Chapter 30 Asher #2
The recording stops after the ex falls on his ass and Heidi drives away. The timestamp glows accusingly at the bottom of the video, showing that this happened a few days ago. Ian clicks the laptop shut, and then it's silent for a moment.
Zak folds his arms, stewing. "All right, when're we killing that fucker?"
"Now," Kaenon votes.
As much as I wouldn't mind letting these guys rip apart the drunk asshole we all just witnessed assault Heidi, that would require hunting him down. As in, leaving Heidi here, alone.
Knowing the shit she's gone through over the last few days, that's not happening.
"We'll wait and let him come to us," I decide. "That sack of shit won't be able to stay away from someone too good for him like Heidi for long."
Ian glances at me. "Why wait? You're a hotshot bounty hunter. Just send your equally renowned giant hellhound to hunt this guy down and drag this sorry ass to us."
The suggestion hits me like a sucker punch.
For a moment, I swear I hear the low rumble of a growl that isn't there. The faint scent of smoke and sulfur that hellhounds always carry with them. The phantom weight of a massive head of dark fur nudging my shoulder, prompting me for an order.
My gut twists hard, and I look away. "No. We'll wait."
"Why?" Zak asks before frowning. "Come to think of it, if you've got a hellhound, where is it? Heard those things almost never leave their master's side."
"Mind your damn business, you sleazy motherfucking infernal shithead," I warn, easily irritated by the half-demon thanks to some nasty run-ins I've had with full demons in the past.
"Whoa, there. Cool it, or I'll start blushing as much as Heidi does. How many times do I have to tell you, I'm only here for her?" Zak huffs, exasperated.
The hell? I seriously do not understand this guy's sense of humor.
Kaenon looks between us. He may be new to this time, but he's intuitive as fuck because he immediately puts together that Zak and Ian have just stepped on an invisible landmine for me. The ancient warrior's face takes on a sympathetic expression.
"Ah. You lost this hellhound companion?"
I turn abruptly, storming toward the bedroom door. "I'm getting coffee."
"Ladies and gentlemen, the most subtle deflection in history," Ian grumbles before standing, too. "Wait, Douglas. I'm sorry for suggesting it. I didn't realize—"
"I know. Drop it."
I'm almost to the door when it swings inward, nearly hitting me in the nose.
And just like that, whatever negative feelings were spiraling in my head turn into nothing but background noise.
Heidi stands in the doorway in leggings, an oversized pink T-shirt that says "Bake It' Til You Make It," and a pair of fuzzy socks with tiny cartoon deer on them.
Her warm light brown hair is down today, curling slightly around her face and down her back.
She's wearing makeup that hides any trace of her birthmark, just like she was yesterday when these guys showed up.
But when her beautiful brown eyes meet mine, a slight pink blush crawls up into her neck and cheeks that the makeup can't completely hide. She clearly hasn't forgotten the way I almost pounced on her last night.
Godsdamn, she's so fucking adorable.
The color in her face only deepens when she sees Ian standing behind me. Her gaze moves to Zak and Kaenon, then back to me. It's like she can't look straight at any of us for more than a second without self-combusting, and she's started fidgeting with the hem of her shirt.
"Good morning! Sorry that I slept in for about eight million years."
"No sorries needed. All healed up now, Candy?" Zak checks. "Feeling better?"
"Oh, yeah—I'm great. Good. Super great-good.
Gods, I'm repeating myself again," she sighs before smiling brightly.
"Are you guys hungry? I can make a late breakfast or something.
I want to make you all something," she asserts when she sees me opening my mouth to remind her we can feed our own damn selves.
"I'm your host, and so far, all I've done is sleep.
Just play along and let me be all host-ish now, okay? "
The half-demon grins. "In that case, whatever you wanna make, I'll eat."
She debates, looking between us. "How about a light soup and turkey sandwiches on homemade bread? Does anyone here not eat meat? Any allergies I should know about?"
Each of the others is telling her that they'll eat anything, but I notice that Ian's barely stopping himself from scowling as his eyes linger on Heidi's face. When she beams again and says she'll whip up something we'll like, she practically skips down the hall out of earshot.
I arch my brow at the thrall. "What's up your ass?"
"She's wearing makeup again."
"Why the hell does it matter if she likes wearing makeup? She can wear what she wants."
"No shit. I just hate that Heidi feels like she has to cover up her birthmark," he huffs.
She does? I frown.
Kaenon tips his head. "Birthmark? Where? I have not beheld such a mark on my mate."
"First I've heard of it," Zak agrees.
Ian glances at the door to make sure Heidi won't overhear before lowering his voice further just to be safe.
"Heidi was born with a port wine stain birthmark on her face. When we were really little, it was a much darker shade of red. And then Daphne happened," he grits.
"Daphne?" Kaenon repeats, also whispering to not be overheard.
"Heidi's mother," I tell him, though just the idea of Heidi being born into the Frost family I met still leaves a bad taste in my mouth.
"Only by birth," Ian asserts, glaring at nothing in particular as he fumes.
"Daphne was the furthest thing from an actual mother to her kids.
The Frosts were fucking awful to Heidi almost from the day she was born, but Daphne was the worst. She was constantly trying to "fix" her daughter—especially her face.
She started with creams. Lightening serums. Lemon juice.
Bleach. You name it, she smeared it on Heidi's face morning and night.
When none of that worked, she brought in healers. "
"Healers?" Zak scoffs, indignant.
"Yep. Ones who specialized in removing scars with magic.
When they told Daphne that they could only heal scars, not birthmarks, and that those aren't something that need to be fixed, she didn't like that answer.
So she moved on to human procedures instead.
Cosmetic laser treatments on a fucking seven-year-old," he spits.
"When Heidi had a bad reaction to the first lasers and her face blistered badly, Daphne just had her face healed, took her to a different practitioner, and kept trying. "
My fingers dig into my biceps through my shirt.
I figured the famously rich Frosts were nasty pieces of work even before they captured the Amatos and me after Maven returned. They had some guy nearly beat me to death while they watched, asking all kinds of questions about the telum that I never bothered answering.
But picturing Heidi, young and innocent and terrified, having to be anywhere near those people with a mother who was constantly trying to change her appearance…
Makes me fucking sick.
Ian is still glaring at nothing in particular. "Eventually, Heidi's birthmark faded to a lighter pink. I'm not sure if it was the lasers or creams or just time passing. But it would never go away completely, so Daphne decided on a simpler solution."
"Makeup," Zak understands, voice tight.
"Makeup," Ian confirms. "She made Heidi wear it at all times.
Even though the Frosts kept Heidi in their fucking attic, and almost no one saw her except their staff and some doctors.
And me," he adds, his expression softening slightly.
"Every time I saw Heidi cover up her face, it killed me a little.
As if being born a prey shifter and an empath wasn't enough of a sin in that godsforsaken family. "
Fucking Frosts.
At this point, screw being professional. Every chance I get to tell Heidi how pretty she is, I'm taking it. I'm going to praise every inch of her perfect body until she fucking believes it.
Kaenon's jaw is clenched so hard I'm surprised his teeth haven't cracked. "How could her kin punish her for the way she was born? That was not within her control. Mark or no mark, her beauty is enough to make Paradise weep with joy. I cannot understand—"
"This Daphne bitch. She dead yet?" Zak cuts in, impatient.
I nod. "She was killed off with the rest of Heidi and Everett's family a while ago."
Kaenon glances at an empty space in the room with a frown.
"Heidi's spirit companion confirms this. She says she used the magic touch of a…care-oh-lie-nah reaper to end the 'rich evil ho bag.' What is a ho bag?" he adds, glancing at us in confusion now that he's muddled through the words he doesn't know.
"An apt description of Daphne," Ian says before heaving a sigh. "I've never been jealous of a ghost before, but here we are. There goes my chance at vengeance. I've daydreamed about killing that woman for everything she did to Heidi more times than I can count."
For once, I completely understand the thrall. There's nothing worse than missing out on seeing shitty people get the reckoning they deserve. I would know, since that DeLune bastard got to my father before I could make him pay for murdering her.
But just because we didn't get to Daphne first doesn't mean I'm going to tolerate anyone else mistreating Heidi. From now on, she has nothing to worry about.
Because from now on, she has us.