Page 46 of Radiant Shadows

“Caesar and I went to Canada together this weekend to follow up on a lead of possible gryphon sightings,” Julian continued.

“Oh, that’s great!” I said. “Did you find any?”

Caesar shook his head with a disappointed frown.

“No,” Julian said. “But the trip was beneficial in other ways. It gave us time to talk about our situation and navigate our feelings better. He helped me understand that my determination to bring Alice back might be a fool’s errand. Alice has been gone for a long time, and wherever her soul has ended up, she might not want to be dragged back into life. I’ve been selfish not considering that, and yet not selfish enough in other ways.

“After our heart-to-heart, I went out searching the snowy mountains for gryphons on my own. I didn’t find any sign of them, and when I’d gotten to the top of the mountain in question, I…asked Alice for a sign. Anything to help me know what to do in regard to you.”

I tried to swallow, but my mouth was as dry as the Sahara. “And…?”

He breathed a laugh through his nose and looked down. “I saw a kitten.”

I frowned deeply at him in confusion. “A kitten?” What the hell did that have to do with anything?

“Yeah. At the top of a mountain with no other living beings, let alone people, for miles around, here was this little white kitten—with a small pink bow on its head.” He gave me a meaningful look as if trying to impart some secret knowledge to me.

Clearly, I wasn’t getting it.

I turned my confused gaze to Caesar, who flashed me a sexy smirk and wink. The heat that flared in response to his gesture distracted me for a second, reminding me of our first impromptu tryst in the bathroom of the pub—then it suddenly hit me.

The kitten Julian was describing was the kitten on the matching sweaters I’d gotten for both of them. And he had seen such a kitten in real life at the top of a mountain with no one and nothing else around.

“Th–that was your sign,” I said, turning back to Julian. “The kitten from the sweater.”

He nodded, and I couldn’t help but stare at his broadening smile in aching appreciation. “Just as suddenly as she appeared, she vanished just like that. No paw prints. No sign of her having arrived or leaving, only the impression in the snow where I’d seen her. I believe that was Alice’s way of telling me,” he took my hand in his and held it, “that it’s okay to move on, and that I should move on with you.”

He brought my hand to his lips and brushed a sweet kiss on my knuckles. And Ididswoon then.

With a sudden gasp of panic, I yanked my hand away and clutched it against me. The Sunkissed Spell! It would burn Julian!

But his hand and lips hadn’t hurt him, at all. Only my crazy action had.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to…” I stammered. “My aunt had me perform a sunkissed spell on myself, you know, to protect me fromothervampires. I didn’t know that you were going to want me. I thought—I thought—”

He sighed in obvious relief, a grateful smile brightening his briefly somber face. “Oh, thank goodness. I was worried that you changed your mind.”

“No, of course, not,” I cooed. “But…I don’t understand. Did the spell not work? There was like a glow and everything.”

He nodded in understanding. “I know the spell you’re referring to. But you forget, Shea—I’m immune to the effects of the sun, which means I’m immune to the magic of your skin. Well, at least in that way.”

He reached for my hand again, and I hesitantly let him, staring for a moment to make sure there was no smoke or blistering skin.

“This is only one more reason why I believe our paths crossed for a reason,” he said, tracing his thumbs lightly over the top of my hand. “I don’t think the three of us ended up here by accident.”

I inhaled shakily at the sincerity and conviction in his tone. He really meant what he was saying. This deep, wounded, beautiful creature wantedme, thoughtIwas worthy of him sacrificing the love that had anchored him for a century. I could hardly believe it, could hardly breathe around the impact it had on my frail, often naive, heart.

As incredible and amazing as this revelation was, Julian and I weren’t the only ones in this triangle. I had yet to hear what my other paramour thought and felt, and I was dying to do just that.

I looked to Caesar, and he seemed to understand that it was his turn to speak, unfolding his arms and clasping his hands down at his thighs.

“After a lot of tortured thought and restless sleep, I’ve come to agree with Julian,” he said, locking my gaze with his chestnut eyes so that I had no choice but to swim in them—hell, I’d gladly drown in them. “I haven’t been able to stop thinking about you since the moment I met you. Our paths have continued to cross in the most surprising and auspicious ways, and the feelings I have for you are so powerful, they border on irrational.”

I snickered through a joy-thickened throat, butterflies flapping in a mad dance inside my belly.

Caesar took my other hand in his, holding it as Julian did, and I was so overwhelmed with happiness that I thought I was going to explode.

“I haven’t been the man you deserve me to be up to this point,” he said, looking down at my hand. “I have been arrogant and avoidant and possessive—basically, I’ve been a giant jerk.”

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