Page 90 of Entranced By the Basilisks

JASPER

The day isbright even if the air is chilly. It makes me walk faster, but I also love this weather. I’d chosen to walk to the library this morning and the last couple of mornings because I feel… different. Energized.

Perhaps this is why people take vacations. Though Emilia keeps reminding me that going to work for an hour a day and being on call isn’t the same thing as a vacation, but it’s been so long since I’ve even scaled back half this much that these last couple of days have been practically relaxing.

But it’s not the vacation that is energizing me. It’s being with Ari and Emilia. The time we spend together, training or just reading around the fire shouldn't have the power to change me, but it does. So long, I’ve scrabbled at the edges of serpent kin society, too serpent kin to mix with the paranormal crowds without my gaze causing discomfort and not serpent kin enough to be accepted, that now that I have people around who care about me, care for me, my soul feels more at peace.

Sleeping next to Emilia helps. We’ve all settled in a formation of Ari and I being on either side of her since her body temperature is higher than ours. She’s had fewer nightmares and seems to prefer being fucked back to sleep when she does. Her training is going much better if her delight at the progress she’s made is any indication. She can now stun Ari and fully compel at least a midlevel serpent kin. Reversing the effects of her gaze had been a slower endeavor, but she succeeded last night.

If she’d wanted to, she could go back to living at her apartment, but she hasn’t expressed a wish to.

Emilia still can’t compel Ari, but he thinks she’ll be able to in time. Today, when I return, we’ll work on healing venomous bites and the way that Ari had eyed me when he’d made that announcement had sent a thrill up my spine.

The only flaw of the last couple of days has been the invitation from the head of the Circle. There’s a tension in the air, a worry. Whether Ari is the source, or I am, it doesn’t matter. Soon, Emilia is going to be presented to serpent kin society, and when that happens, the likelihood that she’ll be able to become un-Chosen withers… or more like there will be consequences for Ari and me if she does.

In concept, a Chosen should never be made one unwillingly, so reversing the process shouldn’t hold a risk. In reality, there will be a cost. Especially since Ari and I have been actively trying to reverse the Goddess’s blessing.

I don’t know what will happen and I don’t know what Ari is planning, but I want to believe that it will work out.

There’s a scuff of a boot behind me and it brings my worries about Emilia’s future as a Chosen to a halt. Someone is following me. They followed me yesterday and I’d figured it was only a coincidence, but I can sense them more now. I’m surprised by how far away I can sense them. They’re serpent kin.

I turn into an alley because my patience is nonexistent, and I won’t be hunted. I may be thin-blooded, but I submit only to Ari. Sure enough, when the man comes into view, I recognize him and want to groan. It’s one of Sigmund’s sycophants, though I don’t know when he started to spend time with my tormentor. Sigmund’s circle has changed over the years and I’m sure it’s because he’s an unpleasant person.

This man was a surprise to see at the club because I’d been on good terms with him once.

What Armand lacks in a last name, he more than makes up for with brute strength and muscle. He was on a fast track to being a guard to the Circle last time I was privy to any gossip. It wasn’t a surprise since he’s an accomplished fighter.

Serpent kin care about lineage only to a point. I’ve heard it said that it used to be more of a hierarchy than it is now, but now they only care that you weren’t one of the traitors that had followed Simon Adder.

I wouldn’t normally engage, let alone with a fighter like Armand, but there’s a frenzy humming in my blood. He wants our Chosen. He’s a risk to Emilia and to our family. In the split second that I spot him, I move without thought.

I throw him against the alley wall, and he hits it with a grunt.

“Adder,” he rasps, but he doesn’t move to engage, and I have sense enough of the situation not to strike first.

“Why are you following me?”

He shakes his head. “Not following, watching.”

“Is there a difference between the two?” I ask, exasperation leaking through my voice.

“I’m watching to make sure you aren’t targeted,” he says, his expression unchanging.

I blink in confusion. “You were with Sigmund.”

Armand rolls his eyes. “I am with Sigmund… when it suits my employer.”

I raise my brows. “Explain yourself.”

He raises his brows back. “I’ve been made a Circle guard.”

“Congratulations. You’ve wanted that for a long time.”

“Thank you… The work I’m doing isn’t what I expected.”

The realization hits me in a rush. “You are here to make sure I make it to our Chosen’s presentation.”

Armand narrows his eyes. “You know she isn’t your Chosen until she chooses. Unless she already has…”

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