ya didn’t let yourself get any closer to him was because he was human. Only, now he’s not human. Wait, what is he?”

I had to answer her, but I didn’t want to admit that I’d had three encounters where I couldn’t read the origins. So, I told the truth without admitting everything. “He’s the same as Cian. And Cian’s brother, who I have not yet met but I assume I will soon. I feel like I should be on a reality TV show.”

“Dang. I really don’t envy you. I mean, at least they are both ridiculously gorgeous. Could be worse, right?”

I narrowed my eyes. “You are so not helpin’, K. Not even a lit’l.”

“I know. Sorry. Just trying to at least see a bit of a bright side. To be honest, I don’t know what to tell ya. But if you decide you just need an escape route out of there, I’m your huckleberry. Let me know. I’ll be right on that! Seriously though, how did Darek act?”

“He just looked at me with that look. Ya know? And his voice, the way he spoke t’ me . . . it was the same Darek. It was a little surreal standing there with him, knowing he remembers everything.”

I was about to elaborate, when I saw Cian exit the side door of the library and head my way.

“K, we will have t’ talk about this later.” I glanced up as Cian approached.

“Which one is it?” Kara asked.

“I’ll catch up with ya later,” I said hoping she’d understand. I didn’t want him to know we’d been talking about him. “If you find more info on that dagger or the artifact, let me know.”

Kara caught on immediately. “Will do. I’ll get Lazlo on it. Ciao for now!”

“Bye, K.” I waved and ended the call just as Cian stopped in front of me.

“I think we need t’ talk,” he said.

“Isn’t it usually the woman who starts a conversation like that?” I asked, trying to lighten the moment even before it grew heavy.

Cian straddled the bench next to me and leaned on the table with one elbow. Just like every time before, the close proximity sent waves of energy skating across my skin.

“Things got a little tense in there. Care t’ tell me what that was all about?”

“Well . . . seeing him unexpectedly jus’ caught me off guard. I believed he was human, so the last place I expected him t’ end up is here. I'm sure you can understand that it was quite the shock for him t’ be standing in front of me.”

“Aye, I can understand. But . . . I saw the way he looked at ya, Aish. I heard the tone in his voice. He wasn’t expectin’ t’ see you here either. I have t’ ask. There was more between the two of ya than passing information, wasn't there?”

I didn’t want to admit it to Cian, but I wasn’t about to lie to him. “There was.” My heart sank along with the countenance in Cian’s beautiful eyes.

“Is that the reason ya left the assignment?”

“Aye,” I admitted. “As I said, I thought he was human. And caring for a human is a recipe for disaster. So, before my feelings grew, I requested a reassignment.”

Cian drew in a hard pull of air and let it out slowly. “Thank you for being honest with me.”

“I’ll never be anything but honest with you, Cian. I trust you. And I don’t give trust easily. I want ya t’ know you can trust me also. It’s a two-way street.” I placed my hand on his, needing to feel the connection. He looked up at me, his eyes hooded and still burning with the emotion I had seen before.

“I’ll trust you unless ya give me a reason not to. Seem fair?

“Seems just as it should be.” I meant it when I said I’d never give Cian a reason to question my trust. But that didn’t mean Darek’s presence didn’t affect me. It did. I was still trying to figure out how.

He leaned in and placed his lips tenderly to the middle of my forehead, and I melted a little.

“Ya think you’re ready to go in and review the list he brought?” Cian spoke, his lips still lingering just above my eyes.

“Aye, I’m nothing if not professional,” I snickered.

“Yeah. Yeah. Don’t forget, I know all about your twenty percent behavior,” he smiled against my skin.

“I’ll deny it. I’m as professional as they come.” I sat upright, winked, and pecked a soft kiss on his lips. “C’mon. We need t’ find an artifact. And the clock is tickin’.”

I dragged him from his seat at the picnic table and we made our way back to the third-floor archives. Not that I was looking forward to spending the next several hours in a confined space with both Cian and Darek. I was not. But the sooner I completed research on the list of artifacts Darek had acquired from The Saiad, the sooner I could escape this triangle of awkwardness.

Twenty-One

I had known spending any amount of time in close quarters with Darek was going to be a little awkward at best. Adding Cian to the mix ramped up the discomfort factor by a few thousand decibels. I tried my best to stay focused on the list in front of me. I kept my head down and researched one artifact at a time to see if there was anything The Saiad had in their storehouse we needed to be prepared for. In reality, ninety percent of what they had acquired was something we needed to be