Chapter 22 Heidi
HEIDI
Oh my gods.
Ian is alive.
Wait, Ian is alive? How?
This must be a hallucination from how exhausted I still am. Or I'm having a mental breakdown. Or…
Or maybe he's alive, gazing at me with soulful blue eyes like he also can't believe I'm right in front of him.
Asher scowls at the stranger and tells him my name isn't Candy, to which the stranger snarks something my already-overwhelmed brain doesn't catch. Jessica is saying something behind me, too, but I don't hear it. All I can do is stare at Ian with moisture welling in my eyes.
He's grown up. He's taller and handsomer than I ever imagined.
And he's not in a coffin.
The last time I saw Ian, he was in a coffin after one of his mothers stabbed him through the heart with an oak stake. She didn't mean to—it was his “ill will” curse getting to her. The one that compelled everyone around him, except me, to try to hurt or kill him all the time.
I wasn't supposed to go to his private funeral.
It's the one thing I ever rebelled and snuck out to do. Everett was there with the Frost quintet already, who would have been livid if they found me outside their house where anyone could see me. My inner animal was terrified of being discovered, so I climbed a tree in the Boones’ private family cemetery and quietly cried my heart out during the graveside funeral service.
It was all kept very hush-hush, since the Boone family, like the Frosts, were big on appearances and didn't want anyone knowing they accidentally killed their only son. Still, the Boones were grieving so heavily that I could barely breathe through it.
I didn't know how to wake up and function during the days and weeks after his funeral. I couldn't figure out how to go on in a world without my brother's best friend in it—without him sneaking into the attic to chat with me and bring me new books to read together.
I always found it odd that Everett's emotions were…so mild, at the funeral. He was concerned and frustrated, but that was all. I used to think maybe he was just in denial about his best friend's tragic ending, but what if…
What if he knew something I didn't?
What if Ian has been alive all this time?
My head is spinning, but barely a second has passed. Asher and the stranger are still arguing as Ian's mouth quirks up slightly. He swallows hard, but I can't feel his emotions thanks to a mytherun pin I see on his black sweater.
"Hey there, Sunshine."
His voice is low and rough, but it's all Ian.
I immediately burst into tears, launching myself forward past Asher before I can think better of it.
The vampire's arms wrap tightly around me as I cling to him for everything I'm worth—but the instant his bare arms come in contact with mine, he inhales sharply, jolting as my intense emotions crash into him.
Right.
Gods, what am I thinking? I can't touch him.
I start to pull away, wiping at the tears rolling over my cheeks and trying to talk through the pathetic meltdown I'm having.
"S—sorry, I—you shouldn't have to feel this, I didn't mean to—"
"Shhh, stop. No apologies, Sunshine. Come back," he insists hoarsely before I'm wrapped up in his strong arms again.
I can tell he's braced himself for my feelings this time because he doesn't even flinch. I should really pull away again and get control of myself, but I can't stop more tears of shock and relief from surfacing.
It feels like I'm crying against his chest forever while he keeps telling me that everything's okay and gently repeating my name as he comforts me.
But finally, I release him from my death grip and sniffle, sure my face is blotchy from crying. At least I got dressed and put on makeup to cover my birthmark while Asher was gone with the car, though. My hair's less chaotic, too, in a braid over my shoulder.
"Sorry," I half-laugh, half-sniff as I glance at Asher Douglas and the other stranger who are watching. "I promise I'll stop blubbering."
My bodyguard is surprisingly difficult to read right now, standing with his arms folded as he quietly observes our reunion. But the third gorgeous guy on my porch—the one who called me Candy for some reason—grins at me, his steel-colored gaze warming.
"For what? Even your tears are pretty. Not as pretty as your cunt, though," he adds like that's the most casual thing in the world to say.
My mouth drops open. I can tell that Asher and Ian are both about to tell off this stranger, but Jessica snorts from where she floats in the doorway behind me.
“Okay, then. Guess your half-demon learned English, after all. Maybe a little too much of it."
Wait a second.
"You?" I blurt.
And then my face and neck turn eighty million degrees as realization hits hard.
This is the guy who was keeping me alive in the Nether?
The guy I begged to use me when the pain from the heat was driving me insane?
With all that panty-melting fixation and that aftercare and the exceptionally gifted tongue and fingers that took the edge off the worst heat of my life without him ever actually fucking me because he didn't want to cross my boundaries?
Holy crap. He's crazy hot.
I'm so stunned that I forget my rule about not talking to Jessica in front of others.
"You were right," I whisper to her, my blush eating me alive at this point.
I'm really glad I finished my latest heat on suppressants several days ago, because if I was coming up on one, I'd be so screwed with these three guys and their comforting scents all around me.
"Right? Right?" Jess hisses. "You know I dipped out to give you two some privacy while he was helping you with that heat, but now that you see him, can I please get a little recognition for how big a sacrifice that was on my part? Because hello, he's so fucking—"
"Right about what?" the half-demon asks, still looking beyond pleased to see me.
"I was talking to myself," I fumble, trying really hard not to remember how he played my lady bits like a freaking fiddle.
I'm so overwhelmed—happy, but overwhelmed—with these two showing up together like this that it takes me a second to gesture behind me, at my wide-open front door.
"Um, it's about to start raining, and you guys must have traveled to get here, so do you want to—"
"Don't officially invite Boone inside," Asher interrupts, his gaze narrowing on the vampire who can't cross my threshold without permission. "He's dangerous right now."
For the first time, Ian's attention moves away from me, and I'm a little surprised by the lethal glare he levels at my bodyguard.
"I would never hurt her."
"Keep telling yourself that, blood-guzzler."
Okay, am I crazy, or does it seem like these two have met before? I look between them, wondering what I'd be picking up on if I could sense their emotions—but I smile at Asher.
"You don't have to worry. Ian's a good friend," I reassure him brightly.
Ian's expression turns oddly sour at that word before he looks away, rubbing his throat.
"Friend, my ass," the bounty hunter mutters. "I know stark-raving mad obsession when I see it. Don't forget I used to work for your brother, a freak as dead-gone heartsick as this guy clearly is."
Jessica gasps. "Heartsick? Hang on. El, is your hot vampire childhood best friend secretly in love with you?"
Oh, please. That's crazy.
I want to tell her Asher is misreading things and point out the little fact that Ian wasn't my best friend—he was Everett's. Plus, he hasn't seen me in almost ten years, so how could he possibly be in love with me?
But I keep pretending she's not there as I wave off Asher's words, laughing.
"If you're worried about obsession, you might want to talk to Mr. Nether Gladiator over here—no offense," I add, trying not to blush again as I look at the half-demon.
His smirk is playful. "What's there to be offended about? You're spot-on, Candy. I'm obsessed."
"Elise," I correct. "Or Heidi is fine, too."
"Nah, I'm gonna keep calling you Candy, 'cause that's what you taste like to me. Got this for you, by the way, so let me know when you wanna try it out,” he adds, sticking out his tongue with a flirtatious wink.
His tongue is pierced now.
Oh my gods.
At this point, my face is going to melt off.
Maybe it's the tiredness clinging to my still-healing body, but I can't stop a short, slightly hysterical laugh from escaping me at the realization that I'm standing on my front porch with three ridiculously attractive men while one of them keeps talking about how good I taste.
To make things worse, my doe is bizarrely giddy right now. She's wide awake, perked right up, and she…wants them.
Seriously, why in the world has she been acting up so much lately?
Claim them, she suggests.
Not. Happening.
"You guys should come in," I finally blurt when I reach a level of embarrassment, happiness, and overwhelming shock that I've never felt before.
Asher scowls as Ian and the half-demon don't wait for another invitation before walking into my house. He fixes me with a look.
"Okay, but fair notice: if either of them tries to hurt you, I'll have to kill or seriously maim them. It's my job.”
"I've never met anyone who takes their job as seriously as you do," I inform him before smiling, bouncing my eyebrows. "Or someone with buns of steel like yours, for that matter. I could bounce a quarter off that ass."
I'm expecting him to brush me off and tell me not to flirt with my bodyguard again. But my heart leaps into my throat when Asher leans down to my eye level instead, his emerald gaze searing.
"Keep teasing me and see what happens to your ass later, sweetheart."
Whoa.
His warning, dominant tone does something to me. I try to swallow, but I can't.
Jessica squeals beside me. "Yes! Go El! You're about to break this bounty hunter, I know it. Just flash him your tits or something, and the poor guy will snap."
Do I want to see Asher snap?
Maybe.
Okay, yes, a little.