Page 41 of Beneath the Watching

“Kiara’s not your or my concern. Do not tell a single soul any part of what you just told me. Ever,” I ordered her. “We don’t know enough about your abilities and there are many that would abuse them. Don’t mention it to or even around Ilya.”

What she’d said about the wine indicated forces at work that I wanted zero part of. “As a matter of fact, don’t mention it again if it can be helped.”

She lifted her eyes and set the piece of fruit back down on her plate. “I’m scared,” she said. “I don’t know what’s going on and I might even be scared of you.”

I smiled. “As long as you’re with me and listen to what I tell you, you don’t have to fear me.”

“And if I don’t? If I’m not?”

My lips parted, showing my teeth. “Then there’s nowhere I won’t find you when you run.” As I spoke my warning, the magnitude of her honesty washed over me. This was the most transparent I’d ever seen her, when she admitted she was scared. She always held her innermost thoughts under lock and key, never letting anyone inside.

Just as the spicy sweet tang of her trepidation filled the atmosphere, my men returned, banging the door open and ruining the moment. Mabel leaned back as they walked in, bags dropping to the floor.

“Sorry,” Jack mumbled. “Miss? Where do you want these?”

“Put them in the bedroom and kitchen,” I said, thrusting my arm in the direction of my sleeping quarters. The two men began gathering the packages from the floor and trudged across the room.

Time was running out for me to answer my summons to the High Court before my absence drew too much attention. I needed to get moving. “I have to go, Mabel. While I’m gone, Benjamin and Jack are responsible for you, and you are to stay here in my apartment. Anything you need, they’ll get for you.”

“Where are you going?” She wiped her hands on a napkin. “What if I want fresh air?”

The look on her face was pained, and I didn’t know if it was because she was being unusually assertive or if she truly desiredto go outside. I went with the former. “I’ve been called to the High Court. It shouldn’t take long but however long it does, it is out of my control.”

“What is the High Court, exactly?”

“It's in the Second Realm, where my kind originated. Beings much more powerful than me or anyone you’ve met reign there. They usually don’t bother anyone outside the Realm.”

Mabel bit her lip. “So, this isn’t good, is it?”

I shook my head. “Maybe not. It remains to be seen.”

She grimaced, and I could see a hundred questions swirling through the depths of her eyes before she stood up and grabbed her plate. I almost took it from her, but she needed to feel at home. I wanted her to feel comfortable moving around and if I did everything for her, it’d never happen.

Her first step faltered but then she cleared her throat and brushed past me, and a curtain of silence descended as if a door had shut. My ability to read her was increasing, much to my relief. I distinctly sensed the moment she’d closed herself off when she got up.

I almost went after her, my instincts telling me to reassure her, comfort her in some way. Being a demon, I wasn’t supposed to care and yet I did and if I wasn’t careful, I’d give myself away. My woman, as much as she meant to me, threatened to expose everything about me.

Mabel returned to the room, wiping her hands on her legs. Knowing I was going to have to leave her alone filled me with a sense of dread.

She raised her eyes to meet mine and instantly stumbled backward a step. I hadn’t realized I was scowling again and quickly attempted to soften my expression while cursing myself.

Mabel stood there waiting and I backed away, knowing the sooner I left the better. If I didn’t get going, I was liable to throwher on the couch and work out my angst on her pussy. I’d punish her for having such a hold on my blackened heart.

I hadn’t been able to save the last woman I’d been charged with caring for. My sister had trusted me to keep her safe and it was my job to do so in a world hostile toward women. I failed. As a result, I’d managed to keep women at an arm’s length and only used them when necessary to sate my body’s needs.

Mabel had somehow wormed her way under my once impenetrable shield, and I wasn’t sure how to handle it. I also knew I was doing a piss-poor job as evidenced by my erratic temper.

All I could do was hide her until I found an answer.

13

STEFAN

The High Courtwas situated in a district of the Second Realm, a desolate wasteland equivalent to the human version of hell. The Realm was massive, sections of the world remaining unexplored by my peers or the inhabitants that existed for thousands of years without leaving their own, separate districts within the dimension.

After I’d transitioned myself into the courtyard of the large fortress, as was customary when one had been summoned, I was immediately accosted by the palace guards to have my business questioned. I stated the reasons for my arrival and was taken into another, smaller courtyard.

The landscaping changed from dried and cracked mud to a lush green carpet of grass lined with hedges of white flowers that bled crimson droplets rather than pollen.

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