Page 44 of Cryptic Dreams
I go completely still, I don’t even breathe.
That painting, that’s the one I created six months ago, the one I’ve painted almost every day since. That is the painting that kills me to look at but I have to paint anyway, and that’s because I know it’s my future.
Flames.
Violence.
Pain.
It’s chaotic and abstract but I know what it represents,whoit represents, and right now, having Wraith stare at it for much longer than I would have expected while claiming it’s familiar to him? That is even more terrifying than what the painting represents.
“Are we bringing it home with us?”
Oh good. That’s exactly what I needed. Have my heart stop from one single word then barely sputter to a start with a few more.
He means nothing by it though, I know he doesn’t.
Wesimply implies more than one person and of course he’d refer to his house as home. It’s where he fucking lives after all.
So I get myself under control the best I can and try to act like talking to Wraith doesn’t make me want to curl into a ball and hide while simultaneously drenching my panties. “Please. I’d like to bring the ones that aren’t ruined. I can store them in the extra bedroom with me but I’d like to save them if you don’t mind. I promise they won’t get in the way.”Just like me.
Wraith turns slowly and looks at me with analytical black eyes.
I seriously cannot get over how gorgeous he is: sharp features carved from stone yet somehow blessed with lips almost as full as mine and eyelashes that are definitely longer. His brows are perfect too actually. I’d pay for someone to give me eyebrows like that. And god, the rest of that behemoth body? Wraith is more beautiful than any male or female I have ever seen, and it’s exactly why I want to climb him like a tree.
Even while he looks at me so hard he steals the breath from my lungs, his next words sealing them up completely.
“You should really change your perspective, love,” that velvet voice almost whispers. “Once you accept that the world is unworthy ofyou, that the only thing getting in the way was the shite hand you were dealt and embrace the fire inside of you, let it spark to life and burn your insecurities to the ground, then perhaps you will truly be free.” Wraith’s dark white brow quirks slightly. “Once you believe that the world and everyone in it is the problem, thatyouare not the problem, perhaps then you will bring it all to its knees as your painting depicts.”
Then he turns around and removes it from the easel.
And now I need to remove my damn jaw off the floor.
We have two very different interpretations of that painting and the fact that it created a speech that completely contradicts almost every other word he’s ever said to me before, I’m pretty sure I just fell a little more in love with my mate who doesn’t want me.
14
Tectonic Shift
ZEPHYR
The doorbell rings and I shift my eyes from the portrait I’m painting to the bedroom door as if I’ll be able to see through it. And while I don’t possess that particular talent, I don’t need it. I don’t need any kind of superpower to see what’s about to happen and in spite of myself, it makes me smile.
Just like clockwork, the doorbell rings again and I can hear Wraith scramble out of his bed, stub his toe on the chair at his desk then throw open his bedroom door before he races down the hall and clears the stairs. Then I hear him mumbling very colorful curse words—ones I’m almost positive don’t actually exist—as he throws open the front door and very sarcastically greets his visitors.
Or should I say, hisparents.
Also known as the High Elder and his mate.
I don’t need to share a bond with Wraith to know that’s who’s dropping by periodically right as the sun sets. There’s a completely different vibe to his rather peaceful and cozy home when they’re here.
Sure, Wraith becomes wound so tight I’m sure he could pop, and that anxiety and irritation fills the entire two story French mansion until it’s almost bursting, but the level of static, the raw power that emanates from Atticus is so palpable it makes my hair stand on end. Just not in the same good way it does when Wraith is near. No, that power the High Elder possesses is completely saturated in negativity, and it’s strong enough to make even the most iron stomach roll with dread.
This makes the third time they’ve stopped by since I’ve been here, a visit a week, and I’m starting to think maybe I’m the cause of it. Which is why I listen for a few minutes and try to use my enhanced senses the best I can, but I either really suck at something as simple as honing my listening skills, or they all possess the ability to drown out their voices so I can’t hear them.
It’s probably that.
You know how I know it’s that?
