Page 46 of How to Seduce a Slender

Smith shook his head, chuckling. He opened the gate, holding it ajar for Austin then closing it behind him. He locked it. Not like the lock Sebastian could place on the iron bars, but it would do. As long as Melody was within the manor, there was nowhere safer.

They traveled for a moment before Smith approached the subject he’d wanted to touch for a while. “Austin…are you sad?”

“Sad?” Austin blinked slowly, his face scrunching around his tusks in confusion. “I’m not sure if it’s sad.”

“Well, you know, no one would blame you if you were sad. Or lonely. We’ve had a lot of big changes in the last year, what with Lady Rosemont joining us, and all.” Smith tucked his hands into the small of his back.

“And Ms. Melody! Oh! Do you think she’ll do a portrait of all of us? Havershum says she drew Moonpie really well.” He peeked down at Smith with an eager expression.

“I have no idea…but I imagine she might. Dahlia will probably commission her to do it. You know how much the Lady Rosemont appreciates art.” Smith nodded, unsure if Melody was ready to be included in the family like Dahlia was. His werewolf was a force of nature…a wonder to behold! But he didn’t want to rush anything. She’d only just agreed to be his. She hadn’t fully realized yet the depths that particular deal went.

Smith didn’t strike deals he could not reap the rewards for.

And Melody had all of eternity to find out the depths of his depravity. She was his now, until the woods ended.

“I think she’s really nice. I get why you like her.” Austin sighed, nodding his big head.

Smith snapped his head up to Austin. “Austin?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. I just…I keep thinking how Lord Rosemont found Lady Dahlia. And now we’ve got all this newness in the house. New art, new life, new animals. We keep switching out the cobwebs for things and…”

“Austin,” Smith stopped the Ogre in his footsteps. “You cannot possibly think you are some ratty piece of carpet that needs replacing, can you?”

Austin gulped loudly, shrugging shyly. “Well, I am the oldest.”

“You are not!” Smith roared, throwing his arms out. Austin snickered as the Slender paced away from him, nearly foaming at the mouth. “I was alive for an eternity before you were crafted, Austin! My summoning date is not my actual birthday.”

“Yes it is,” Austin chuckled mischievously.

Smith whipped to face him, “Listen here, Austin! I am not a young cretin you can tease…and you can’t joke your way out of this conversation, big guy.”

Austin’s face fell, the sadness seeping back into his soft features. His red eyes drooped down to the ground. He sat back on his heels. “He pulled me apart like a bad stitch in a sweater, Smith. I fell apart at the seams. And then Sebastian put me back together. But what happens when I’m not needed? What happens when my falling apart is more trouble than I’m worth?”

Smith’s heart, though physically nonexistent, dropped into his feet. He stumbled forward, a soft sigh escaping him. “Austin, my boy, you are not some toy that can be replaced. You’re a part of this family. And I will not hear a single accusation that you are not worth an ounce of effort. Besides, you’re not the only one who failed to protect the manor that day.”

“Smith, he told me… He said, ‘Austin, you’re here to help me, so help me by keeping her safe’. And I don’t mean to ever go back on my promise, Smith. But-but when she needed me, I was just a pile of parts.” Austin’s eyes welled up as drops of sizzling crimson fell down his cheeks. Austin swiped them away with a ratty, flannel handkerchief from his pocket. “Sorry, I don’t want it staining my clothes. Especially going into the city.”

“It’s okay,” Smith whispered, approaching his friend closer till he could clasp a gloved hand around Austin’s bicep. “No one was ready to fight The Hungry One. I mean, I was doing my best and the damn thing banished me? Me! If I had just fed regularly, I wouldn’t have been such a worthless lump in the fight. And let’s be honest, Austin, you’re a gentle soul. You weren’t made for battle. That’s not what you were made for.”

Austin smiled weakly, nudging Smith slightly. “You weren’t either.”

“No…no, I wasn’t…” Smith was made to hunt. To pick off people in their sleep and devour them whole. He was made to be a nightmare. He wasn’t made to be the hero. So why did it sting?

“Do you think I’ll fall in love? Do you think I can?” Austin’s question barely floated off his lips.

“What?” Smith blurted out, choking on his surprise. “Do you want to?”

“You and Lord Rosemont make it look fun. Like breathing, it’s just something you do. I think I want that. I think I’d like that. Can’t you imagine me? A hunk in a suit dancing with someone?” Austin grinned, showing off a grand smile wrapped behind his tusks, going from ear to ear.

Smith chuckled. “You are a fantastic dancer.”

“That’s what Kevin said too! Though, I accidentally waltzed off with his top half. Then again, he swears it’s because he’s two left feet and I was dancing so well, he couldn’t stop me to make his hips catch up.”

Smith broke out in a laugh as the two continued to trudge through the woods a moment longer. The confession fell from Smith like a loose tooth, tumbling off his lips and into the crunchy snow gathering around them. Glittering white covered the realm. Smith saw his words form as steam clouds around his face. “I am unsure if what I have is love, big guy. I wouldn’t classify it as love. For it to be love, I think she needs to feel for me as I do for her. But I am used to pining for someone who does not return the feeling. The difference being, this time, I believe…maybe it’s strange to think it, but maybe I have a chance for it to become love.”

Austin eyed Smith with furrowed brows. “Smith? You never talk about the before. You know, before Sebastian and I?”

Smith nodded his head. It was true, he didn’t particularly live his life like an open book. While Sebastian was open and forth coming about his history, Smith tended to lock it up. If he never talked about it, then it was almost like it didn’t happen.Almost like he didn’t fail them, and she didn’t hate him until the day she died.

---