Page 31 of His Retribution

My heart sinks and I nod. "Sure… yeah, sorry. That was rude. I don't even know you and you already helped me once, I shouldn't have asked. I'm—"

"I cannot stay now." His ethereal eyes find mine. "But if you still require assistance, would still likemyassistance, I can return tomorrow night."

"Yes!" I basically shout way too quickly, so I clear my throat. "I mean, yes, that would be great. I would appreciate it so much. I… just—yes, thank you."

With one more small smile, Havok disappears into the forest and I watch until I can no longer see his massive form anymore.

The strangest thing about all of that though?

It literally felt like a piece of my heart leapt from my chest and went with him.

On the Brink

Igrip my pocket watch tightly, smooth my fingers over the cracked surface as I pace the floor of my small cabin.

With fall approaching, night comes much sooner than normal but still not soon enough. An hour or two shouldn't feel like an eternity, shouldn't feel like years instead of minutes, but it does. Oh, how the seconds drag, tick by so slowly that I feel as though time stands still completely.

I suspect it is my knowledge of the events to take place this night that have me so on edge.

Yes, I imagine that is why I'm wound so fucking tight I fear I may just pop.

My light has been at work for nearly two hours now. Her shift started at six o'clock and she won't be leaving until Wild Bill's closes. Andrej is there, my dear friend keeping watch in the daylight as he did so many years ago, staying until she leaves the bar and heads home. It should put me at ease, but the thought does nothing to soothe my frayed nerves.

I will not be at ease until I am the one watching over her, following her home, protecting her from the shadows until she is safely on Dragovihk land as I did last night.

And knowing that my light, my love, my angel, has invited me to share in her warmth this evening has only made things worse.

I so badly wanted to hold her, to touch her, to do more than catch her as she slipped from the ladder. Thankfully, my unnaturally quick reflexes allowed me to aid her before any damage was done and I was even more relieved when I saw how her hair was wrapped around part of the engine of her truck, the strands merely stuck and not actually caught.

It is so much like my light to have something so ridiculous happen to her.

And when she was in my arms, her small body pressed against my much bigger one, her silken hair in my fingers, I thought as though my chest would break wide open from the relief and joy it brought me.

Relief and joy that was replaced by sheer horror the second she blacked out.

I do not understand this, don't understand the headaches she's spoken to the others about, the trances she almost seems to be in at times. Henrich is looking into it though, scouring the many chronicles to see if there is an explanation, and I pray he finds something.

When I laid my angel in the grass and began looking her over for injury, my heart swelled at the sight of her up close.

She is exactly as she was.

Her delicate features are the same. Her tiny body with its supple curves, soft and lean in all the right places. Her gorgeous face with alabaster complexion, complete with scar on her forehead, the same one created the first time we crossed paths.

My blue light was exactly the same as she was the last time I held her in my arms, kissed her petal soft lips, save for the additions that made my frozen blood boil.

Six scars.

Four on one side of her throat, one on the other and one that goes through her right hand.

Scars made by the cold steel of a blade, the razor sharp nails as they tore into her flesh and ended her life, took her from me in the most brutal way.

I had to steel myself, calm the hurt and the rage when I saw them and as her beautiful blue eyes fluttered open, I prayed she would recognize me.

She did not.

Though there was… something.

It was not a conscious emotion, more of an underlying acknowledgement of familiarity, and that was enough to have hope flaring once again.