“It’s not your fault.”
“What is happening to my Angel?” he almost whispers as he stares at his daughter stroking the hair of the man she doesn’t know.
“It’s the initial connection. It’s so strong, and I doubt she’ll be able to be separated from him tonight. She’ll be worried, and if you take her away, I can promise she’ll sneak back to him.”
“Absolutely not. She’s eighteen,” he asserts, and she turns to cut her eyes at him.
“Most hybrids at eighteen have numerous black belts in every form of martial arts. They have lived on their own their whole lives, and they have a full day of workouts instead of parties. I’m sorry if I seem crude, but eighteen for a hybrid is forty for a human in terms of skill and experience.”
“My daughter is different. She’s still a child,” he counters.
“She’s different in many ways, but she’s still a hybrid. What’s she’s going through is too strong to explain. You can stay too,” I murmur softly, and I grunt as I shift in Brazen’s arms.
He kicks open a door in front of us which leads us to the hallway full of apartments and gasping natives.
“I’ll just take him home with me,” Nicholas inserts.
“No. He’ll be expecting to wake up in my place. It would be best if we gave him some comfort right now. He’s so different. He doesn’t have the marks of the gifted as he should. They did a thorough inspection before taking him into interrogation. I’ll question him tomorrow.”
“Then I’ll sleep on the floor next to my daughter if you really think she should stay.”
“I don’t think she should stay. I’m telling you she’ll need to stay. He’ll wake up expecting her, and it’s really best for everyone if she’s there. It’s a very potent emotion in the early phases.”
“Is that how you feel about Hale?” Brazen grumbles, and I now realize why he’s kept his silence during this slow walk to the apartment.
I’m happy to see the door to my home, and Brazen motions them in.
“I’m going to go grab some blood from my place, and I’ll be right back.”
He takes me with him, and I use my gift to open his door. I let out a cry of pain when he sits me down on the soft couch that pushes against me just wrong.
“Sorry, baby,” he coos as his lips press against my head.
“It’s fine. Just take them blood first,” I grunt out, and he swishes over to grab several packs before disappearing.
He returns promptly, and shuts the door behind him.
“Nicholas and Angelica are caring for Grayson. She’s rather taken with him,” he murmurs softly while coming to join me.
“It’s just the bells and whistles of our kind. It’ll wear off soon,” I wince out. “Blood?” I urge.
“You never answered me about Hale. Is that how you feel about him?”
I sigh out, and then I stare into his expectant pale eyes.
“It is when I’m savage. I used to feel that way all the time, but there’s only so much a girl can take,” I almost choke out, and he pulls me into him.
“I’m bleeding all over your couch,” I grumble.
He laughs lightly, and then he pulls me back. “I’ve got some good shit to clean up blood spills.”
“Can I please have some blood now?”
“Heal off me,” he blurts out.
“Brazen,” I mumble. “We’ve been through this.”
He scoops me up, and turns on the shower. I cringe as he steps into the cold water while holding me to his body, and my blood washes into the drain. My clothes become drenched, and I know he’s being careful not to let my fresh blood into his mouth because he fully intends for me to take his blood into mine.
