Page 25 of Dante's Circle Reborn

“Yes, you did. Maybe it was because I didn’t really want to encroach on date night. You two rarely go out.”

“We go out,” Eliana said, shaking her head. “We go out often. You, however, are constantly back in our realm, being a loving nanny to our daughter.”

“I’m a caregiver, I don’t like being called a nanny.”

“You like it,” Malik said. “You’re the one who calls himself a nanny.”

“Fine, I don’t mind the word, I just don’t like it when you get that look in your eye whenever she calls me that,” Jonah said to Malik, and his friend just grinned.

“What? I find it hilarious. Mostly because I like to get under your skin. Nothing much gets under your skin these days, Jonah.”

“And if we’re going to continue getting all introspective about my life, I’m going to need that beer.”

As if Dante had been waiting for that exact moment, the dragon set down three pints of pumpkin ale, and Jonah’s mouth watered.

“You’re going to like it,” Dante warned.

“Was that a threat?” Malik asked, and Jonah just grinned before taking a sip. Flavor burst on his tongue, and he held back a moan.

“Told you,” Dante said before he went off to help another table.

“This is amazing,” Malik said, practically whispering into his beer so nobody could see.

“Oh, yes, I think this is my favorite.”

Eliana held the pint with both hands and smiled into it as she wiggled in her seat. “I think I could drink this whole thing.”

“Do so. Have as much as you want.” And then Malik whispered something into her ear that made her blush, and Jonah averted his gaze.

He didn’t mind being the third wheel. He was usually the odd man out when it came to them. He was Penelope’s guard, not just her nanny as they put it. And though he had the evening off, and she was surrounded by five of his most trusted soldiers, he still wanted to go back and make sure that she was safe. He couldn’t help it, he had lost too many people before, he wouldn’t let anything happen now.

“So, is Poppy human?” he asked, the question out of his lips before he could even fully think the words. Humans who worked at the bar didn’t tend to know the secrets of the paranormals, but sometimes, they did. They had to tread carefully. And even though they were all talking aloud about lions and dragons, the magic within the bar itself helped keep their secrets.

Malik just grinned like a cat in cream, and Eliana clapped her hands in front of her after she’d set her beer on the table. “She’s not, but I don’t know exactly what she is. You know it’s not nice to ask.”

“I can go over and see,” Malik said.

“Don’t use your little shifter senses to figure it out. I’m still new to the whole supernatural game, and I don’t even know if phoenixes are supposed to be able to sense what other paranormals are.”

“Phoenixes are a rare breed. I’m sure after a time, you’d be able to figure it out. And, no, none of us should go over there to uncover the mystery. That would be rude.” Jonah resisted looking over at Poppy again. But he could feel her, sense her. And that worried him. He had never felt like this before, and he didn’t want to know what it meant.

“You should still go over and talk to her,” Eliana said, pulling him out of his thoughts.

“No, I really shouldn’t.”

“She’s the first person I’ve seen you look at like that. Ever.”

He ignored Malik’s words.

“There are good reasons that I don’t.” But he wouldn’t. He wouldn’t even look at her again. At Poppy. Such a bright, happy name for a woman who didn’t smile.

As he forced himself to look away, he remembered the color of her eyes. A pure silver that had beckoned him. Because from his first look into those silver eyes, he had been lost. And he was damn worried that if he looked again, he wouldn’t be able to pull himself out like he had before.

This wasn’t something he needed. He had a job, a life, a ward. Penelope needed him. Eliana and Malik needed him. They had given him purpose after a life he had thought he’d lost. He didn’t want to risk that again. Didn’t want to risk what was deep inside of him. The haunted part that he had hidden for so long.

So, he wasn’t going to look.

Eliana and Malik seemed to have noticed the change in his mood, so they moved the subject to Penelope and the rest of the seven.

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