9. Ash
Ash
The next morning, I was making us breakfast while Lochlan took a shower. Capital FM was belting out of the Bluetooth speaker, mingling in the air with the mouth-watering smell of bacon.
Taking it off the hob, I shimmied over to the table and sang along loudly and out of tune.
Fuck. I was so happy.
After plating up the bacon, Lochlan still hadn’t appeared. Unable to sit and wait for him, I decided to take the rubbish out to the bin.
Whistling the song from the radio, I hot-footed it over the path to the dustbin and offloaded the bin bag. There. Another job done.
I went to turn around, but a dagger appeared against my throat.
“Hello, Ash.”
Alarm zipped through me. My fangs extended, venom filling my mouth. “Let me go, Gareth.”
His hot breath filled my ear, making me cringe. “Nope. Don’t think I will. I’ve been waiting for you to step over the wards for days now. You and I are going to take a little drive. It’s time we put this nonsense behind us once and for all.”
I went to shove the dagger away but stopped at Gareth’s tsking noise.
“Wouldn’t do that, now. Not with a cursed dagger.”
I froze. There wasn’t much that could kill me. There weren’t even that many cursed daggers that could.
That didn’t mean that none could. Did I want to roll the dice?
Nope. Not really.
“Now, let’s get going before your boyfriend appears. Don’t worry, he’s probably going to be glad to get rid of you. I mean, really, pink hair? And what’s with the music you’re listening to? Honestly, I’m doing him a favour.”
He was dragging me backwards, away from the house and the safety of the wards. With the dagger against my throat, I was powerless to stop him. Fuck. I should’ve taken Lochlan’s suggestions more seriously.
Lochlan.
Tears filled my eyes as I stared at the house. Would he realise what had happened? Would he come after me?
Even if he didn’t, I wasn’t going down without a fight. Gareth would have to take the dagger away from my neck at some point.
That’s when I’d strike. This time there’d be no hiding my power or my strength.
I’d never hit my limit before. Never gone beyond the boundary where I’d lose control.
But Gareth had dragged me through it as he dragged me away from Lochlan.
“Here’s how this is going to work. You’re going to get in the car and-”
He broke off mid-sentence. The dagger at my throat suddenly clanged to the floor.
My head snapped up to see Lochlan striding from the house completely naked except a small towel tucked around his waist. Water dripped from him like he’d jumped from the shower and charged straight out here.
“Actually, we’ll be the ones telling you what’s going to happen next.” Lochlan reached us, fury clouding him like a storm. “You’re going to get in your car and leave. And if you ever come within a mile of Ash again, I’ll drain your blood without a second thought.”
With Lochlan at my side, I turned to face my ex. He was frozen in place, just like Lochlan had done with me that day in the kitchen. From the pain in his eyes, he was having a very different experience to the one I’d had.
Gareth obviously hadn’t been doing well since our break-up. His hair hung in greasy strands around his face. His clothes were dirty and torn, like he’d been sleeping in them for several days.
Strangely I felt almost sorry for him. Almost. I mean, he had just tried to kidnap me.
“You need to leave and stay away from me,” I said, holding his eyes and speaking firmer to him than I had ever dared to before. “I don’t want you, Gareth. Deep down, I don’t think you want me either.”
I nodded at Lochlan to release him, ready to have this over with. I wanted to go inside and snuggle up with Lochlan, far away from horrid exes and cursed daggers.
Gareth gave a shuddering gasp as Lochlan removed his hold. He fell forward, his hands catching on his knees as he tried to catch his breath.
Giving him one final withering look, we turned our backs on him forever.
Or so I thought.
We hadn’t taken more than a step when Lochlan went crashing forward. Gareth had thrown himself at his unguarded back. He was snarling, his eyes wild as venom dripped from his fangs.
His fangs that were less than a centimetre from the creamy skin of Lochlan’s neck.
I didn’t stop to think.
Grabbing Gareth around the throat, I ripped him off Lochlan. The force I used sent him flying through the air. There was a loud crunch of metal as he slammed into his car, the frame rocking from the impact.
I didn’t give him a chance to respond. Didn’t wait for Lochlan to hold him in place.
No. He’d tried to end Lochlan.
His death was mine to take.
Launching myself at him, I pinned him in place with my arm across his chest.
He tried to shove me away, his mouth falling open in shock when I didn’t budge.
My fangs were out. I was ready.
Gareth’s eyes fell on them and he began to babble. “Ash, you don’t want to do this. You love me, remember? You’re just overreacting.”
“You’re right,” I told him. “Sometimes it is annoying listening to someone else babble.”
I didn’t say anything more before plunging my venom-coated fangs into his throat.
I felt no remorse as Gareth’s form fell still. No regret as I stripped his immortality from him.
He’d risked it all the second he’d gone after Lochlan.
Now he couldn’t threaten either of us ever again.
When it was over, I turned around and walked straight into Lochlan’s embrace. We could deal with the body later. Murder and body disposal was a necessary part of supe life. Without laws to govern us, this was often the outcome of situations like this.
It wasn’t the first time I’d killed, and I doubted it would be the last.
Even so, I was ready to get back inside and forget this had ever happened. It was only as Lochlan held me that I realised how close we’d come to losing this. What we had was new, but it was precious. Necessary.
Worth fighting for.
I peered up at him. The mage who’d listened to me. The one I thought I’d never find. “Hey, Lochlan?”
“Yes?”
“I love you.”
My words transformed his face. Gone was the fury. The stress. The worry.
It was just Lochlan, beaming at me.
“I love you too, bràmair.”
Leaning against his chest, I let the sound of his heartbeat settle me. “You know, you never did tell me what that means.”
“Bràmair? It has several meanings. Sweetheart. Partner. Boyfriend.”
I snorted. “Hang on, have you been calling me your boyfriend since our first date?”
Lochlan gave me a sheepish grin. “What can I say, when you know, you know. And with you? I knew within thirty seconds.”
“Fibs. You didn’t know what to think when you first saw me.”
“You’re right. I didn’t. You stripped away my ability to speak, think, or even dream. You stood before me, and it was like nothing else existed.”
Tears filled my eyes. “I really love you.”
He kissed the end of my nose. “I really love you too. Even if you do put your milk in your cereal first.”
My laughter was swallowed up by his lips. I was so damned grateful Cassie had pushed me to take the leap.
Cupid hadn’t just found my perfect match in Lochlan.
He’d found my everything.
And now, I was never going to let him go.