Page 16 of His True Beloved

Violence was not my style, not in the slightest, but I swear if anyone touched what was gifted to me, I was going to fucking kill someone. Christine was not in my line of sight. The demon inside me was stirring, antsy, and unsteady. The bond had worked quickly, and my anxiousness would not bode well if she continued to push me away.

“She is,” I muttered. The room that had grown silent turned their heads back to their meals. “And,” I ground out, “if anyone tells her before I do, there will be consequences.” My throat held a growl of warning. Adaline visibly swallowed as Rowan approached.

“You heard him,” Rowan snapped. “Nothing leaves this room, and if word gets back, you will be banned from the premises.” The clock was ticking. My time was too short to try to have her come to me. Playing my cards well, finding out as much as I could about her before I began to push the bond, would be wise.

“I’ll use compulsion on the humans in the room.” Rowan adjusted his tie. “If word gets out, it is from our own kind.” My heart slowed. The erratic beating in my chest when I became excited and angry was so new to my chest that it had me feel flighty.

“Sebastian is Christine’s new keeper.” Rowan looked to Suron. Sheepishly, he nodded as they both strode away. “And, congratulations.” Rowan winked.

Rubbing my hand down my face, I murmured, “Sorry. Don’t know what came over me.”

I knew exactly what came over me, just didn’t want to admit it. I was damn scared out of my mind of losing my second chance, my second chance at everything. Suron’s eyes softened, and his hand reached out to touch my arm.

“I’m not a touchy person,” I muttered. He scoffed, folding his arms over his chest.

“Yeah, Christine is the same. Two peas in a pod, you both are.” A child ran into the cafeteria. His face lightened as he saw Suron. Running, he jumped into his lap, making Suron give a gasp of surprise.

“It’s my favorite human!” Suron pointed to the boy. “This is Allen. Say hello, Allen.” Allen squinted his eyes, assessing me, then shyly waved and put his head in Suron’s chest.

Hmm, all right then.

“Allen has had a rough living here, but he is doing great.” Suron was so good with kids because he was one. “Just like you will be.” The hint in Suron’s tone had me rolling my eyes.

“Allen is autistic. He doesn’t talk much, but when he does, he lights up like a Christmas tree, right?” Allen nodded, mumbling something in his ear.

“Now, let’s talk.” Suron sat Allen on his lap, pulling out his phone. Allen’s eyes lit up, and he began to tap the window repeatedly. “Okay, now we are good. He won’t listen to a word we are saying.”

“Are you sure about that?” Allen tapped the screen again.

“Yeah, it’s a phone. He’s playing a game on it. If we are lucky, I might get it back.” Shrugging my shoulders, I listened to Suron and how she met Christine.

He didn’t know much, but the little he did know had my gears turning in my head. A hemophiliac and hemophobia? What a combination to deal with.

Brave, my beloved was heroic in coming to be with her mother. She came to a coven full of vampires whose primary food source was blood. With sharp teeth and claws, vampires were the ultimate predator, and she could bleed out with one knick under the right situation.

Scratching my chin, I realized that she had nicked her finger before we came to the cafeteria.

Hell, is she still bleeding?

“I have to go check on her,” I spat. Suron grabbed my hand, pulling me back down.

“Easy there, she isn’t made of glass. She’s got it covered.”

“She was fucking bleeding when she left me. What if it doesn’t stop?” Suron rolled his eyes.

“Christine survived before you. She will survive a pinprick, you twit, now sit down,” he said sternly. Narrowing my eyes, I sat back down on the bench, Allen still fiddling with the phone in his hand. “There is plenty you can read up on, on your phone.” He pointed. “Type in her diagnosis, find out what you need to know to help her. Just stay away from the search engineGoogle.If you type in symptoms and sicknesses of humans, it will all lead to cancer or death, and your beloved is not going to die.”

My mouth dropped, my tense stance falling. “It’s true. Googlehates humans and wants them to die.” He smiled.

I sighed heavily, standing from the table. Allen still didn’t look up, and I stepped out. “Thanks for your information, Suron, but I think I’m going to go the old-fashioned route.”

Research in the library and stalking.

“You gonna do the whole vampire stalking thing? Some chicks dig that, but I’m not sure Christine is the one that will like it.” I groaned.

“I’m not going to stalk her. I’m just going to check up on her, make she is all right.” Suron hummed, pinching his nose.

Yeah, I’m stalking.

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