Page 70 of His Atonement
"Frankie, just tell me. I can sense there's something, something more than a cold or a stomach bug or whatever. Something serious is going on with you and—"
"Just drop it, Grace. Just drop it and do not breathe a fucking word of your inaccurate suspicions to anyone, ok?"
She stares at me for a beat then nods. "Fine. It's not my secret to share anyway, but I promise you, I will figure it out and when I do, I'm gonna kick your ass then use all of our combined gifts to heal you."
If I actually thought that would work, then I'd probably tell her, but this isn't an illness like what she thinks. It's not cancer or pneumonia, it's not something that only affects my body, which means it's permanent and irreversible regardless of whatever her healing methods may be.
"Good luck with that.” I glare before I turn back to the house.
And once I'm inside I have no desire to do anything but go home and smoke enough weed to pass out for the rest of the day.
Which is pretty much what I do.
A Different Kind of Possession
Iglance at my phone, check the time once again and feel a muscle in my jaw tick.
It is almost half noon and I should be feeling a great sense of relief since I successfully missed the meeting after breakfast, managed to avoid the shit show it most definitely turned into once the king spilled the beans about everyone, and yet I am not.
No, I feel no relief at all actually, only more anxiety over how Frankie handled it. If she is upset or frightened, if she is currently packing her shit to haul ass off the property.
To be perfectly honest, I half expected her to come storming in here to question me, to scream and yell at me over my demon status and tell me she never wanted to see me again.
Had that happened, I would have tried to use it as a way to push her further away from me, maybe share some of my crimes, give her details about what it is I do so that she would be as disgusted by it as I am and sever our bond without my ever having to bring it up. But my warped mind then immediately turned to what I would do if she did sever our bond and that included a lot of begging, some groveling, a little bit of promising her the world and then hopefully some angry sex that would in fact be mating.
Then I'd move into her cabin with her where we would raise Thor together, have constantnot-vanillasex and work on her bucket list while I tried to find a loophole in my deal withhe who shall not be named.
And we'd probably still get on each other's nerves endlessly, but I enjoy that and would definitely not mind it if we were always together in spite of it.
Pipe dreams, I believe, are what they're called.
I've been fabricating scenarios in my mind all morning in preparation for a confrontation, and because it has not come, I can only assume that means it is because Frankie is leaving.
She hasn't yet though. I can still feel her on the grounds, still sense something that is off with her, but I'm sure it's only a matter of time.
Just a matter of time before I am, in fact, crushed—just as Colt said.
I scrub a hand over my face, blow out a frustrated and kind of sad breath, then get to my feet.
It's probably safe to go upstairs to find something to eat by now.
One thing I've learned over the last five weeks, Frankie does not come to the house for lunch on Monday, Wednesday, or Friday and since today is Friday, I should be able to continue avoiding her.
My feet feel as though they are wearing cement shoes as I practically drag myself down the tunnel, my heart just as heavy because fuck, I am so in love with my mate already and she will never return it simply because I do not deserve it.
"Henrich, listen to me."
I stop just outside the clinic, maybe a few feet away as Grace's hushed words float through the crack in the door.
"I am listening, Gracie, but I cannot do that."
Grace huffs. "You have to. I'm telling you, something is wrong with her and she knows it, but won't say."
My ears perk a bit as I lean closer. Demons are gossip hungry by nature and typically do not care if we eavesdrop. It's a great way to get a leg up if you're trying to wheel and deal, but I'm not, just trying to eavesdrop for the fun of it. I need some sort of pick me up right now.
"Grace, my sweet Grace, please understand. It is not that I do not want to help but if I don't know what I'm healing then I can't heal properly."
"Can't you diagnose things on contact though?"
