“I’m not tired…” Her mumble is adorable, so much so, I mentally remind myself if I pinch her cheek she will likely cut my fingers off.
I hum softly, “Shhh.” She buries her face into the pillow while I trace a gentle line up and down her bare back. “Get some sleep,” I whisper. “You can torture her more tomorrow.”
After directing Xera down to the wine cellar, she tied up Miss. pregnant Shifter, and left her with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. I’d say it was out of character of her, but the moment we got cleaned up, she was back down there pulling off Desiray’s toe nails.
The art of torture seems to come quite easy for my little demon, and I’m excited to see what she’ll do next. It’s for no purpose other than her own enjoyment. She told her the story of what Lars had done to her, and each time the Shifter said ‘no’ or ‘he would never’,pop, another nail. After the seventh time, she closed her mouth all together.
I could tell my girl was tired; we hadn’t slept since the night before going on our date. Her eyes were constantly at half-mast, and while I could chalk it up to being bored after the final nail removal, her heart rate was slowing.
Once I convinced her to leave Desiray for the evening, she sluggishly made her way back upstairs, into another shower, and collapsed into bed.
“Wake me up before sun” —midway through her sentence she yawns— “rise, we need to get…” I think her eyes are closed, but she’s trying to fight it. “Going.”
My nails drag across her shoulder, and then to her hip, down to her thigh. As she falls into a deep sleep, her tail stops moving, her breathingbecomes steady, and her heart rate begins that rhythmic beat I enjoy listening to.
Grabbing the sheet, I rest it over her before getting up to get myself cleaned up, then I’m back right beside her to get some sleep.
It’s stillthe dead of night, but something jerks me awake. This time, it’s not my little demon. A sound like blaring static from outside has me on my feet. Xera is still passed out, and I leave her in bed as I pull on boxers and sweats before stepping out of the room.
Moving down the hall toward the living room, Kayn steps from one of the guestrooms. I don’t need to ask if he heard it, the look on his face all-telling he did.
The moment I’m heading toward the back door, he grabs my bicep, halting me. “Stay with Xera, I’ll go look.”
“No.” I jerk from his hold. “Not you too, fucking Vayl above.”
“Not worried about you,” he says with a smug smile. “Worried about what she’ll do if something happens to you.”
I glance behind me and spot Sydni peeking around her slightly ajar door. Turning back to Kayn, I’m about to speak when a shout rings out from outside.
“Piece of shit!”
It’s Alaric.
With a groan, I gesture to my friend, nodding toward Sydni.
After the silent command, we part ways. I head for the patio door, swinging it open and stepping into the brisk night air. Alaric’s white hair nearly glows in the moonlight, just beyond the pool.
The door clicks shut behind me—soft, but enough in the silence that I know he hears it. His head tilts back, his hands clenching and unclenching as I approach.
I tuck my hands into my sweatpants, glancing from side to side. I still don’t know what that sound was, the static, but I’m assuming it came from him. There’s no sign of anyone else out here, but I’m not about to relax and let my guard down. Not yet, at least.
“You know,” he states dryly. “When I was selected to kill Xeraphine, I hadn’t known who I was going after. All I knew was that it was my job to destroy a prophecy before it could be enacted—to save this world from a future we’d never be able to recover from.”
I step over the rocky barrier that takes me from my property onto the land around.
He rolls his head back, his disgusted gaze directed right at me. “I should have killed her, but because of morals, I couldn’t. The tug to herwas the humanity her Mundane side brought to me. When I saw those silver eyes look up at me, blade in my hand ready to cut a child’s head straight from its shoulders, they spoke of innocence and hope.”
Stopping a few feet from him, I watch his demeanor shift from anger to frustration.
“I’d truly thought that protecting her in that moment, may change some course of fate. It did, but not hers. Not thisworld’s.” His hand draws up and through his hair. “Mine. Those Divine pricks saw my action as betrayal.”
“I never asked, but—” I could care less about his tragic story. “Why didn’t they send another Divine after Xeraphine?”
He shakes his head and stays silent. So talkative when it comes to himself, but not when a question is turned on him.
I’m about to walk away when he says, “They did.” I pause my departure, wanting to hear more. “I gave them a reason to call me a traitor. I’d broken into her house and left a note telling them that the Vayl was after their daughter… Since she lived, I assumed they took the necessary precautions.”
My brows pinch, but I don’t say anything.
