Page 78 of The HalloQueen

“Now that we’ve gotten that out of the way, I need to get to work,” She patted my hip playfully, “and you get to go make me my coffee.”

Groaning, I lay in the bed like I’d melted into it, “anything for you, my love.”

“Then you should probably go get me a castle while you’re at it, Dracula.”

I laughed and chucked a pillow at her naked body causing her to squeal as she ran away to take her shower.

Every morning. I wanted this every morning.

“Evening, love.”

My eyes fluttered open from my nap to see black, not green staring back at me, “when are you going to find her and get the fuck out of here?” I growled at Yusuf, closing my eyes and begging the powers that be to bring naked Annabel back to my dreams.

“As soon as you help me do it.” He grumbled, rising from my air mattress and throwing a set of clothes at me, “you know if you’d let me stay here we could work later and start earlier.”

I huffed, opened my eyes, and glared at him, “Yeah, when hell freezes over Yus. I see Bels handling me sharing a bed with my ex-husband so well, don’t you?” Rolling off the mattress I stretched fully, shaking into my raven to fly across the store to the empty bathroom. Some tensions needed to be worked out that were best not suited for company. Every day without Annabel was torture. It was torture in the purely romantic way of missing and craving her at all hours of the day, but it was also torture because I’d never had to exist in a permanent state of unquenchable desire before this. I needed her. I could stroke my cock for three days straight and it still wouldn’t free me from the need to get my hands on and inside of Bels.

I knew I was being a cranky bastard, but it felt like every moment I was apart from her someone was tightening a wire slightly more, digging it into my skin. My longing for her was leaving thousands of microscopic cuts on my body that couldn’t heal without her near. The pain of our separation only confirmed Yusuf’s suspicions that she and I were fated, as he was experiencing the same level of distress being apart from Monique despite them being Handfeasted and us not. Needless to say, he and I were not enjoying each other’s company.

He was running me into the ground between operating the shop, looking for Monique, and the time I spent circling the Williams family home. Monique had hurt Bels once, I wasn’t going to let her do it again on my watch, regardless of how Annabel had refused to see me again after we spoke in the backyard. I didn’t need to talk to her to protect her, and as soon as it was safe, I was bringing her home. We could speak then.

The calendar inched closer to Halloween, and with that came its own set of problems. Not only was the store packed with customers daily, much to Yus’ satisfaction - he was quite well fed in my company - but the attention it would garner if Monique was out on such a public night would be catastrophic. Halloween is considered in many circles to be the Other’s night off, as everyone keeps off the street to avoid the mayhem of all the mortals’ tacky celebrations. However, with Monique going slowly insane, it was a genuine concern that if we couldn’t get her to France by then, she would run rampant through the streets of Quaker’s Wharf, drinking and murdering her way through town in an attempt to satiate her bloodlust. Such a blatant disregard for the rules would only result in Sybil and Deirdre having to call in the Coalition, and they would divide and relocate all the Others in the area until the mortals' memory of the massacre faded.

I wasn’t going anywhere, and I wasn’t going to let the Coalition move me away from Annabel. If that meant that as the guardian of the Williams line she was stuck in this region for the rest of her life, I would be there right alongside her. Us, the cat, and our cooking shows. We would read in the rain, take glass-blowing classes, and cook ridiculously extravagant food for only one person to eat. We would go out on Friday nights with her friends and spend Saturday mornings in bed. I would get us back to that even if I had to personally murder every Other in the Boston area to prevent the Coalition from stepping in. No one was taking her away from me. The idea of anyone separating us made the beast within me snarl and slam against the cage it was so tenuously trapped within and frankly, I’d happily unleash him if they tried to touch her.

I took my time walking back to where Yusuf was waiting, not wanting to spend a moment more with him than I had to. If my fated’s safety wasn’t at risk, I would have washed my hands of them long ago, instead, I was spending every free moment sniffing around Quaker’s Wharf for a hint of licorice that was getting less traceable by the day.

“What if she’s moved on?” I asked loudly, walking back into my living area.

“Why would she do that? She said she wanted us to be together, if she left she wouldn’t have a chance in doing that.”

I shrugged, “I don’t know Yus, she isn’t well. Maybe she went back to the house in Boston? She could hide out there, it would be easier for her to feed and it would give it time for things to cool down here. If she wanted us together, why hasn’t she come back to us?”

He leaned into the mini fridge, grabbing two bags of blood and tossing one toward me, “I suppose. Though, if she thought she’d killed or changed your Annabel, wouldn’t she have wanted to stay close to watch the drama play out?”

“Unless she’s worried I’d kill her for it.”

“Which you would.”

“I would.” I agreed solemnly, ripping a small corner off the bag and drinking directly from the package, “It would be done in a heartbeat, Yusuf. If she hurts Bels my statement still stands.”

He groaned, dumping his bag’s contents into a foam cup which he attached a lid to and stabbed with a straw, “I’m aware. You’ve made it very clear that your allegiance isn’t with her,” He took a sip and paused in thought, “though who knows, maybe at this point that would be the best choice. How long do we let this chase go on until we tell the witches we need help?”

“There’s no rule saying she can’t be Undead, Yus, she just would need to find a coven and get her shit together. They won’t kill her if she can remain in the shadows and follow protocol.”

“But, I …we…”

“Yes. You’d need to break your bond. Unless you’re itching to meet the same fate. Is she worth losing yourself for?”

“I always thought I’d answer yes immediately to that question, but now? I don’t know. Maybe I should just find myself a nice plump witch and settle down.” His grin was teasing, knowing full well that a vampire and a witch were an unusual pairing.

I growled, “find your own witch, friend. I will not share mine.”

Tisking playfully, he winked, “and to think, you used to share so well, love.” He pulled out his phone and cursed under his breath, “we need to head out, the sun went down an hour ago.”

It was a cycle. Hunt all night with Yus, sit in the tree outside of the Williams’ home at dawn and dusk, work the shop, and try to find time to eat and sleep. I didn’t know how much longer we could keep up the pace we were running at. Frankly, I didn’t know how much longer I’d care before I’d turn her in to be added to the Undead rosters and send Yus to Paris to get his bond broken so he could move on with his life. I needed to focus on the important things, the most important being getting back to the point where I could wake up to Annabel’s eyes instead of my ex-husband’s. The sooner he was gone, the faster my heart could heal.

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