Page 85 of Hunted By Fear

I can’t remember the last time Luce shielded himself from me. Ignored me, sure, but to block me out completely…

Shaking off the weird feeling, I let my focus return to Aeri and the garden. I’d had the imps make her something, and now feels like the perfect time to give it to her. I retrieve it from my room before skipping back to hers, probably painting a properly deranged picture, but I don’t care.

Pushing open the door, I stop dead in the doorway as my eyes find Aeri across the room, and my jaw hits the damn floor.

“Does this look terrible? Do I need to change?” Aeri’s voice is high and full of worry, and the way she sinks her teeth into her bottom lip lets me know she’s nervous, but all it does is make me want to bite it for her.

Damn.

“Talian!” Bast growls when I’m quiet for way too long, and I smack a palm to my head, realizing I’m making this worse.

“You look like you fell right out of a dream, Darling.”

She didn’t bring any of her own clothes when she came, considering she was unconscious and, you know, taken against her will. So Bast and I have stuffed her closet with a variety of things, from dresses that make me hard to things like the leggings and tee she’s got on right now that also make me hard…

On second thought, maybe that’s more of a her thing than the clothes?

Some of the tension leaves her shoulders, and while she doesn't smile, I see her lip twitch up and the slightest bit of a blush color her cheeks.

“Don’t get all blushy for him, he’s not being sweet.” Aeri looks at Bast, and I don’t miss his shit-eating grin. “If he says you're in his dream, it’s definitely a wet dream.”

“I’m sure you would know all about that, huh, Bast?” He doesn’t deny it, which is smart because it would most definitely be a lie, and I can’t help but chuckle as the tips of his ears turnred. Her jaw drops, and Bast shakes his head, more than used to me. “Actually, I’d prefer no clothes,” I tell them after a second of thought, her mouth hanging open, painting me a pretty picture of how I might fill it.

“Garden!” Aeri squeaks, grabbing Bast’s hand and dragging him toward the door and, by extension, me.

I step back into the hall and let her pass. I could push, make her blush some more, and leave her reeling, but there’s time for all of that later. If I have my way, we’ll have nothing but time.

Aeri moves through the castle much easier than she had a few days ago, and now she’s able to take us all the way down to the dining hall without getting lost. It doesn’t sound like much, but I still occasionally get lost with how big the castle is, so it’s impressive.

She drags Bast along with her, and he seems more than happy to let her, only moving her grip on his wrist to his hand so that he can lace his finger through hers.

Well played.

“Um, so how do we get to the garden?” she asks, seeming to finally realize she has no idea where she’s going.

“This way.” Bast steps in, tugging on her hand, and she doesn’t hesitate to fall into step with him.

Weird.

I feel like I should be jealous, but it’s actually the opposite; I’m excited.

Knowing my brother has a connection with her, too, makes me happy for him because he deserves to be happy, and I know he will do everything he can to keep her safe. It could be argued that Bast’s had her best interests in mind far longer than the rest of us—well, minus Ruin, but that’s his job.

Bast leads the way to the door off the side of the dining hall, but just before we reach it, she skids to a stop, looking at the door with wide, worried eyes.

“Aren’t the hounds out there?” I hear the panic in her voice and see the way her eyes volley around the room as if worried they will appear out of nowhere at any moment.

I look to Bast, but he shrugs. I have no idea where the hounds are, but I very rarely come across them. They have their own ‘rooms,’ if you will, in the basement. The only time I ever see them up here is when they’re with Luce.

“Lulu said we could take you out. He reinforced the wards to ensure it’s safe and everything, so I highly doubt he would have the hounds out there, Darling.”

She nods but continues to chew on her lip as she stares at the door as if she might be able to see through it if she tries hard enough. She didn’t even bat an eye at my nickname, and I thought for sure that would at least get a smile.

“I’ll ask where they are.” Bast offers before I can, and it’s probably for the best since I doubt he wants to hear from me again so soon.

“He said they are with him now.”

Aeri looks around the room, and while I can still see some of her panic, I also see a bit of hope, as if she thinks she might find him walking into the dining room at any moment.