Page 27 of Ruled By Fate

Within a few hours, the little cottage was utterly transformed.

Carpets were unrolled, and throw pillows were tossed onto the sofa. A few gauzy curtains were hung alongside the windows, and a collection of sparse artwork was hung upon the walls.

Brie had nothing in her refrigerator, but she’d brought a few cups of ramen, which she heated with an electric kettle and gleefully consumed, as Cameron regarded her in equal parts fascination and disgust. Once the water heater was working, she abandoned him downstairs and took a lengthy shower to wash off the carpet dust and dirt from the move.

That’s more like it, she thought, lathering up the soap, then rinsing herself smooth. A little bit of water, a little bit of oil, and I’m a whole new woman. Like the last few days didn’t happen. Like there isn’t a guardian angel sitting at the base of the—

“Brianna?”

She let out a quiet yelp, cowering behind the misted shower curtain as a head of dark hair poked itself into the room. He waited for an answer, only to get cursed in two different languages.

“I’m sorry to intrude, but—”

“Then don’t intrude, Cameron!” she cried, wishing there was something more between them than clear plastic and steam. “I am naked! Do you understand what that means? Or maybe you don’t,” she snapped, answering her own question. “Maybe where you come from, everyone walks around naked, like in the good old days, before all that forbidden fruit.”

He wisely chose not to engage.

“There are two men on bicycles at the door,” he began haltingly. “They want to share some ‘good news’ and tell you the best way to get into Heaven.”

A deafening silence fell over the bathroom.

“Brianna, I can’t begin to tell you how uncomfortable this makes me.”

“Tell them I’m not interested,” she snapped, turning off the water. “Tell them, having met a personal representative, I’m choosing to abstain from that particular trip. You can reference the indigenous population’s lack of boundaries,” she added sharply as he ducked outside with an obedient nod. “And their complete disregard for personal space.”

By the time she toweled dry and headed back to the living room, she’d come up with an impressive list of scathing indictments to rain down on him. But the words caught on her tongue, and she stopped short the second she stepped inside.

My picture.

It was the one of her as a baby with her parents, the one of her reaching up to touch her mother’s face. The one that had undoubtedly been smashed to oblivion in the car accident but had been restored to perfect condition and placed with tender care in the center of her bookshelf.

Cameron was sitting on the couch beside it with a look of chagrin — a strange, perfect being in an otherwise ordinary world. He glanced up when she entered, trying to interpret her expression.

“Did you put that up?” she asked softly.

He followed her gaze with a touch of confusion, worried it might somehow be wrong. “Yes, is that… is that not where you want it?”

She held his gaze for a moment, then let out a quiet sigh.

She couldn’t be angry with him. She didn’t know how all the pieces of this puzzle fit together, but she trusted that nothing happening to her was his fault. He might well be going above and beyond to keep her safe. Maybe even happy.

Another pang of tenderness shot through her heart, making it ache. “Cam?”

He looked up nervously and was about to apologize again, when she crossed over quickly and gave him a sudden hug. He froze in surprise as if, despite his endless centuries, he was somehow unfamiliar with the gesture. Then, he wrapped his arms around her back with the utmost care.

“Thank you,” she murmured into his shirt. “Thank you for being here.”

He tensed involuntarily, and then his face warmed with an unseen expression of tenderness.

“It’s my honor, Brianna Weldon.”

She pulled back and stood awkwardly for a moment. “I need to go to sleep. I start work tomorrow. Do you need anything?”

She had no idea what his needs might entail. She hadn’t seen him eat, drink, or sleep since his magical reappearance in her life. Perhaps he simply needed to… charge?

“No, thank you,” he answered. “I am quite alright. I wish you pleasant dreams.”

She hesitated. “You’re staying out here?”

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