JZB

She was such a mass of emotion that she was surprised she had the fore thought not to go hunting through Chester’s trying to find the room she had seen through the small tv screen. Barron’s not only hadn’t returned to her first – Dageus Kelter was alive and she doubted that he planned to clue her in anytime soon but she wasn’t having that! So she made her way back through the crowed and returned to Barrons Books & Baubles. there she went back to her waiting…. She paced back and forth across the once priceless rug that was now covered in claw marks and Unseelie Prince blood. He had left her in this bookstore worrying about him, not even bothering to send word! The echoing sound of his dying yell playing over and over in her mind – she never thought she would miss the sound of that book whispering in her ear. Sure she knew he came back, but it didn’t keep her from imagining a million different reasons for things to go wrong before he did. He was probably going to say she was being childish – not looking at the bigger picture or thinking rationally but she didn’t care. Her emotions where raw and exposed, the few months of turmoil throwing her out of wack with no way of dealing with it. She knew she should be pissed about being kept out of the loop about Kelter – and oh she was! – but she was more hurt pissed that he hadn’t even given her some show he was okay. Not to mention pissed at herself because she couldn’t help but feel ripped open and exposed, even though she was invisible she suddenly felt vulnerable. Why? Because it showed how much Barrons really meant to her, of course she knew she loved him – so much that she would raze the world if it meant keeping him. Just it was when he did things like this that made her wonder how one sided things really where – was she going to be enough in the end? She let out a yell and sent a bunch of books and a glass of milk that had been on the table flying across the room. It was then she heard the door open and she didn’t need to look to know who it was.” Are you just going to let his family think him dead?” Sure that pretty much outted her for spying but she didn’t care – this subject felt a lot safer than the one that had left her wanting to scream and smack at him.

He’d died on his way back to Dublin—thank God Ryoden had the foresight to send Daku to meet him halfway with word on what had happened in the minutes following his death. Centuries of secrets were unraveling around them, one right after the other; it remained to be seen if the fabric could be rewoven before things caromed out of control.

The million dollar bloody question was—was it even worth the trouble?

His instinct upon reaching the city had been to return to the bookshop. Daku had assured him she  was fine—but that wasn’t enough.  He needed to see—hold, kiss, taste, fuck—her for himself before the growing tension inside him would recede.  Torn between the instinctual urge for his mate and his duty to the others, he’d stopped in his tracks, frowning as he tried to make up his mind.

Indecisive hesitation was unknown to him; had Daku not commented on it, his heart would still be in his chest.

Overstepping one’s rank was not allowed; it was a rule that some must be—painfully—reminded of  from time to time over the centuries. Still, the ill-thought comment served its purpose—she  would be fine for a few more hours. The problem the nine faced could not wait.

Especially since the bloody Highlander was a wild card in the game.

By the time he finally  pushed open the door to the shop, he had reached the point of snapping;  the sound of her voice, heavy with accusation, almost pushed him over the edge. And she was still fucking invisible—God damn it.

A warning rattle sounded deep inside his chest.