Chapter 18
Eighteen
Sebastian
My cell phone blared long and loud somewhere in the room. It was dark. At some point, while staring at Izzie sound asleep, I turned off the floor lamp by the bed. I fell asleep next to her, knowing she’d be against me to wake me.
When I tried climbing out of bed in search of my phone, my arm stopped me from doing so.
It wasn’t my arm; it was what lay over it, snuggled so tight against me in all the right places that something in my chest cracked and all these fucking crazy ass feelings came bursting in.
I welcomed them though. I’d dated several women over the years but never had I been drawn to someone as much as I was to her.
I was falling too fucking fast, and I doubted my witch would believe me if I told her touch had nothing to do with me being all over her last night.
We helped each other—she kept me awake while I calmed her darkness and settled her worries.
But I wished to know more about the woman taking over my thoughts completely.
Everything between us told me that Isabella Wen was my destiny.
There was no way I was letting Harvest or anybody else take her from me or steal her from herself again.
My phone cut off for a second, then started right back up. Izzie stirred next to me and I gently slid out from all the body parts she had draped over me in search of the device. I found it in my jeans on the floor.
I answered. “Hello?”
“Bring Isabella over.” It was Mom. I spotted Izzie lifting her head and peeking at me beneath her dark hair. “Looks like you might have been right about Harvest. And your lady friend is the only one that can give us some insight on him.”
“She doesn’t know anything.”
Mom sighed. “Yeah, well, still bring her. I know a lovesick fool when I see one.” My chest tightened at her words. “Let’s see who’s awakened my sleeping prince.” She hung up.
Izzie lifted the sheet to her chest and I swear, I’d never seen anything so earth-shattering beautiful in all my years living between two worlds.
Still, she had no idea what I got her into when I invited her into my home and bed.
My family could be overbearing—okay, we were overbearing and protective.
“What is it?” Her voice was sexy and thick with sleep. “Is it Julius?”
“Fuck Harvest,” I hissed without thinking at all. Her eyes widened. I sighed, materializing clothes on me instead of going through my closet. “Maybe some of Barron’s sin is still left in me,” I pondered.
She tilted her head at me and there was a slight twitch to her mouth. My witch was trying not to smile. “There’s nothing left of your brothers’ curses,” she told me.
“Then I guess I just want to murder the bastard that’s hurt you,” I muttered absentmindedly.
“Only you can’t kill an entity,” she brought up. That reminder seemed to darken my mood. “Thank you, Sebastian.”
I paused and looked over at her smiling at me from the bed. “For what?”
“For showing me what it feels like to feel protected. Even if we are practically strangers.”
“I’d hardly call us strangers. Strangers don’t make date and blowjob plans.”
She snorted. “Actually, they do. It’s called paid escorts. Or prostitutes.”
“You’re supposed to be eating up my charm, not throwing it in my face with irrelevant shit.” The smile on her face told me I was doing something right at least. “All right, Izzie, time to get out of bed. My family wants to ask you about Harvest, and they’ll most likely ask you about me.”
Her mouth dropped. “Why?”
“Like they won’t be able to tell when they see us…” I ogled her still draped in sheets.
“What?” Her skin looked flushed.
“They’ll take one look at you and know just how fucking smitten you are with me,” I teased her.
She tossed a pillow at my face and huffed. “I swear, do you realize how obnoxious you are sometimes?”
“It’s okay, witch, I’ll gladly accept all those affections you have for me. I have quite a bit for you as well.”
She threw another pillow at my head.
◆◆◆
“Aye, Touch of Death,” August shouted at Isabella the moment we entered the castle side by side. “Touched anyone within the last few hours that we need to send to the afterlife?”
He went too far, but August often always took things too far. Before I went to pummel him though, she responded.
“Hey, Pig,” she said to him, then a smirk took over her tiny face. “Or is it toad?”
That had everyone—all my siblings except Kitty—in the ballroom laughing.
Mom hung back in the corner inspecting Izzie.
I glanced around and was surprised to see Payne in the mix considering Joy was also here.
Even Prudence—with her arms crossed leaning against the wall—looked like she was pleased with Izzie’s response to August. And like Barron, Prudence was never happy about anything.
“He’s a toad that will never find his princess if he keeps a harem of women,” Joy said, walking up toward Izzie, extending her hand. “Hi, I’m Joy.” Then her eyes widened, and she retreated her hand quickly. “Oh, right, I forgot. No touching.”
Izzie smiled at her. “I’m Isabella, but Izzie’s fine. Sebastian’s been calling me that since we met without my permission, anyway.”
Joy laughed. “I’m sorry. My brothers are annoying.”
“You’re a tiny little thing,” Mom interrupted, walking toward us.
I placed a protective hand on her shoulder, a gesture that told Mom not to go overboard.
“No wonder Sebastian’s so adamant about protecting you.
” She finally offered Isabella a smile. “And it’s a good thing because now we know who we’re really dealing with. ”
“From what we heard from Payne and Barron last night, it’s safe to assume she’s a key element here to whatever games he’s playing and so are we.” Maureen strolled forward and planted herself next to Joy with her arms folded over her chest. “He’s the one that made Izzie’s touch deadly.”
“Maureen,” Mom’s voice had that warning tone to it I was accustomed to growing up.
“Well, his little girlfriend probably knows what’s cooking in the Underworld,” Maureen went on anyway.
“Maureen,” I hissed. “Izzie knows just as much as we do.”
“Maureen’s right.” Of course, Barron would agree with our sister. I scowled at him. “You don’t know Izzie, and it’s awfully convenient that you ran into her right when all of this started.”
“You’re wrong,” Izzie muttered. “In fact, Julius doesn’t want me around Sebastian at all.
He settles the darkness inside me in a way that almost angers Julius…
As for the rest of you, you’re right. We’re all a part of some scheme that I have no clue about.
” She hardened her eyes on Maureen. “I wish I knew more, but that would require me to be close to Julius and that’s something I never want to happen.
Tell me, have you been stripped of your own will and have all your thoughts removed forever?
Have you ever not existed inside yourself?
Have your hands been forced on a defenseless creature until there was no life left?
Have you been stripped of who you were before you were old enough to be a person? ”
I knew that last one struck a nerve for all of us, and Izzie had done it without even realizing. A storm brew in Maureen’s eyes before she twisted on her heels, shoving Joy out of the way. “Fuck this.”
“Maureen,” Mom called after her.
“I’ll go after her,” Barron followed her.
“I’m sorry,” Izzie started.
Mom cut her off. “It’s fine. They all have their own demons to face, including you.”
“Stay close to my brother,” Joy gave her a smile. “It sounds like having you two close together is safer for all of us.”
“I think so too,” Mom agreed with a smile.
“Now we have to find Harvest and put a stop to whatever the hell is going on,” Payne groaned, running his hand through his hair.
“Relax, Payne,” Dad finally made an appearance.
The first place his gaze fell was on Mom and even after all these years, those two proved to me love was a very potent and real thing.
“Everything always works out.” Only I was surprised to see Mom frowning when Dad said those words.
He caught her expression, walked toward her, and pulled her into his arms. “We’ve been through worse. ”
Mom smiled. “We have,” she agreed. “But you’re the one that’s been restless because of everything that’s happening. Don’t downplay this. Something’s changing. I can almost feel it against my skin..”
“It’s okay, love.” When Dad kissed Mom’s forehead, Joy looked around the room for Payne. He averted her gaze and strolled out of the castle without looking back.
“You can’t keep me out of the loop all the time,” I recognized Kitty’s voice as she stepped out of the double doors that led to the kitchen. She had a spoon in her mouth and a bowl of ice cream with her.
“We don’t mean to keep you out of it,” Dad told her.
“Yes, you do.” She huffed. “It’s fine though, you’re gonna need me if things are bad enough that everyone keeps meeting together like this.” Her eyes lifted over to Izzie as she placed a big scoop of ice cream in her mouth. In a muffled voice, she asked, “Who is this?”
“This is Isabella—” I stopped talking when I saw that Isabella couldn’t take her eyes off Kitty. Not in the way she looked at everyone when her darkness was taking over. No, this was something else entirely. She looked horrified.
“You—”
Isabella took three steps back before she bolted out of the castle.