Chapter Nine
Zaldi
Was I hallucinating? That had to be it, because there was no way this grandmotherly figure, who looked like she would sooner bring me soup in bed than spell me, was the source of that power I’d felt building.
And, even if it had been, it was Lulu’s grandmother?
But, there was no denying it. I could even see the sheen of something Other in her eyes as she looked up at me.
My mate groaned a little, her head moving against my chest. Impatience darkened my voice. “I am taking her somewhere safe. She needs a healer.”
Still the woman’s wand did not waver. “What happened to her?”
“I’m not completely sure. She pulled me into her dream, I didn't realize it was an injury until she started to get confused.” I looked down at her face, my heart squeezing. “Please, she’s hurt.”
The woman sniffed, a frown furrowing her brow, “She isn't going anywhere.”
My stomach dropped. “I have to. She needs her head looked at!”
“I know,” she rolled her eyes, her wand finally dropping as she stalked past me. She was surprisingly spry for her age. I wondered, briefly, if I was noticing now because I knew more about the woman, or if she was acting this way because I knew what she was.
Either way, she disappeared into the house. “Get in here, boy. You want her healed, I want it done now.” In a softer tone, more grumbling than the earlier shout, she continued, “I may not have centurion blood, but I can take care of my own.”
I followed her in, careful to not bump Lulu’s prone form as we passed through the narrow doorway. “Where?”
“Couch, living room,” the woman…no, the witch shouted over her shoulder as she again disappeared down the hallway.
Lulu made a soft noise as I set her down on the sofa, holding her head slightly aloof so she didn’t bleed over the floral fabric there. “Here,” a towel was shoved into my hand, “for her head.”
I carefully switched my hold, moving so that Lulu now rested softly against the pillow.
Her dark hair brushed across her cheekbone, and I quickly took a minute to brush it back from her eyes again.
When her eyes opened up, I wanted her to be able to see me.
Plus, it gave me the excuse to keep touching her.
It was the only thing that was stemming off the demonic impulses to rage against the entire world for allowing my mate to get hurt.
“Calm down, boy,” the witch said, shoving at my shoulder as she moved to slowly kneel at Lulu’s head. “It’s just a bump.”
The hackles on the back of my neck rose in frustration. No matter who this witch was, I wanted my mate taken care of. And now. “You know that already?”
She tutted at me, those unusual eyes narrowing as she leaned over her granddaughter. “I know your instincts are telling you that only you know best. But, do you really think I’d let my Lulu bleed on my sofa while her mate has a full on panic attack.”
My jaw threatened to drop. “You…” my voice cracked. “What did you say?”
The old woman cackled with clear delight as she pulled out her wand, letting it settle over Lulu’s temple.
“For such a smart creature, you are astonishingly easy to surprise. But, to be clear, yes, I know about you. Yes, I know what you are. And, yes, I know what you are to her. It was nearly blinding the first time I glimpsed you two together.”
“Blinding?”
The witch hummed, her wand dipping over Lulu’s head, even as a wrinkled, gentle hand moved along her hair line.
I bit back the growl that built in my chest as I watched her hand find the bump on Lulu’s scalp.
The smell of her blood mixing with the power that her grandmother was releasing into the air around us made my body twitch with protectiveness.
But, I swallowed it back, pressing it down, low into my chest where my heart strained at the carefully constructed wall I’d build around it.
I needed to focus on her.
I needed to be there for her.
I needed her.
Which meant, I needed to wait until later to lose control. When I knew that I had kept her safe. Then, and only then, would I deserve her. But, at the same time, I wanted to ask her what she meant. I was dying to hear it.
But first, her head.
I stroked my hand down Lulu’s sleeve until I found her cool fingers.
Capturing them, I curled my hands around them, my much warmer body warming hers, even more so when I brought our combined grip up to my mouth where I could breathe out over them, as if this tiny little task might help throw the scales in her direction.
“Sweet girl,” her grandmother said softly, her magic settling over the pair of them.
It was a vague itch at the back of my throat, goosebumps rising along my forearm.
Her eyes jumped to meet mine, sharp assessment shining out of them.
“You’re going to be just fine.” she said, voice solemn, each syllable weighted down in magic.
My shoulders sagged, my body relaxing as her magic affected not only my mate, but myself as well.
“How do you know?” I asked, my words slurred as I leaned forward, my forehead coming to rest against Lulu’s belly.
My lower half folded, letting me down to the carpeted floor.
I was so relaxed, my body humming in delight at both the onslaught of my mate’s touch, coupled with the relief that she was going to be okay.
The old woman laughed, groaning as she straightened. From my limited view, I watched her move towards me. Instinctively, I moved away from her hands, but she ignored me, pressing her palms against my hair.
“Because, darling, you two are meant to be. I have seen what it looks like to deny yourself your mate, your true partner,” Her hands patted my head once again, “Don’t make the mistakes I made. You can’t keep hiding yourself from her.”
I remembered the dream we’d been in. The way her face had changed. When she recognized me. Because she had. There was no hiding that.
“I won’t. Not anymore.”
“Good job,” she said, a sigh filling the space between us. “You rest with her. I’ll wake you up if anything happens.”
I wasn’t sure what would happen, but I trusted her to keep us safe.
And as my eyes shuttered once more, my mind focused on the one thing that I still couldn’t make sense of.
Because if her grandmother was a witch, and she really was Lulu’s grandmother…
that meant my mate wasn’t as human as she believed.
And that meant there was more than one secret that needed revealing.
***
Lulu
Everything was fuzzy when I opened my eyes. At first, I was half-convinced that I’d thrown a sheet over my face in my sleep. But, I blinked, my hands moving up to push that sheet aside and found only warm, strong hands that sealed over my wrists. “Easy, easy. You’re safe. You’re at home.”
Zaldi was there, his grip softening as I blinked rapidly, letting the dregs of sleep pull away from my mind. “You’re here.”
His face came into view, his familiar little smile making my own lips curve. “I’m here.”
Gigi was there too, her hand smoothing my hair back from my face before pressing a kiss on top of my forehead. “There you are, Lulu. Glad you’re back in the world of the waking.”
I sighed, feeling the warmth of her presence wash over me, even as she pulled away. “Was it that bad?” But even as my hand moved back to touch the back of my head, Zaldi’s hand tightened on them, keeping me still.
“Z?”
“I’m going to leave you two to talk,” Gigi was saying, her voice fading. “We’ll be back late tonight. When we can talk.”
There was a click of the door closing, and I looked back to Zaldi.
His face looked..different. I squinted at him, trying to bring him into focus, but it was like he was part of a trippy photo filter, his face fading in and out of focus, then darkening to a deep red.
A moment later, it snapped back to the face I knew.
But…I’m remembering something now. Like ripples in a pond, memories began to surface.
Zaldi’s voice, his laugh, his warmth, filtered into my mind like tiny droplets, until my mind was awash with him.
But, these memories, they were filling in now, were moments with him far beyond our time here in Salus Glen. From my dreams.
I gently tugged my wrists out of his grip, moving to sit up on the sofa. He helped me, his hands still gentle as he guided my hips back until he rested his arms on either side of my closed thighs, his head tipped up to me.
“What do you remember?”
“You, I remember you.” I licked my lips, they were so dry, just like my throat.
Suddenly, everything was tight, drawn severe in the moment as I stared down at this man I liked so much.
“But not you?” My hand reached out, fingers ghosting across his cheekbone.
In the wake of my touch, his skin showed a brilliant red.
I gasped, but didn’t pull away, letting my hand continue to trace across his skin, watching it change at my touch. I swallowed, trying desperately to wet my aching throat. “How long have you known?”
“Since you called me here.”
My lips jumped, tears pricking the backs of my eyelids. “I called you here?”
“Well,” Zaldi’s dark eyes blinked, “That’s the only thing that makes sense. One day I’m there, the next I’m here. And you….”
“I called for you,” I was remembering now. The nights in my dorm that I’d go to sleep, hoping I’d dream about the tall, beautiful male again. Night after night, I craved his attention. And then, later, his touch. God, I had wanted him to touch me so badly. And he’s always been such a gentleman.
And now, he was here. He was real.
“How did this happen? You were in my dreams, but now you’re here. And you know about it all?”
His face was still as beautiful as I remembered and a large part of me was furious with myself.
Furious that I hadn’t seen beneath this mask the way that I’d wanted to.
The way he deserved to. I felt the first tear slip free, a second rapidly following.
“Oh God, Zaldi I’m so sorry. I didn’t know. But, I couldn’t believe it.”
His hands moved, brushing away my tears, “Lulu, you have to look at me.”
I sniffled, my eyes still watering as I tried to focus on the now completely red toned face in front of me. “I’m trying.”
Zaldi chuckled and I chuckled back at him. “I’m such a mess.”
“You,” he said slowly, “Are beautiful. But are also forgetting one tiny little detail. I could’ve ended all of this weeks ago. I was a coward, too afraid of what it might mean if you found out what or who I was and then didn’t want to know more.”
I sniffled, eyes focusing, realizing that while I’d always known him as a red creature from my dreams, that there was so much more to it now. He wasn’t the administrative type like I’d assumed. He wasn’t even human.
My heart thudded in my ears. He wasn’t even human.
My jaw loosened, and his face dropped a little. “Ah, there it is.”
I licked my lips, “What?”
“You’re realizing that while I’m not what you thought I was…that I’m also nothing you’ve ever met before.” Zaldi rocked back, his hands resting on the sofa again. “Are you ready to hear this? I understand if you want me to leave.”
There was so much I wanted to ask. A million things I wanted to know.
Because he was insinuating that I didn’t know him.
That I didn’t know what his favorite coffee was or what he tasted like when I kissed him.
But, I did. And while I may not have understood everything completely, one thing remained certain.
He was still Z. My Zaldi. And, I felt it more now than ever, that pulsing line between us humming. But, I had waited too long, he was pulling away, his head nodding. “It’s alright, you take the time.”
Instinctively, I threw myself forward, wrapping my arms around his neck, my fingers sliding briefly over the line of his horns before settling in his hair. “No,” I whispered, my mouth a breath from his, “I want to know everything.”
His eyes, nearly black, darted between my gaze and my mouth and then back. “Everything?”
I nodded, my body was hot now, too hot, as it pressed up against. Head injury be damned, anxiety and confusion aside, I wanted him.
My belly clenched as he breathed out, his face moving ever closer. Because no. I didn’t just want him. I needed him.
“But, first….”
Zaldi nodded slowly, “Yes?”
“Kiss me.”
His eyelids were at half-mast, his hands curling around my hips to hold me against him. “Like this?”
I blinked, surprised and confused. “I want you to kiss me how you are. How you really are.”
And then, he was kissing me, the sweetness of his mouth coupled with the grip of his hands made me moan and arch into him.
And what was sharp? Oh God, did he have claws?
There was a soft scrape against my lower back where my shirt had ridden up and I felt them now, moving against my skin.
And yet, it wasn’t remotely frightening.
In fact, just the idea of them sent a whirl of arousal down my chest into my belly.
My tongue tangled with his, even as he tried to pull away. I whimpered, my fingers tight in his hair as he slowly released me. Even when we broke apart, we shared the air, our panting breaths filling the space.
“Wow,” I whispered, feeling a bright giddiness settle in my heart.
“Lulu, I have to tell you what I am. Maybe then you’ll understand.”
“Understand?” I blinked at him, shaking my head a little. I felt nearly lightheaded right now, but the heavy throb of arousal coated my tongue as I pressed my breasts up against him. “Understand what?”
“That I can’t keep kissing you, not if you want to keep a straight head.”
That made me pause, the warm fog surrounding my mind clearing ever so slightly. “I don’t get it.”
Zaldi leaned in, his forehead bumping against mine. “I’m an incubus, Lulu. And you-you are–fuck–.” His eyes closed, his hands tightening. “You deserve to know everything.”
“It’s okay, I can take it. I want to know.”
“You’re my mate, Lulu.”
“Your mate?”
His nose brushed mine. “And I’ve been waiting a long time for you.”