Ryver didn't need to be a mind reader to know how pleased Mercury was with himself. He could see the guy's grin all the way from the bar. He wasn't shielding that well either, so as the guy made his way back to the booth, he could hear his thoughts loud and clear. Yup, Mercury definitely thought he was on a promise. Listening to his girl, he could very well be right. Great. Ryver hated playing third wheel.

The scowl forming on his face morphed into a frown. Mercury's pixie of a girl had a friend. And Ryver hadn't heard her coming.

The trio arrived at the booth and Ryver couldn't help but stare at the girl behind Mercury and Pixie. Much taller and curvaceous than her friend, brown eyes expertly lined in sparkling purple, she looked desperately uncomfortable as she hooked her thumbs into her cuffs. Ryver didn't miss the confused look she shot at Mercury but when he tried to listen to her, he couldn't quite grasp her thoughts. It was as if someone kept turning down the volume on all the important parts.

Rude much? Mercury practically screamed his own thought at him and it made him jump. Blinking, he realised he was still staring. He scooted to the end of the booth and rose to extend a hand to Pixie. "Sorry, I was in a world of my own there for a minute. I'm Ryver"

The pixie gave the cutest smile as she shook his hand. "Jessie. Pleased to meet you."

"Likewise."

Jessie moved to the side and motioned to her friend. "This is Ria."

Somehow Ryver knew not to extend his hand to her. Instead he nodded his acknowledgement.

Ria gave him an awkward wave. "Hi"

"Hi."

"C'mon, bruv. Let the ladies sit down," Mercury said with a look of what-the-fuck-are-you-playing-at plastered all over his face.

"Sorry. Please"—he motioned to the booth—"after you."

Jessie skipped over and shuffled her way to the middle of the bench. Ria followed suit. Mercury moved quicker than if he'd dematerialised to sit next to Jessie, which meant Ryver had no choice but to sit next to the curious Ria.

Feeling less experienced than his fifty years, Ryver didn't have a clue what to say to her as Jessie and Mercury sat and beamed at each other.

The awkward silence was broken by the arrival of the barman with tray of drinks. Ryver didn't think he'd ever been more grateful for lager.

* * *

Ria played with the cuffs of her shirt as Mercury distributed the drinks. The cosmo she'd ordered turned out to be something pink served in a martini glass. She decided it couldn't be any worse than the tequila and, after taking a sip, was pleasantly surprised.

Cranberry she could deal with. She wasn't sure she could deal with being penned into a gaffer-taped booth by not one but two man mountains. To make matters worse, she discovered she couldn't hear Mercury's brother either. His mind was locked up tight and she couldn't even sense the swirl of colours and emotions she kept catching from Mercury.

So far, she had the impression that Mercury was happy, but Jessie probably helped—placing playful hands on his shoulder and thigh as she laughed at something he said. Other than that, she couldn't work him out.

The brother was another story. She found herself staring at him as she tried harder and harder to penetrate his thoughts.

Ryver snapped his attention to her, and she could swear his green eyes glowed as he met her gaze. She blinked and his eyes returned to a hazel hue. Maybe she was seeing things.

"So," he said.

"So." God, could this be any more awkward?

Ryver dropped his gaze to his lap.

Say something, Ria. For the love of God, say something! "So are you two really brothers?"

Ryver smirked at some hidden joke as he met her gaze again. "Yeah, kinda."

"Kind of?"

He nodded. "It's complicated."

"Sorry. I didn't mean to pry."

"It's alright. We come from a complicated family."

"You're lucky."

"How so?" He raised an eyebrow.

Her voice deserted her. What the hell was she doing? She didn't know this guy from Adam. Christ, she couldn't even get a read on him, yet she was about to tell him all about herself.

"Ria?" Jessie's voice cut through her thoughts.

"Hmm?"

"You want to come dance with us?" Jessie asked as she and Mercury shuffled out of the booth.

"Oh. Um. No. Thank you."

"Okay. Back in a bit," Jessie called as the two of them made their way to the dance floor.

The realisation of what she'd done hit her. She was left alone with Ryver. Now what did she do?

* * *

Ryver watched the smiling bastard practically skip to the dance floor as he held Jessie's hand. He could count on one hand the number of times he'd seen Mercury even tap to a beat, let alone actually dance.

Now that her friend had abandoned her, a dent had formed in Ria's shields. It wasn't quite a hole, but he got a feeling about her. She felt confused and disconcerted.

He concentrated harder, pushing his ability harder than he normally had to. His telepathy had grown stronger over the last few years, but in the months since Lena and Thorn's mating, hearing other people's innermost thoughts had become second nature. He could hear everything whether someone wanted him to or not. The only person he couldn't hear was Thorn. When he chose to shut Ryver out, there was nothing Ryver could do about it.

At least Thorn used to be the only person he couldn't hear.

He glanced at Ria again. You, young lady, are very, very intriguing.

He saw her fiddling with her cuffs again and felt a bit sorry for her. Her friend had just left her with a stranger after all.

"You know, your friend must be something special. Mercury never dances."

Ria smiled properly for the first time that evening and, Goddess, what a beautiful smile it was. "She is something special."

"You know her long?"

"No, not really. Just a couple of years." She laughed. "We met on my twenty-first birthday."

"Like at a party or something?"

"At a bus stop of all things. In the pouring rain." She laughed again.

"At a bus stop?"

She nodded, the delicate curls piled on top of her head bouncing. "I know it sounds really weird."

"Not at all."

She shot him a quizzical look.

"Okay. Maybe it is a bit weird. I didn't think humans actually spoke to people on the bus. It's like the law or something."

"Humans?"

"People," he corrected himself. "People don't normally talk to people on the bus...or bus stop...or whatever." Damn it.

Still looking at him like he had two heads, she replied, "No. I suppose they don't."

"But Jessie isn't your average person?" Ryver said quickly, hoping she'd forget the human comment.

The smile returned. "No, she's not. Sometimes I think she's like my guardian angel or something."

"Guardian angel?" It was Ryver's turn to raise an eyebrow. Another fissure appeared in her shields. Genuine belief shone through like a candle in the dark. That anyone still believed in guardians of any kind surprised him.

"I don't know where I'd be without her," Ria continued. "When she appeared at that bus stop, I was so miserable. And then there she was, in the pouring rain, smiling at me, asking if I wanted to share a taxi."

"So where did you go?"

"Home."

"It was your twenty-first birthday, and you just went home?"

The smile on her face faltered and more cracks appeared in her mental shields. For a human, Ryver was surprised just how long she'd lasted, but his comment had clearly touched a nerve. Pain and regret bloomed in his nostrils as the swirl of bad memories enveloped her. It wasn't the movie reel he got with others, but he could sense loneliness in her, images of different homes, different families.

Ria dropped her gaze to her lap as she twisted the cuffs of her shirt. "I didn't really have anywhere else to go," she said quietly.

"I'm sorry."

"Don't be. I'd only just moved to London from Surrey and I didn't really know anyone."

"What about your family?"

"I don't have one."

Shit. The loneliness he sensed became palpable. Way to go, Ryver.

"I grew up in care."

Ryver snapped his head towards her. It was the first clear thought he got from her and it filled him with such sadness that he rubbed his sternum to help dissipate the feeling.

As he looked at her, her whole life became clear. She’d never known her father, and her mother had been committed when she was only a baby. She’d never spent more than a couple of hours with her before the demons reclaimed her mother's mind and Ria was forced to go back to social services. She'd been on the adoption list all her life, but nobody seemed to want her. Social workers couldn't really put their finger on why Ria wasn't chosen. Instead, she grew up in the foster system, moving from home to home, until she finally went to live with Phil and Betty. They’d managed to give her a stable home for a time, but like everything else in her life, it didn't last. Phil and Betty were killed in a car crash just after her eighteenth birthday. And so Ria was left alone—again.

Jesus. What did he say? All his brethren, with the exception of Lena, were orphans, but they'd still known the warm embrace of a family. None of them had ever truly been alone. Even in his darkest moments, he couldn't begin to understand how Ria felt.

* * *

Ria gulped as Ryver stared at her. His intense gaze made her squirm but she couldn't look away. She looked into his green eyes and saw something skirt across his face.

"How do I make it better for you?"

"What did you say?" she whispered.

Ryver's eyes widened. "Sorry?"

"Did you say something?"

"No, why?”

She didn't know what had changed but she definitely heard him.

I hear you, she thought as she stared back at him.

"You hear me? What the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Ria's jaw went slack. Wait. What?