I glance at the time before setting my morning alarm and dropping my phone on the side table. It’s late enough that I could go to bed if I wanted to. But I don’t feel like it just yet, I might watch a movie to wind down. Not a TV show though. If I pick something with episodes I might get invested and the result will probably be an all night binge. I dont have the self control for just one or two episodes. I grab my laptop and get comfy under my freshly washed covers. I sink into my endless pile of pillows and then realise I didn’t turn off the light and curse quietly under my breath. Ugh, those stupid clapper, snapper light switching inventions don’t seem so stupid right now. With the kind of reluctance I imagine most people save for having teeth pulled, I crawl out of my nest of pillows and turn off the light. I get comfy again, pick a movie and watch it till the end. I’m very nearly asleep when it finishes so I just close my laptop and place it carefully on the ground by my bed. I’l
I stare at the message for a good few minutes, alternating between being excited, proud and horrified that I sent it. Bellamy doesn’t answer right away like he usually does. At first I’m anxious about it, but I remind myself that it’s the middle of the night and he’s probably asleep. I’m sure he will answer in the morning. I’m not even sure what kind of response I’m hoping for. It’s ridiculous to be disappointed.I don’t know exactly when I fell back to sleep, but I wake up clutching my phone as my alarm goes off. Actually I wake up and I’m so shocked to find it in my hand that I accidentally throw it across the room. It’s not actually THAT early. But I was up late and I hate mornings. I drag myself out of bed and turn off the alarm. I still have no answer from Bellamy. I blush bright red as I remember the video I sent last night. Okay, I'm definitely regretting it now. It’s just so embarrassing. He probably hasn’t answered because he is trying to be nice and ignore how ridiculous I a
I’ll make sure she knows how to take it safely.” I assure them. The witch agreed but I had to provide my ID and let them take a copy of it. Potions that alter a person are considered a controlled substance and they need to keep a record of exactly who purchased it. Should it be misused, I would still be responsible for it as the person who purchased it. They wrap up a little bottle of the potion with written directions and warnings. They also give me a small blue box that has my special order in it. I pay a painful amount of money and collect my warranty paperwork for the spells. I get a full refund should they fail unless someone actively casts a spell to break them or they come in contact with nullifying magic. Purchases in hand, Aaron and I walk back to my place. I quickly head in and change out of my work clothes into something more comfy. Nothing impressive, just some leggings and an oversized t-shirt. Then we drive to Bellamy and Megan’s place. I sit in the car out front nervous
I run a hand through his hair in a way I hope is soothing and he sits up, dropping his own hands from his hair. “It’s really okay Bellamy. They weren’t a real threat to you and you kept me safe. They’re doing this because they’re scared. They know they screwed up. I’m not saying what they did is okay, far from it. But if I remember correctly, they were hired by someone. It wasn’t personal, it was just a job to them. So treat this like a job too. Accept the IOU but give the condition that they need to provide any information they have about who hired them. That’s who we should really be angry at. In the long run, they’re nothing.” Bellamy looks up into my eyes and I hold his stare. I can see the conflicting emotions in his eyes as he wages an internal battle. Finally I can see a resolution as he straightens his spine and it looks like a burden has been dropped from his shoulders.“You’re right. I’ll do that. I’ll send the message in the morning. Thank you.” Decision made, Bellamy look
“Stay here.” he demands. I know if I insist he will let go, but he’s not usually so clingy, we were kind of having an emotional moment and I suspect he hasn’t finished processing that yet and isn’t ready to move on. Which makes sense because I don’t think I’ve processed it yet and I started it! Megan rolls her eyes.“Told you he would be all bossy tonight. I’m pretty exhausted anyway since I’ve been sleeping badly. I’m happy to just let you guys hang out. A potion to help with the nightmares would be amazing.” She looks near tears. I start to feel guilty. Maybe I should be spending time with her tonight. I don’t want to neglect my new relationship with Bellamy, but surely Megan needs up both right now. More than we need each other at least.“Oh, well it’s in a bag on the table. There’s about three doses. It’s a controlled substance though and I’ve signed for it so take care of it please. No sharing it. Also remember not to take it more than one night, it shouldn’t be taken consecutive
Bellamy starts towards his office door, carrying me with him. I wrap my arms around his neck to steady myself.“Bellamy! What are you doing? Put me down!” I demand but I’m breathless with laughter. He pauses in the hallway. Still holding me close. “Do I have to? I think I’d rather just keep you here like this. I don’t want to let go.” I can’t help but laugh again.“Of course you need to put me down.” I insist.“Hmm…” he considers me but doesn’t let go. I wriggle my way out of his arms and jump towards the ground. He catches me but lowers me to my feet gently before hooking his arms around my waist tightly holding me close against his chest. “Go get whatever you need to stay over at my place tonight.” I prompt him. Maybe a change of focus is what’s needed to escape him, although I can’t say it’s unpleasant having him so close, I’m a little unsure what his goal is. Bellamy leans down and kisses my neck. “All I need is you.” He murmurs, snuggling into my neck. It tickles and I can’t h
Maybe he is right to be worried that I’ll run away. Then again, I’m not sure I could actually force myself to move so maybe not. Not to mention I’m a little caught up with a fairly hilarious mental image of Bellamy swooning like a damsel in distress like in an old timey drama.“I… all I did was make us even. You did two of the courting tradition things and now so have I. I do see what you mean about hiding and holding back and I just wanted to show you that I appreciate it. Now, in the nicest way possible, if we don’t end this conversation now I might actually die from embarrassment. So please, let’s head inside and go make dinner and relax.” My voice is nearly pleading. Bellamy grins at me. “I’m not sure you could actually die from embarrassment, but let’s not risk it.” He runs around to open my door and leads me inside. I use my app to approve the security alert and we both get to cooking. The meal we cook isn’t great, but it’s not a complete disaster. I’d give it a solid C+. We m
Now why would he specifically bring that up. Is he implying that he touched my other drawers? I said he could, so why did he bring it up? Curiosity is enough to force me out of bed. I open my dresser and it takes a minute for my mind to understand. Did Bellamy… re-fold all my clothes? Everything I own is stacked in neatly folded piles. Far tidier than any folding I bother with. I check the next drawer and find the same thing. My top drawer has a pile on the left that clearly belongs to Bellamy. I guess he made space and… re-organised my dresser? Huh, was it really that bad or is he just a little OCD? I open my bottom drawer and as promised, it’s just as messy as ever. Well, at least I know he didn’t go through that one, although I now feel like I need to sort it nicely to make it match the rest. Maybe I’ll do that later. Impulsively, I grab my phone and call Bellamy. He answers quickly. “Good morning.” I notice his tone is more restrained than normal. I can hear voices in the backgro
“Well, I think that it might actually be nice having an extra person around the house. Extra security and company. Besides, you spend most of your time here anyway. Might as well save you the commute. That is, as long as no one else has any objection?” I say pointedly looking at Megan. Sure, Bellamy could object but I already know that he won’t. Megan briefly makes eye contact with me, gives a slight nod, then finds something to stare at on the ceiling. She is clearly trying to look like she doesn’t care but she is blushing bright red. True to form, Darrien is watching her closely trying to work out how she really feels about my suggestion. Realising that she isn’t going to provide any input, he decides to push it a little. “Megan? I would like to hear your opinion. I am still courting you and I don’t want to screw anything up by making a decision like this without your input.” Darrien says clearly. His voice is mostly calm with just the slightest hint of anxiety as he monitors her r
I wake up late in the morning, it might even be early afternoon. I wriggle around a little which prompts Bellamy to do the same, he is apparently already awake. He raises a finger to his lips to shush me before I speak and I can see why. Kiara is still sleeping, lying in the bed between us. She is still loosely holding onto my arm, even in sleep. I slowly disentangle myself from her light grip and slide out of bed. Bellamy follows, clearly doing his best not to jostle her and wake her up. She definitely needs the sleep. She was restless for a good part of the night and almost definitely was having nightmares, but she seems like she’s sleeping soundly now. My own sleep was blissfully quiet. No visions or anything thank goodness. I’m looking forward to having several weeks of steady sleep and so help me if anything tragic or dramatic happens for the next few weeks then whoever is responsible should probably be terrified of me. We step into the hallway to talk without disturbing Kiara.
I cross my arms in irritation. “Kiara would never! How would she even do that? She’s just a kid!” I object. Dr Dae rolls her eyes at me.“Oh calm yourself girl. I’m not saying she chose to murder anyone. I assume that she was forced to comply somehow. You’ll have to ask the girl when she’s ready to talk. As for the how, the child is a Reaper.” She says it as if it’s obvious but it really isn’t. I know that Reapers exist, but they’re the kind of Magic that most people have heard of but no one has ever met. I suppose Kiara’s dad must have been a Reaper too and why the MRO was so secretive about her markings. Most people are kind of scared of Reapers, they’re kind of the boogeymen of our society. Mostly because they can kill on a whim. All it takes is one touch and they can free your soul from your body. Obviously with no soul you die, and I guess your soul moves on to wherever souls go when you pass on. I suppose that a Reaper would make sense for the representative of Atropos. Her add
Since Kiara probably isn’t up to braving the stairs and she really doesn’t want to be carried around everywhere, we decide to ask Dr Dae to come up to the bedroom. It’s actually kind of weird having so many people in here. Bellamy is a fairly private person, he doesn’t generally invite people to hang out in his… our room. Dr Dae shuffles in clutching her usual bag. I’m surprised that Bellamy isn’t carrying it for her because it looks kind of heavy, but I suspect that she wouldn’t hand it over anyway. I immediately greet her.“Thank you so much for your help. Your contact has become a great friend and she’s a huge part of the reason we were able to find Kiara here.” I nudge Kiara gently with my elbow and give her a little smile. She looks very small and delicate in the oversized, mismatched clothes with her hair dripping down her shoulders. She’s so pale that the bruises on her skin stand out and look even worse than they actually are. Dr Dae gives me a half nod of acknowledgement then
We all turn to face Alex in confusion. I glance up at Bellamy to see if he has any idea what’s going on but he looks just as lost as the rest of us. I continue to stroke Kiara’s hair trying to keep her calm. “Explain.” Bellamy says firmly. Alex flushes red under the attention of everyone in the room. “Uh, well. I assisted Miss Gale in updating her registration with the MRO, and uh, since her position is one of… well almost authority, over the fate’s representatives the updated registration reflects this. So she should be able to make decisions about Kiara’s care like an Alpha would for their Shifters or like a Coven leader would for their Witches. Admittedly it’s a very small group of Magics, but according to the Magic Registration Office, she is in charge of it.” He explains, his voice starts off weak but gets stronger as he becomes more confident in what he’s saying. The police seem a little stunned but I guess Alex isn’t technically wrong. If Kiara were a Shifter, her Alpha would
When we pull up to the house, there’s a police car waiting. There are two cops standing by it, one looks bored and irritated and the other has a fake ‘customer service’ type smile plastered on his face that I know well from experience. Yeah neither of these guys want to be here. They’re probably pissed that we made them come down here. Not to mention uncomfortable being in the Shifter compound. Non-Shifters aren’t invited here often, although I suppose that isn’t exactly true anymore with all our new friends stopping by regularly. Standing beside them looking awkward and uncomfortable is Alex. I bet they’ve been taking their impatience out on him. I narrow my eyes at them and prepare myself. One snotty comment and I am going to tear into them, it’s been a long night. Bellamy parks the car and I wait for him to get out. He speaks with the police briefly and Alex escorts them inside the house. Bellamy returns and opens the door next to Kiara. “Hey, can I help you get inside? The police
As we step outside, I’m confused to find that I actually have no idea where we are. I really was just running and following the tracking spell. I don’t know how far I ran. It’s a good thing the others are here to bring back the cars because I would be wandering all night trying to find my way back. I’m also fairly sure that I left my phone in the car when I jumped out in a hurry. Kiara clutches my hand tightly as the cars pull up on the street in front of us. “Megan, Darrien. You stay here and speak to the police when they arrive. Direct further questions to me. Shaun, you stay with them too.” Bellamy directs as Shaun hops out the car. At Megan’s insistence he stays a good couple of metres away from us.“Yes Alpha Kane.” He responds cheerfully. Aaron and Rio also climb out of the vehicles. Rio stops to chat with one of the other Shifters whose name I still don’t know. Aaron immediately approaches me. Actually a better way to phrase it is that he storms over. He looks almost angry. Or
Darrien is the closest to her and he sees her at the same time I do. He takes a step towards her and she whimpers in fear. He freezes and backs away slowly, trying not to startle her. I gesture for everyone else to stay back and take a few steps closer. I stop a good metre away from the little table and then slowly lower myself to the floor. Kneeling down so that I can see her properly. Kiara is covered in soot and I can see little trails of tears smudging around on her face. She is still crying and whimpering. I am careful to keep my voice gentle and calm. “Kiara?” I call her name. She doesn’t answer or look up, but her whimpering quiets a little and I can see her tensing up like she’s listening carefully. “Kiara sweetheart. You’re safe now. You can come out. We can get some something to eat, you can have a nice bath and some clean clothes. How does that sound?” I try to sound soothing. Her crying stops and she looks up at me with wide, teary, red-rimmed eyes. She doesn’t
Look, I’m no fighter and the Shifters move way faster than I can even properly process in this stressful situation. I watched the Shifter woman leap towards the redhead (I have got to learn these people’s names!) and the next thing I know, both women are screaming and the living room is lit up with blue flames that are steadily growing. I watch as Shaun and Darrien leap at the Shifter woman and help her tear off her burning shirt. Bellamy takes the chance to shift and a few moments later his large black cat form is launching towards the Witch in an attempt to knock her down. He pulls back at the last second as flames light up in front of him, spreading and essentially splitting the room in half with us on one side and the Witch on the other. She’s completely trapped, both by us and the fire which is steadily going out of control. There is smoke in the air making it hard to see what’s going on and the smoke in the air is making it difficult to breathe. My throat is so dry and my lung