Page 99 of His True Beloved

“Who the hell is he?” I asked, sitting with Rowan. Rowan sighed, sitting on the steps while the assassin’s back faded into the distance.

“Don’t know, don’t care. He scared the shit out of me when I walked out of my bathroom and told me what was going on.” He chuckled. “He’s here to help, and that’s all that matters. He’s stronger than any of us here, and I don’t want to impede his mission. You don’t mess with his kind. They take oaths to protect the innocent and keep the darkness from invading the worlds, but I’m guessing they are few and far between. I thought they were extinct.” Rowan pulled off his shirt, the blood already set into the fabric. He scowled, rubbing his fingers on the blood.

“I just hope there are some in Bergarian fighting off that mess.” He waved his hand. “Not that they would reveal themselves there. As to why he revealed himself here, we may never know. They are certainly mysterious.”

“You’ve heard nothing?” I questioned, referring to Bergarian.

“Nothing.” He shook his head. “I pray to the gods it’s almost over.”

Chapter 40

Christine

Hearingthegentleclickof the door, Sebastian walked down the hallways and left me to sleep. He tucked me in like a giant burrito along with Bob, thinking I would be simply fine without him.

Oh, if he only knew.

Somehow, I had calmed my heart when he ‘rocked’ me to sleep, making him think that I was zonked. It was weird. My heart was now both a voluntary and involuntary muscle response. As a human, I couldn’t control it, but now I had power over it. I could slow it, make it move faster, or match Sebastian’s.

So freaking weird.

While he held me, I slowed it to help soothe myself and keep it from beating out of my chest. It kept me grounded; it kept me from ripping through the room and clawing every pillow until feathers dusted every surface. Slowing it down so much, he must have thought I had truly fallen asleep.

Sebastian did what he could. I knew he was upset, but there wasn’t anything he could do to help me with the feeling I was going through.

Sure, my sperm donor was a dick, but hell, the whole secret life he lived was absolutely insane. I wonder if he had another family entirely? Was that why he was gone so much? Maybe he hopped from place to place, family to family, trying to knock up whoever he could and just kept Mom as his main piece for his parents.

Wow, they were going to be freaking out when they didn’t see him at Christmas with his nice little family. They were something else. We would see them at Christmas once a year, and they were just as bad as their son. The apple didn’t fall far from the tree.

Like, who gives their kids bank bonds for Christmas? They did, and it sucked.

I couldn’t imagine what Mom was feeling. I’m sure at one time she thought she loved him, or maybe that was all fabricated, too? Maybe some love-sick love potion he put on her, and then once he had his claws in her, she just stayed because he knew she wouldn’t want the life she used to have.

I growled in my chest.

Oh, that’s new.

Pulling Bob closer to me, my nose rubbed against the soft fabric. I don’t know how many times I did it as a child, an instant reflex when Mom and the sperm donor were fighting. Well, Mom just took it while he yelled at her. Today was the first day she really did something, standing up for herself and me.

Maybe some of that magic shit is wearing off.

Rolling over, I lay still, making sure not to make a sound. The vampire guards outside shuffled around. I could hear every movement they made, unfortunately. My hearing wasn’t mastered, and Sebastian said it could be years before I could control what to listen to and what not.

Then their movements finally stopped. It all went still.

The window that we had opened let in a gentle breeze. The blackout curtains swayed ever so slightly because of the weight of the fabric. It felt nice to feel the coolness outside, but the hair on the back of my neck stood, feeling a chilling breath.

Something is off.

Then it hit me, the smell of burning sulfur, ash, and smoke.

Sitting up in bed, holding Bob close to me, I peered at the window. Sighing, I swung my legs over the soft comforter and padded over, still holding on to my security Bob. My hands went to shut it, but the sulfur smell forced through my nose until it made me gag.

“Told you not to change yet, Sunshine.”

I paused.Shit, shit, shit.

Turning abruptly, I stepped back up to the wall, using Bob as a shield. The window was still left open, but maybe that was a good thing.An escape?

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