Page 18

“Stupid fucking traffic,” I grumble, finally leaving the highway for the almost empty streets around the former Mancer’s Bend. It’s taken a lot longer than I would have liked to get here. It felt like everyone was working against me, trying to keep me from getting to my mate.

Like I’d let them.

She is my world. My very reason for breathing. Not that I actually breathe or have a heartbeat. But the sentiment is the same.

Pulling up to the main gate at Bailey’s house, I peer through the windshield, noticing how still everything is. How quiet the entire neighborhood is, like it’s holding its breath for some unknown reason. Like danger is afoot, and a mere breeze could set off the chaos.

It’s almost unsettling, but I’m not one to scare easily.

After inputting the code and the gates roll open, I drive through, breaking halfway down the driveway to watch them close. Bailey’s safety is of the utmost importance right now, so my vigilance is key in protecting her. Anyone could easily slip through as the gates close, but over my dead body will I allow that to happen.

There’s a slight clang as the two metal barriers come together, blocking the outside world from this little slice of peace Bailey has. My car purrs as I hit the gas again, traveling the short distance to the inviting red door.

Just beyond that entrance lies my future, my forever.

Only a little longer do I have to endure the sleepless nights without her by my side. It’s something I keep telling myself every day until I get to see her again. These periods in between, when she’s in class and stuck at the academy, are unbearable. But it’s the only way to ensure her survival, or I’d have taken her away from here the second I walked into her house in the human sectors.

Not wanting to waste any more time and get my girl into my arms, I exit my vehicle and head for the door, unlocking it with an efficiency that says I’ve done it numerous times before. Eerie silence greets me the second I step inside. It’s quiet. Too quiet for my liking when I know my cor meum is somewhere in here.

Closing my eyes, I focus on my hearing, listening for where she might be. In the direction of the living room, there’s a slight snoring sound, but I already know it’s not my girl. She isn’t a snorer, and she’s already recounted me on the sleeping habits of Aero and how he snores when he sleeps. So if she’s not there, then where is she?

All it takes is a quick moment to ponder, and I figure it out. The library.

It’s one of the only other places she’s actually been inside the house that didn’t seem to invoke painful emotions for her.

My shiny black loafers echo with every step across the marble floor as I head in the direction of the library. I know this place like the back of the hand. There are many summers I remember spending here with my father, making sure the place was taken care of. Twenty years was a long time for a house to stand dormant, especially against the elements, and my dad wanted to honor the sacrifice Mr. and Mrs. Foss made.

The door to the library stands ajar, proving my theory right. My beautiful mate is inside. Straining my ears, I listen for a direction to go in once I pass over the threshold, but everything is silent. Much like it was when I first stepped into the house.

“ Cor meum ?” I call, raising my voice.

Nothing. Not even a peep.

A sense of foreboding washes over me, hastening my step as I make my way through the stacks in search of my mate.

Not finding her, I start to wonder if maybe I was wrong. Did she explore one of the upper levels and I just don’t know it? It doesn’t seem like something she would do, though. The first time we were here, they were off-limits in her mind since that’s where her mom and dad’s bedroom was.

Fuck. I rip the tie from my hair, shake it out, and redo the bun on top of my head. Maybe coming here wasn’t the smartest idea. Cor meum needs a break from the bullshit; she doesn’t need to pile more emotional crap on top of it all.

Screw it. We’ll go to my place instead. She didn’t seem to mind the last time she was there.

With that plan in mind, I pull out my phone to text Luka the new plan, but then a sniffle catches my attention. Lifting my gaze, my blood red orbs connect with watery pink ones, noting the tear tracks running down her flushed cheeks.

My phone clatters to the floor, long forgotten, and in less than a millisecond, I’m dragging my upset mate into my arms, sinking down onto the ground, and holding her like my life depends on it.

It’s then that whatever she was holding back comes flooding out, her sobs echoing the vast library. I have never felt so damn helpless before than right now. No words can fix whatever has her upset.

After what feels like forever, her sobs quiet to sniffles, and she pulls back, her red-rimmed pink eyes glassy with more tears she’s doing her hardest not to let fall.

I brush her hair off her forehead and cup her cheeks, drawing her attention to me. “What’s wrong, cor meum ? This isn’t like you.”

She fidgets in my lap before she opens her hand, revealing a crinkled piece of paper. Whatever is written there is the cause. I’m torn between burning it for hurting her or reading it to find out what it says. Bailey takes the decision from me before I can decide.

“It’s from my dad.”

Reese .

It’s the last thing I expected her to say, but then again, knowing Reese, this is totally like him to leave something for her. Something in his own words. But whatever is there has hurt her deeply.

She holds it out expectantly, her trust in revealing her dad’s words more telling than anything else.

“Are you sure?” It feels like a massive invasion of privacy to even set eyes on this letter, but reading it feels like a betrayal. Why? I’m not totally sure. Maybe it’s because I met the man a time or two, and he treated me like family. But Bailey is his daughter. His pride and joy. The one thing he and Alyssa wanted more than anything else in this world.

“Please,” she murmurs, her words ending with another sniffle, breaking my heart.

With careful fingers, I pluck the letter from her hand, my blood red eyes scanning over every word, everything Reese never got to say to her directly. By the time I get to the end, I’m having trouble keeping back my own tears. Every word is infused with love, with a longing only a heartbroken father can achieve.

Nothing I say after reading that can mend the hurt coursing through my cor meum . But I can be here for her. Be a sounding board for any thoughts she may have. Carefully clutching my cor meum like the precious treasure she is, I get to my feet and make my way through the stacks, until I get to the couches surrounding a cozy fireplace.

She stays perched on my lap, even after I sit down, holding onto me like I’m the only thing keeping her together. My girl’s tough. Tougher than she’s ever needed to be in her twenty-one years of life so far.

Every bad thing she’s been through has been thrown at her in a few short months’ time, obviously overwhelming her.

So Luka and I will be the glue that holds her together until she feels strong enough to do it on her own.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“I don’t know what there really is to talk about,” she murmurs, sliding off my lap, but I clutch her legs, keeping them over my thighs. My hands move on their own accord, rubbing the tense muscles in her calves. A quiet sigh leaves her parted lips, but she doesn’t say anything else. Just sits in the silence, stuck in her own thoughts.

A few minutes later, a familiar presence pops into the library. Luka’s dark onyx locks are disheveled, like he’s been running his fingers through his hair. A lot.

“Goddess.” Luka crouches down in front of her, reaching out and brushing his knuckles against her cheek. She gazes back at him in wonder, but before a smile can touch her lips, she frowns.

“What’s wrong?” How she knew, besides his looks, is astounding.

“I’ve been dealing with two freaked the fuck out demons, who went on a rampage across the academy looking for you.”

Concern flashes across her face—for the demons or the students, I don’t know—before her features contort into sheepishness.

“Damn. I forgot to let them know.” She wrings her hands in her lap. “I just needed to get away and completely disregarded that they needed to know. Are they okay?” Her question answers my previous thought.

“They are. I let them know, and while they are pissed you left without saying anything, they both understood your need for escape. Why didn’t you tell us how bad it was?”

Just exactly how bad is it? I want to ask, but if it’s what I fear, I may be the one rampaging, and no one would be safe from my wrath.

Bailey remains quiet, no excuse coming to her lips for not saying anything. As her mates, we should be the ones she confides in, knowing we’ll have her back no matter what. But this… not letting us know just what she’s been dealing with is unsettling. Does she not trust us? Does she think we’ll believe what’s being said and turn our backs on her?

It’s times like these that I have to remember just how new she is to everything in our world. How little she actually knows about the supernatural society. How being marked mates works. It’s something Luka and I have grown up knowing, living, immersing ourselves in. But my beautiful cor meum will always be at a disadvantage unless we band together and try to get her up to speed. There’s only so much the academy will actually teach her.

“It’s nothing,” she finally says, waving off Luka’s question.

I’m not buying it, and by the dark look on his face, he isn’t either.

Luka’s navy-blue orbs connect with my blood-red gaze, a silent conversation passing between us. We’ll let it go. For now. But come hell or high water, we’ll get it out of her, and we’ll do what we need to do to make it better.

Before either of us can reply, Bailey’s stomach grumbles, a blush coloring her cheeks when we both turn to her. A small smile lifts her lips as she pants her flat belly, and that’s our cue that it’s time to feed our mate. Because that’s what we do. That’s what our own needs demands. To provide whatever it is she needs.

“Come on, cor meum . I’ll cook dinner.” She lifts a brow, a chuckle escaping her.

“You know how to cook?”

I clutch my chest in mock-indignation. “You wound me. Of course I know how to cook. Don’t go singing vampire stereotypes.” I boop her nose, moving her legs and climbing to my feet. “Go get comfortable with your snoring Pegasus, and I’ll whip something up.”

“I just want to grab something real quick.” She jumps up, disappearing back into the stacks.

“I’ll call Cassian and let him know,” I tell Luka, already pulling out my cell phone.

He stays, waiting for Bailey, as I make my way out. Finding the number I need, the call rings twice before it’s picked up.

“Hello.”

“Cassian, it’s Axel Pennington.”

“Axel, I take it you're calling about our little escape artist.” He chuckles good-naturedly.

Well, at least he’s not pissed , I think to myself.

“I am. We’re actually at her parents’ house. I don’t know the details, but it’s been a hard week for her, and she needed to get away from the academy. It’s my fault for not thinking to let you know the second she messaged me, but I was more concerned with getting to my mate. She knows she messed up not letting the Acheron brothers know, but she’s still new to having bodyguards. I hope you’ll be understanding that she’s still getting used to their presence.” I hold my breath, hoping he doesn’t decide to blow up.

“I completely understand. Granted, I’m not sure Headmaster Stonewell will, given her bodyguards turned the academy upside down looking for her, thinking she was kidnapped and being hurt…” he trails off, giving me a moment to understand the full picture.

Fuck. It didn’t even occur to me that they may have thought that.

Just how bad are things at the academy for her? Hopefully, Luka and I can get her to open up and let us know exactly what is happening when we aren’t around. Maybe I’ll need to petition Jasper for permanent residency in her dorm until she can graduate. Luka too. She’ll flourish more with her mates around than without us.

“I’ll make sure going forward that they are aware of her movements.” A loud snore comes from the couch as I walk through, heading into the kitchen. “Luka and I are both with her now, and we plan to stay the entire weekend. We won’t be leaving her side, so you can give them a couple days off, and they can resume bright and early Monday morning.”

“Is that when she’s planning to come back, before classes that morning?”

“We’ll be back in the academy Sunday night, but we’ll be staying with her in her dorm until she goes down for breakfast.”

“Okay. I’ll let them know. Please be mindful in the future that this doesn’t happen again.”

“I will. Thank you for understanding.” And he really is. Understanding, I mean. If it was that pompous fuck, Dirk, he’d have dragged her into the council building and put her to death immediately.

“No problem. Have a good weekend.” My phone beeps in my ear, indicating he cut the call before I could say goodbye.

Well, that’s one disaster averted. Now I need to figure out something to feed my mate before her stomach eats her from the inside out.