Revealed by April Zyon

A
brush of his lips to hers and the slide of his fingers to her cheek had her
sighing.
    Riley did open
her eyes then. They fluttered once, then a second time. She licked her lips.
“Can I have a drink, please?” When she shifted slightly, however, she grimaced.
“Oh God. That hurts like hell.”
    “It likely
does,” someone said. She recognized Gaius’s voice and saw him as he handed a
glass with a straw to Hector.
    “Here.” Hector
held the straw to her lips as he stared into her eyes.
    “It’s worth it,
though,” Riley said. “As long as I get to see that look on your face. Heck yes,
it’s worth it.” She took another sip of the water and sighed. “Enough. Thank
you.” Turning, she winced again but managed a small smile when she looked at
Gaius. “Hey, you.”
    The woman at Gaius’s side bumped
against him. Riley watched the movement with a grin. Mentally, she reached out
to Hector again. I take it that’s his
other half? Why isn’t he introducing her?
    Because
he is greatly lacking in something we refer to as manners. “Riley, this is Emily. Emily,
this is Riley,” Hector said. He shot Gaius a look, but all he got in return was
a shrug and a little smirk.
    “Nice to meet
you.” Emily held out her hand.
    Riley took it.
“Hello, nice to meet you. I like you already.” The woman was like a shining
star beside Gaius. The golden threads that bound Gaius and Emily together were
like thick ropes. Inches thick. The love that they had for each other was
clear.
    “What’s not to
like?” Gaius asked with a grin. He hugged Emily from behind, pressing a kiss to
the woman’s temple as he rocked her back and forth. “She’s awesome.”
    Oh,
by the gods, now we’ll have to listen to him spout off about all her attributes
and all he loves about her. Feign exhaustion, please. Anything to keep him from
talking for the next four hours. Hector shot her a pleading look.
    Riley just
grinned. “The bond that ties the two of you is impressive. It’s thick. Can you
pull on her abilities the way I was able to let Hector pull on mine?” She was
curious.
    Emily’s head
cocked to the side as she spoke. “No. At least not that I know of. We haven’t
tried to do anything like that.” She looked back at Gaius and shrugged. “I
think we should, though. It would be nice for him to be able to touch a weapon
and see through the killer’s eyes so that I didn’t have to. I hate my ability.”
    Riley’s nose
wrinkled, and she nodded. “I can understand why. Mine is bad enough. Seeing the
truth of all things can drive you to madness.”
    “I happen to
like your ability,” Hector said. He eased onto the edge of the bed, lifting her
hand to cradle it against his chest. “We do need to work with it, though. The
more I was concentrating on what I was doing, the more I lost focus on keeping
our link open.”
    “You’ll need to
train with it as with anything,” a new voice said.
    “Mercury. Didn’t
expect you down here,” Gaius replied.
    “I thought I’d
come and say hello to the newest addition to our dysfunctional, and more than a
little crazy, family.”
    “Riley, this is
Mercury. The first of the guardians, the oldest, and our leader and mentor.
Mercury, this is Riley, the keeper of my heart and soul,” Hector introduced
with a smile for her.
    “A pleasure,
Riley. We’ll get to know one another better when you’re up for it. Right now, I
think you need to get some more rest. You’ll tire easily for the first few
days,” Mercury commented.
    Riley smiled up
at the large man and nodded. “It’s very nice to meet you.” She sighed. “Rest
does sound good. I don’t think I could turn that down at all.” She looked to
Hector again before turning back to Mercury. She frowned. He was surrounded by
light, and it was truly an odd thing to see. “I had to make sure that my Hector
was with me for the rest of time. I’ll let you talk him out of being upset with
me, if you please.”
    “Yes, that might
take a