Chapter Three #2
“I’m not dangerous now,” I told Remy. “If that changes, I’ll tell you. Besides, he’s too kind for the Beast to eat unless it was starving, and after last night, it’s full.”
Remy’s jaw tightened. It increased the chiseled hollows beneath his high cheekbones, and his blue eyes could have been made from diamonds from how hard they were.
“You might believe that, but if what’s inside you disagrees, I’ll kill you.”
I almost smiled. If Remy could actually do that, I’d be so relieved! I’d tried everything, and none of it had worked.
“Travis, Sam, wait outside,” Remy said, turning that jeweled gaze onto them. “Spend the time thinking about how you won’t let Brendan slip away from you a third time.”
“Yes, Warden,” they murmured, and left.
Brendan sat next to me, his hand brushing my cheek. “All that blood hid it before, but with your amber hair, porcelain skin, and green eyes, you’re a regular beauty!”
Aww. Brendan was such a sweetie.
Remy’s features hardened. “What did you do to him?”
I’d told him everything else. Why not this? “The kidnappers fractured his cranium. He was dying, so I channeled the Beast’s power and healed him.”
Shock pierced Remy’s dangerous demeanor. Just as quickly, his control was back. “You can channel its power?”
I grimaced. “Yes, but that makes the Beast ravenous, and when it’s ravenous, it breaks out if I don’t give it lots of violence to eat. That’s why I went after Brendan’s kidnappers.”
Ice was warmer than Remy’s gaze. “You deliberately feed random people to this Beast?”
“Yes, but not how you think. As I said, the Beast loves to feed on violence, but it’ll settle for pain and death. That’s why I became an ER nurse. Emergency rooms are full of those, so most of the time, I can keep the Beast fed residually just from my work environment.”
Remy’s gaze turned knowing. “You haven’t decreased the violence in your area by feeding it only from your work environment.”
My jaw clenched. “Fine. If a patient is dying, and I can sneak them enough power to stabilize them without getting caught … I sometimes do that, too.”
Remy’s snort said he knew how much heavy lifting the word “sometimes” was doing.
“When I channel the Beast’s power, I have to feed it violence from people’s auras afterward,” I finished.
“But I always stop it before it consumes their life forces. It only broke free because Brendan’s kidnappers almost killed me.
And once the Beast breaks out, I can’t stop it. I don’t even know what it does.”
Hence the delicate balance I had to walk.
Those with violent auras were, by nature, dangerous.
That’s why I’d taken numerous martial arts courses.
Most of the time, I could defend myself so the Beast didn’t feel threatened enough to break free.
That allowed me to feed it from violent peoples’ auras without anyone getting truly hurt.
Most of the time.
As if he sensed my struggle, Brendan patted my hand. “Don’t fret about those Basilisks. They were cruel, not good ones—”
“Basilisks?” Remy interrupted. “You know what that means?”
Brendan smiled. “Of course. Basilisks are snake people.”
So that was what the huge snake thing was called.
Remy’s features became glass-like. He rose, holding out his hand to Brendan. “I need to speak to Raine in private. She’s probably hungry, though. Would you see if the kitchen has any of those cheese sandwiches you like?”
Brendan accepted Remy’s hand with a bright smile. “Oh, yes, I love those. You’ll love them, too,” he told me as he hurried to leave the room. “I’ll bring some back with me.”
I saw the guards flanking the door when Brendan opened it. Remy flashed them a look, and they nodded before they left. Sandwiches or no, Brendan wouldn’t be back anytime soon.
“Tell me exactly where this attack occurred,” Remy said.
I did, adding, “You won’t find anything, though. The rain washed the ashes and blood away. And what’s the issue with Brendan remembering stuff? Dementia patients often remember random words or events from their past.”
“Brendan doesn’t have dementia.” Shadows skimmed over Remy’s expression.
“He used to be a Records Keeper for two different Wardens. His knowledge of lost and forbidden spells was legendary. Decades ago, enemies intent on learning those spells captured him. Rather than let that knowledge fall into their hands, Brendan gave himself the magical version of a lobotomy. He hasn’t remembered anything of significance since, including that I’m his only grandson. ”
That was so tragic, I didn’t begin to unpack it. I just nodded. “And now Brendan remembers me.”
“As well as the meaning of words he’s long forgotten, plus he can suddenly identify races like the Basilisk on sight.”
Remy’s calm voice didn’t fool me. The eye of a hurricane was also tranquil right before the storm blew you away.
I didn’t edge back even though I wanted to. “You think I somehow healed part of his mind when I healed his head?”
“You’re all that’s changed between then and now.”
If so, I had no idea how I’d done it. I’d only meant to heal Brendan’s physical injuries. I had no idea the Beast’s power could go deeper.
Remy came closer, his easy grace a lie because he was faster than I could imagine. He could also attack me with sound, and those were only the abilities he’d shown me. What else could Remy do that I didn’t know about?
A lot, he’d implied, and he ruled over a bunch of inhuman races. Maybe he’d come across the Beast before. Maybe he even knew a way to get rid of it. Was this the chance I’d been searching for? Recklessness born of long-denied hope had me speaking before I thought it through.
“What if we negotiate another deal?”
His brows went up. “What kind of deal?”
I reined in my runaway tongue. If I wasn’t careful, Remy would know how desperate I was, and I didn’t trust him. But, oh, I had to ask. I’d never had an opportunity like this before.
“I’ll try healing your grandfather’s mind all the way.”
Remy’s jaw tightened so much I was surprised I didn’t hear cartilage crack.
“No guarantees,” I stressed. “But I healed some of his mind without even trying to the night before last. It stands to reason that I could heal more of it if I do try.”
“And what would you want in return?”
His words coincided with the air instantly feeling thicker. Was that from his power? Or was it from my own excitement as more wisps of long-extinguished hope rose?
“I want you to use your Warden abilities to extricate me from my … my stowaway without it entering anyone else.”
I didn’t want to be free from the Beast just to have it ruin someone else’s life, and I’d tried everything I could think of to rid myself of it. Why not try a Warden?
Remy said nothing. The tension thickened.
For a second, the Beast peeked out of my gaze, and I saw Remy’s aura again.
Vermilion auras shouldn’t have such bright, almost electrifying flashes inside them, but his did.
When his aura vanished, all I saw was Remy.
His beauty was no less fierce than his impossible aura, and worse, the single word he spoke made me ache with more of that long-forgotten hope.
“Agreed.”