Chapter 25
Chapter Twenty-Five
“I want to move out,” I say without preamble as I storm into Xander’s office with Dexter at my heels.
I am sure the furry monster is trying to trip me.
I deftly avoid a paw. The angel is sat behind his desk surrounded by paperwork.
He’s wearing a black crew neck jumper. The colour complements his golden skin tone and his eyes.
Those gorgeous eyes narrow, and he sharply shakes his head. “No,” he says, and then he drops his eyes back to his paperwork, dismissing me.
I fidget and let out a little humph sound. Oh, okay. No explanation, no discussion, just a firm no. I can work with this. After thinking about it until my head feels like it’s gonna pop off, I’ve come to the very sane and healthy conclusion: I can’t live with this man.
The blood thing, it’s too intimate. It makes me feel weird.
I don’t want to feel this out of control.
I hate it. I feel like someone has chucked me off a cliff and I’m forever falling.
My hands scrabble for things to grab onto, but I’m failing miserably.
I have to do what’s right for me and for my friends to keep us all safe and before I metaphorically go splat.
I’m literally going insane with this man’s mixed signals, and I have a plan.
I have a plan to get me out of this complete nightmare.
I need to be in control of my life. This plan does not involve being roomies with him.
But I’m in a pickle ’cause my pride will not allow me to admit that I have a problem with him, an issue with drinking his blood, his life-saving blood.
So now is the time to hit two birds with one stone. I anxiously hop from foot to foot and then settle for crossing my arms underneath my boobs.
My badass pose.
“Look, Luther…” I huff and roll my eyes.
I better knock that shit on the head. I am not friends with the vamp, so being so familiar and calling him by his first name is gonna make me look like an idiot.
It just feels so stupid calling him by that silly name.
“Lord Gilbert said some shit. He said the vampires were waiting for me to turn eighteen, and then they were going to lock me up and”—I pause for added drama—“breed me.”
Rage flashes across Xander’s face and disappears just as quickly. A preternatural stillness sweeps over him.
Well… That was a little anticlimactic.
“Wait for it,” Story mumbles in my ear. She’s perched on my shoulder like a pirate’s parrot.
I frown. What is she… Then I see it… A vein in his neck pulses, and I think he’s gritting his teeth.
Xander sits behind his desk like a statue.
We wait patiently for the angel to react.
Even Dexter, who’s been knocking about on the floor, rubbing himself all over the desk, is now sat, his ginger head tilted, and his tail wrapped around his paws, staring at the angel.
“Beow.”
As if that’s the secret signal, Xander grinds his teeth. “That will not happen. If they touch you, I will kill them all,” he says in a deadly voice.
Oookay.
Story prods my neck with her bare toes. I swallow.
“I don’t think that’s going to happen anymore what with Lord Gilbert officially withdrawing their claim when he thought I was dying…
But what does history tell us about the vampires?
” I’m on a roll as I paraphrase my grandad.
“Vampires tend to kill first. They kill what they can’t control.
So I think the vamps will try to kill me, especially with the whole abomination thing. ”
I flap my hands in the air, and with another encouraging prod from Story, I hurry on.
“Also, there’s another thing… urm, while Lord Gilbert was doing his whole villain speech, he let slip that the shifters might want to do that as well.
Not the killing, the locking up and”—I take a deep breath—“breeding thing.” I wait with anticipation for his reaction.
“No vampire and shifter cock for you,” Story says.
My lips part with shock, and I turn my head and stare at her. “Where the hell did that cute little pixie go?” I ask.
“Pixies age faster than other creatures,” she says, looking at her toes.
“No shit.” The mouth on the girl. She looks almost contrite until I catch her cheeky grin. “So,” I say, turning back to the angel. “I’m thinking the shifters have that as their agenda.” I tap my thigh rhythmically as the angel thinks it over.
Fuck it, I’m not that patient. “I’m not being funny, Xander, but you’re tight with the shifters. Hell, my bodyguards are shifters. I need to live somewhere where they can’t just pop in through the front door. It’s obvious you can’t watch me all the time, and I think you’re in over your head.”
“The vampires did officially withdraw their claim late last night, and this morning the shifter council requested a meeting,” Xander says quietly as he rubs his temple.
Ah, no. Damn it, I’m already too late.
Story and I have discussed this and we have a plan B. The fae or the witches will not be interested in me, which means just the shifters. By our calculations, the clock is ticking until they reappoint a shifter guardian, and once I’m trapped in their corrupt system, there’s no hope. I’ll be fucked.
Go big, or go home.
“When is this meeting?” How long have I got?
“They’re coming tonight.”
My heart feels like it’s in my throat, and my pulse hammers in my ears, that’s not enough time. I vigorously shake my head. I need a little bit more time. “I’m working,” I blurt out.
“Tru, this is the shifter council. I think they’re more important than your little job.”
“This is my life, Xander,” I growl. “They can meet me at work after the café closes tomorrow night.”
“My shadow, don’t be ridiculous. You can’t dictate terms to the shifter council.” The angel scoffs.
Ha, I can’t, can I not? “I think it’s best for them and you to keep me pliant. Don’t you think? Also, you made a promise. I’m asking you as my guardian to honour your promise to listen, to trust me.”
Nothing. He gives me nothing. There’s zero acknowledgement of my words, and the blank expression on his face gives nothing away.
I stand there feeling awkward. “I guess that promises an angel makes mean nothing.” Okay, angel, you’re playing hardball, time for the big guns.
“They will meet me there or not at all. You’ll have to drag me kicking and screaming to that meeting.
Why not take the easy option… What does it matter to you?
” I poke my chin forward and stubbornly glare at him.
I have a plan, a good plan that needs a public space and a little more time for it to work.
“Please.”
“Okay, my shadow. I will see what I can do.”
One hybrid girl… no, two girls and a monster cat—that doesn’t do anything. Taking on the might of the shifter council. What could go wrong?
It’s that time of the week when I have my medical check-up with Dr Ross.
With Xander and the whole blood-drinking thing, the only person who is aware of me snacking on angel blood is Dr Ross.
The poor guy isn’t a specialist… I don’t think anybody would be a specialist when it comes to dealing with me and the shitshow of my hybrid status.
But Xander trusts him, so he’s stuck with my care.
I wait for him to arrive, sitting in Xander’s orangery, which is at the back of the house.
With its large windows overlooking his pretty walled garden, the room is warm and bright.
Story, Dexter, and I spend a lot of time here.
I adore the glass roof lantern. On a clear night, if I lie on the floor, I can look straight up at the stars.
“I ran some more tests.”
I turn my phone off and give the doctor a wave, but he doesn’t lift his eyes from his notes.
“Hi, Tru. How are you?” I say in an overly deep voice. “Oh, I’m fine, thank you, Dr Ross. How are you doing, busy?” I answer myself in a squeaky high voice.
I smirk and he shakes his head and plonks his muscled bulk down in the chair opposite me, tapping madly on his datapad, which seems to be never out of his hands.
“I’m concerned. Even with Xander’s blood and the magic, you’re still not healing.”
I shuffle to the edge of my seat, plant my elbows on my knees, and prop my chin in my hands. More tests? Oh goody. “Okay?” I say cautiously.
“Traces found in your blood show an impossible early childhood shift to animal form. Yet, you have shown no other signs of shifting, no other markers, and you have no shifting magic.” Dr Ross taps his index finger on the datapad and scowls.
“The data makes little sense. I might have to take some more samples, draw some blood the old-fashioned way. Perhaps your hybrid nature corrupts the magic tech?” He rubs his left eye with the heel of his hand.
I groan and slump back in the chair, pull my knees to my chest, and bury my head in my hoodie so it covers my mouth and nose.
“Have you not run my DNA? What does the shifters database tell you?” I mumble through the fabric.
I really need to get things back on track.
My plan with the council rests on information, and if I haven’t got everything I need, I’m doomed.
“The shifter council have not given me permission to do that.”
“What? Why not?” Well, that makes little sense. Did Dr Ross just dip his head? I frown. Is he slightly hunching? Yeah, I don’t think he’s being deceptive… I think. I think the doctor’s ashamed.
Shit, I need those test results.
My stomach jumps to my throat, and I focus on the doctor. What is he not telling me? What the hell has he been doing with all those scans?
Something isn’t right.