Page 239 of Caelum

“What if I’m a monster?”

“We discussed this last night,” Samuel interjected, his tone so brisk I wanted to smack the shit out of him. Couldn’t he see she was distraught already without him talking to her like a schoolteacher to a naughty kid in his class?

Although… wait.

Last night?

Fuck.

We seriously needed a huge bed, one we could all sleep in if pillow talk was about shit that mattered. Corralling my thoughts away from how big a bed would need to be for eight people to fit, and if that wasn’t, in fact, aroom, I grumbled, “You’ve already talked about this?”

“Yes. And it’s ridiculous. Isn’t it?” Samuel said, his tone stern again.

Eve’s mouth pursed into a mutinous line that had my own quirking. Rebellion was imminent, and I could almost see the cogs starting to whir as her temper caught the better of her.

Far preferring her to be riled up than sad, I shot Samuel an approving look. Not even by the blink of his eye did he convey his own amusement, but I sensed it nonetheless.

Before any of us could say another word, there was a soft clearing of a throat, and we turned and saw a man and woman standing in the ferry terminal. They had raincoats on, which even this street rat knew was Burberry, and the jewels on the woman’s wrist and throat spoke of even more wealth. I’d have picked the guy’s pockets if I’d still been on the streets.

These were walking marks. I just wasn’t sure if they knew it.

Around fifty, the pair of them had softly graying dark hair, skin that was lightly creased, and a countenance that looked, I bullshit you not,wise. But their eyes? They were young. I wasn’t sure what I even meant by that, except for the glisten in them was fresh and dewy and in no way rheumy with old age.

As I peered closer with each step I took toward them, hauling Eve along with me with Sam at my back, I began to wonder if they were wearing somekind of disguise. It was a good one, but something about it made me think it wasn’t real.

Like their hair was dusted with powder to look gray, and their skin was made up to look lightly wrinkled... but that was beyond strange, and trust me, I knew what strange was now.

They just looked too young for a middle-aged couple, and no amount of surgery could reap that particular miracle. I didn’t care how rich they were.

When our Pack’s attention was aimed on them, Dr. Anheim held out his hand. Frazer and I stepped forward, but I ceded to Frazer, just this fucking once, because we were only here thanks to his connections and Samuel’s smarts. I wasn’t sure how the two of us would duke it out over leadership, but now wasn’t the time for a pissing contest.

After greeting Frazer, he shook my hand, and while he was introducing himself to me, Frazer was greeting Anheim’s wife. Which, of course, was Dr. Anheim. That wasn’t about to get boring, was it?

When we’d all been introduced, the lady doctor murmured, “I’m Avalina. My husband is Bartlett. It’s easier to call us by our given names.” Well, that solved that problem.

Bartlett said, “If you’d like to follow us to our offices? We can speak privately there.” As he spoke, his gaze drifted back to Eve, who’d been quiet ever since she’d shaken their hands. Quieter than usual, I meant. I figured Bartlett had gathered she was the one with the new ink since she was the only girl in the group and the picture of the arm we’d sent, with the ink on it, had belonged to a woman.

As I looked at her, reallylooked, I saw her pale features were blanched of all color. I hauled her back to my side and hugged her against me. “What’s going on with you?” I whispered as we followed the doctors down the path from the terminal.

She gulped but shook her head, her gaze trained anywhere but on me. Irritation swirled inside me, but it wasn’t like we could have it out here in the middle of the street, was it? And what a street. I wasn’t sure I’d ever seen anything like this place.

Everything feltold. From the path we were walking on to the trees that lined it. The sun was still low as it was early, but it shot dappled light and waves of warmth from under the canopy. We passed a building to the left, and I heard Avalina tell Eren, “It’s the National Maritime Museum. The Cutty Sark is just around the corner. It’s the last clipper of its age. Carried tea from Asia to Britain during the Victorian era?—”

I wasn’t sure if I’d ever seen so many old buildings clustered around, and there were huge lawns that had students lazing about on them. It was,Samuel had assured us this morning, unseasonably warm, so it figured why some of the chicks were sunbathing and sitting on the still-damp grass over blankets as they read and caught up with their studies.

As I stared at the sight, I almost sighed over how normal it all was. I wasn’t sure anything could have ever made me feel weirder than I already knew I was.

Sex was a form of energy for me, for Christ’s sake, and while I was certain these students were all older than me, I felt like I had a thousand years on them in experience.

They didn’t know their last day could be around the corner in the form of a creature that belonged in their nightmares. But I did. And I’d killed some of those creatures to save the asses of people like these.

“What’s wrong?”

I blinked at Eve’s question. “When I asked you that, you ignored me.”

She sniffed. “I’m allowed to ask it back, aren’t I?”

Because I didn’t want to fight, and I knew she’d tell me eventually what was wrong—even if I had to spank it out of her—I just said, “You ever feel really old?”

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