49. Dimitri
The shadows move around me, directing me, and I know it’s Felix. Nobody else has this kind of control over the shadows or can withstand traveling within them for so long. When we were kids, he used to disappear into them for hours, said it was like having his own room, a place just for him.
It wasn’t until later that I learned that too much exposure to the shadow realm can be dangerous to one's mental health. I’ll forever wonder if that’s what drove him to kill his mother, even if I’ll never have the balls to ask.
Whatever caused it, her death changed him and Titus; the once close brothers are hardly ever even in the same room now, let alone talking. Wren has brought them both closer together than I ever thought possible, but even still, it’s no secret that Titus hates him, and I can’t say I blame him.
I lost my mother when I was young, so I have few memories of her, but she was killed by cancer, not my brother.
My brother.
Gavin…
That’s a whole other problem. I should have told them, shouldn’t have kept it a secret; I have enough of those already; this one wasn’t even worth it.
No, I don’t have time to worry about that right now. We need to find Wren and her wicked bitch of an aunt. I can only imagine how upset she must be with Wren right now, and given Wren’s reaction to her coming, well, I don’t really want to imagine what she might do.
If I let my imagination run too wild, my beast might end up taking over, and while I’d love to see him kill her aunt, I’m not sure she would appreciate that.
No, a demon coming out of the sky to tear her aunt limb from limb might just traumatize her.
Later.
I round the corner and stop dead, even as the shadows urge me forward; it's as if I’m frozen, shocked.
Wren hits the ground, her hands hardly catching her before her head hits the ground, and it’s like the second I see her, the floodgates open.
Everything she’s feeling hits me like a train, making me stagger back a step. I’m not sure how she was hidden from me, but seeing her here in the flesh, even with her current state, helps me breathe easier.
She’s alive and here.
Which is more than I might be able to say for her aunt, if she keeps putting her hands on Wren.
My shock and relief are short-lived as I watch her grab Wren’s hair, forcing her neck back at an angle that looks unnatural and painful.
I clear the courtyard in record time as she pulls her hand back, ready to strike her for what I’m sure isn’t the first time, and my beast rages inside even as I manage to snatch her wrist.
The urge to let him have his way with her is strong and only grows when I see the cut and rapidly darkening bruise on Wren’s face.
“Excuse me!” Her cunt of an aunt shrieks, sounding like nails on a chalkboard, and I release her, shoving her back a few steps, unwilling to keep touching her when Wren needs me. “Who do you think you are, putting your hands on me? Do you know who I am!”
I ignore her in favor of tending to Wren. I bend down to offer her my hand and watch her eyes go wide, her panic very clear as she looks between her aunt and me. Now I understand why she was so afraid before.
“We don’t put our hands on students.”
All this time, is this what she’s been dealing with? I’d only felt her emotions on mute for years; having them like this is almost enough to make me throw up, especially when I think about the fact that I could have saved her.
I’ll never be able to make that up to her, but I’ll never stop trying, so long as she’ll still have me when she finds out that is.
“You don’t put your hands on her. I will do whatever I want with my property, especially when she has the nerve to make a fool of me!”
“You're doing that all on your own,” I mumble without so much as glancing her way, which only seems to piss her off further.
She attempts to push me aside, but I don’t budge. She’s small and weak, and I know Wren needs me to be strong for her right now, so that’s exactly what I’m going to do.
She gives up after a moment, instead reaching for Wren once again, but this time I don’t have to intervene. Felix has clearly had enough, stepping out of the shadows behind Wren and making her aunt stop dead in her tracks.
Everyone who isn’t mortal, or a dud, knows who Felix is and just how dangerous he is.
“Come on, Wren, let's get you out of here.” I offer her my hand once again. This time she looks down at it, and I feel the way she longs to go to me. She might still be mad at me; hell, she can be mad forever if she wants to be, but she knows I’ll keep her safe, and that fills me with pride.
“Don’t you dare go with him, Wren! You’ll be throwing away everything you worked for and dishonoring your family name! Don’t be a whore like your mother.” Her words hit the mark, and Wren balls her hands into fists at her side.
For a second, I fear she’s swayed her, but then my girl squares her shoulders and lifts her chin as she reaches for me, and my beast goes wild.
She chose me, maybe not as an eternal mate just yet, but fuck, it kind of feels like that when she presses her hand into mine, and I get to feel her soft skin for the first time in over a week.
I’d never admit it, but I’ve been going crazy without her around, missing her the way I’ve never missed anyone. I’d gone so far as to try and visit her dreams, but either she isn’t dreaming, or she isn’t sleeping…
Judging by the heavy makeup around her eyes, I’d say it’s probably the latter.
I make sure to keep myself between her and her aunt as we move down the trail toward the dorm, and with Felix as her silent bodyguard, she doesn’t dare approach her.
Sadly, that doesn’t keep her fucking lips from flapping.
“Enjoy your freedom while you can, Wren. It won’t last.” With a huff, she turns and stomps ?back toward the main building, which hopefully means she’s leaving.
Wren makes it a few more steps before she breaks, her knees giving out, and the most heartbreaking whimper rips its way out of her.
“Shit, baby.” I scoop her up into my arms bridal-style, and she buries her face into my chest. Her sobs break my heart as her tears soak my shirt, and I hold her tighter. It doesn't escape my notice that, while there aren’t many, some students linger.
“Let’s get you out of here.” I walk to the end of the path, but instead of going right, I take a left, heading back to my apartment.
Fishing my phone out of my pocket, I text the guys to let them know I have her and where we’re going. Sometimes I envy Julian’s ability to speak into minds, though I’m not sure I’d want to be in anyone else's mind. I’m attached to Wren’s emotions, and that’s more than enough for me.
Wren is quiet during the walk, and I’m not sure if she’s in shock or sleeping, but I hold her close and try to offer her comforting words.
I know she’s mad at me right now, and she has every right to be, but I also know she needs this. I can feel her emotions calling out to me.
It’s not until I get her in the door, flip on the lights, and sit her on the kitchen counter that I see the damage her aunt has done.
My back aches as I hold back the beast that wants nothing more than to rip her aunt’s spine from her body and feed her to a wendigo, or maybe just a pen of pigs.
My wings are just beneath the surface, but I can’t let him take control, not if I want to be here for her.
That, and I’m not sure he won’t try to fuck her, not with the way he craves her. No, this is new territory.
“How bad is it?” Her eyes still shine with tears, but they no longer fall, and I grit my teeth against the urge to pull her right back into my arms and make a run for it. The world doesn’t deserve her, not if it’s going to treat her like this.
Hasn’t she been through enough?
“It’s not too bad.”
Thank the gods I’m not Julian because that was a terrible lie.
Her lips pull up in the ghost of a smile, and I cringe when it makes the cut bleed again.
“You don’t have to lie. This isn’t my first time being taught a lesson,” she huffs, and her eyes are sad when she looks up at me.
“That wasn’t a lesson, Wren.” My voice comes out harsher than intended, and I have to take a deep breath to get a grip. I’m not mad at her; I’m mad for her. “That was abuse. Nobody should ever put their hands on you like that.”
“And they won’t be ever again.”
We both nearly jump out of our skin when Julian chimes in, moving down the hall and into the kitchen.
“Jesus, Julian, make some noise or something,” I tell him, gripping the counter as I fight against my shift. He didn’t scare me so much as he startled my beast, and the last thing he needs right now is more reason to try to force his way out.
I watch as Wren’s brows dip in confusion as she looks from Julian back to me.
“I thought you locked the door,” she says after a second, and yeah, how I’ve been able to keep our past a secret is kind of shocking because even after all that, she’s quick.
“I have a key, love.” Julian holds up a little key ring I’ve never seen before, twirling it around his finger as he moves around the counter. He’s making a beeline for Wren, and honestly, I’m not sure if it’s on purpose or just second nature at this point.
“You have a key to everything, huh?” She rolls her eyes but doesn’t actually seem upset, maybe mildly annoyed at best. I’m not sure what I’m missing, but I know it’s something.
“She’s just upset because she hogs all the hot water.”
“Bullshit,” she says the second the words leave his mouth, making him smile as he stops beside me.
It only lasts a moment, though, as he gets a good look at her face.
“Fuck, baby.” He reaches out slowly, giving her all the time to move away, and I don’t think it’s a shock to any of us that she doesn’t, but I still see Julian let out a sigh of relief.