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J ayden had never actually stepped foot in Stephan’s room—the most he’d done was peek his head in past the door. For one reason or another, he had avoided it for the last ten years—especially when his feelings toward the man became sexual.

So Jayden would assume that, under normal circumstances, he’d feel some discomfort being in there.

However, the circumstances right now weren’t normal, and the atmosphere in Stephan’s sitting room was…depressing and strained.

Shifting uncomfortably in his chair, Jayden rolled his shoulders, trying to relieve some of the tension.

Liam, who was sitting in the chair across from him, appeared the epitome of calm. Well, until you noticed how tightly his hands were clutching his knees.

Neither of them spoke. The current bout of uncomfortable silence had gone on for about thirty minutes. Not that Jayden was very talkative to begin with, nor was Liam, for that matter, but it had never been deadly silent .

Fear stilled their tongues. Both were terrified of what had happened—what still may happen. It was a horrible feeling, and something Jayden only experienced when a certain someone was involved.

Stephan was hurt, and it was all his fault…again. It being his fault made him feel…he couldn’t even describe how it made him feel.

To make matters worse, his monster had reappeared. Apparently, he was going to be a permanent fixture in Jayden’s life now—yippee for being crazy.

At least, this time he wasn’t asking for blood. But his rantings were getting annoying. Jayden’s monster was frustrated. It wanted to know what was going on.

He and his monster shared a feeling of helplessness as they waited for the healer to finish examining Stephan, watching for the bedroom doors to open again.

Jayden couldn’t hear anything. The spells around Stephan's room were too powerful—the strongest he had ever run into, put in place specifically to keep him out.

Spells had been placed on both his and Liam’s bedrooms, as well, though the ones on Jayden’s were slightly different than theirs. His went both ways, keeping his thoughts in and others’ out. Stephan had wanted to make sure he had a place where nothing would bother him.

At the time, he hadn’t cared, and had actually thought it was a good idea. Mental walls, for most, took effort. It was well known that being asleep weakened them. So, Jayden understood their wish for privacy. But right now, he was cursing it.

“What’s taking her so long?” his monster screamed. “She should be out by now. I don’t trust her. What if she’s hurting him? We should bust in! ”

“Liam trusts her. She won’t hurt Stephan,” Jayden hissed inside his head.

“So what?!”

Jayden really, really didn’t need his monster’s panic on top of his own. “Hush,” he muttered softly.

Liam jerked at his soft murmur. “Did you say something?”

Forcing away the heat that tried to flair up in his face, he rubbed his neck. “No.”

In Jayden’s head, eyes that mirrored his own narrowed—what do you know, his monster’s trust issues were worse than his own.

Jayden wrinkled his brow—did he trust Liam? Apparently, he did. How special, he now trusted a total of two people.

“Well, I don’t!”

Jayden shook his head at his monster’s grumblings. As the bedroom doors opened, his monster quieted in his head, waiting.

He and Liam stood in unison.

“How is he?” Liam asked.

“Weak. I still think it would be pertinent for me to know what Mr. Everwood was doing before he collapsed.” The woman paused, as if she expected them to confess something, but continued when no one did. “Whatever Mr. Everwood was doing, he overexerted himself. I would not suggest he do it again. Using that much energy can be fatal for someone so young.”

His shoulders tightened, a shudder running through him at just the thought of losing Stephan.

Liam nodded. “What do you suggest we do now? ”

“Bed rest for a few days. Increase his intake of fluids and food to build his energy back up. Blood included.

“Speaking of blood, I would like to take a sample and test it to see if it’s possible that something else contributed to his collapse.”

“No, that won’t be necessary.” There was a hard edge to Liam’s voice as he spoke.

The healer narrowed her eyes, but nodded and left. Tilting his head, Jayden listened, making sure the woman actually left. While inside the good healer’s mind, he made sure she hadn’t taken any blood before even asking—she hadn’t.

“She’s gone,” Jayden announced.

“I’m going to go make something for Stephan to eat. I’m sure he’ll be hungry when he wakes. Why don’t you go sit with him? There’s a chair.”

“I wouldn’t think you’d want me anywhere near him after what happened… After what I did, that is.”

“You won’t hurt him. And I think we all can take some blame for what happened today. Now go.” Liam shooed him towards the bedroom.

Part of him wanted to ask why the man wasn’t blaming him. It didn’t really make sense, since he fully blamed himself.

But Jayden didn’t ask. Taking a deep breath, he walked toward the door the healer had just come out of. On entering, he found himself freezing in horror, his mouth dropping open at what he saw.

Jayden’s left eye twitched. Pink—he was surrounded by pink.

Cotton-candy pink and silver created large floral patterns on steel-gray walls, and the rug underneath the bed was fluffy and white, covering up the marble floor. Every single piece of furniture was either pink or had a bit of pink on it—in the design, the cushions, or the frilly doilies on top.

His gaze roamed around the room until it zeroed in on the king-size bed in the center. Tucked in the middle of a sea of blankets, the color of strawberry ice cream, was Stephan. The man was completely surrounded by pink pillows, and a truly terrifying hoard of cutesy stuffed animals. It was a miracle the elf hadn’t suffocated under an avalanche of fluff.

Holy fuck, Jayden had known the elf loved the color—he just hadn’t realized how much. Not that Stephan wore it much in public.

Actually, now that Jayden thought about it, the man only wore it when he wasn’t working. And the elf was almost always working. At only thirty, Stephan likely had to maintain an air of professionalism to be taken seriously by some of the old as dirt bastards he worked with. Probably the only thing that was always out of place was his mass of unruly blond curls.

A whimper slipped out his mouth as Jayden really looked at Stephan. His skin was deathly pale, making the man look so small and fragile.

Slowly walking over, he sat stiffly in the chair beside the bed. Jayden took one of Stephan’s tiny hands in his. They were soft, and his nails were perfectly manicured, coated with clear polish.

Jayden bet, if he could get away with it, the little man would have painted them pink. It was sad that Stephan couldn’t be himself because of his job. The elf had riches that most couldn’t even dream of. He shouldn’t need to impress anyone. While Jayden didn’t pay much attention to Stephan’s work, he knew the elf had more than proven himself. Those fuckers should be begging to work for, or with, him!

His gaze lifted to Stephan’s face, traveled over his plush pink lips, slid up the slope of his button nose, and settled on his closed eyes. The man’s long lashes were feathered over his cheeks.

Stephan was beautiful, so beautiful. No one else could even compare—at least, that’s what Jayden thought. It was a bit sappy, but he was a monster in love.

“It’s not sappy if it’s true!”

Apparently, his monster was still there—he had just stayed quiet.

“Of course, I am. Where else would I be?”

Sighing, he snapped in his head, “Do you mind?”

“Fine!” His monster huffed. “But I’ll be back if something happens!” With that, his monster faded away.

“Who knew finding time alone would be so difficult,” Jayden muttered to himself.

Not that he was alone right now, as Stephan was there, but it was close enough. The man was asleep—or was he passed out?

He sighed again. What was going to happen when he woke up? After what Jayden had done, what now? Jayden hadn’t been lying when he said he would kill again. He wouldn’t be able to hold back anymore—especially not with his monster voicing all Jayden wished to do.

Was Stephan finally going to wash his hands of him? Would he now abandon him? He should—any sane person would .

The thought of Stephan leaving him had his heart clenching painfully in his chest. Sadly, it was the only outcome that made sense to him. Who would want to stay with a murderer who never planned on stopping?