Page 1 of The Human’s Heart

Chapter 1

Hugo

It was so strange to me that Zay’s family was close enough with him to warrant so much construction. Everywhere I looked, there were people milling about, hammering, drilling, carrying heavy wood, and doing… things I had no clue how to do—or even knew needed to be done when building an addition.

Zaos, my very sweet and super sexy incubus, looked at me from where he was speaking to the supervisor and lifted a brow in question.

I’d been learning how to block him from my thoughts lately, not that I was trying to hide things or anything. It was just… nice to be in my own head, by myself sometimes. Although, I liked having him there more than I didn’t. But right now, I didn’t want him to think I didn’t like his family or wasn’t happy with this… giant project.

Because I did, and I was.

Zay’s family was amazing, if a bit overwhelming at times, and I was happy we were going to have more space here for visitors. It meant they’d have their own rooms and wouldn’t be sprawled about our living room or anything like that when they came for long visits.

But… I was also kind of worried that his grandparents were going to want to stay with us for weeks at a time. I wasn’t sure I could handle that much Ailin Ellwood at once. He was great; he was amazing.

Buuut… he was also terrifying.

And seriously intense. All. The. Time.

Like wow. Take a chill pill, dude. At least some of the time.

“Are you okay?” Zay asked in my head while somehow still listening to the supervisor dude while he pointed at some plans.

“Yeah, I’m good.” And I was, but that wasn’t the whole truth, and I didn’t want to lie to him. I never wanted to lie to Zay. “This is just a bit overwhelming.”

“I know. I’m sorry. I didn’t realize how invasive this was going to be. Do you want me to call it off?”

I couldn’t help but snort at that. I knew without a shadow of a doubt that he’d do it if he thought I wanted him to. But what were we going to do? Leave a giant hole and a half-built foundation on the side of the house in our damn yard? That would be absolutely ridiculous.

“No. I’ll be okay.”

“You sure?”

“Definitely.” A small smile quirked up the tips of my mouth before I turned around and walked back into the house. “I’ll make us some lunch.”

“Sounds good, isa mezelie. Let me know if you need anything?”

As soon as the back door shut, I let out a long sigh, closed my eyes, and leaned against it for a moment. I only needed a few seconds to get my head back on straight.

“Are you okay, Hugo?”

My eyes snapped open to find Sebastian standing before me.

I wasn’t even surprised.

Ailin had wanted no one they didn’t know on the property at all, but Zay had finally gotten him to agree to let this particular construction team in. But only if he and Sebastian were allowed to be here any time the workers were.

I couldn’t exactly blame him after what happened over the winter with my old boss, Bart, who I hadn’t even known was a kitsune. That had been terrifying, and I didn’t want a repeat of it ever. Plus, knowing he and Sebastian were here to protect Zaos was a bonus. Nothing could hurt my viramore with the two of them around.

I hadn’t seen Ailin outside, but I was sure he was out there somewhere, probably scaring the other poor humans half to death.

His presence alone was enough of a deterrent for attacks, so I wasn’t sure what he was worried about.

I sent Sebastian a small smile. “Yeah, I’m fine.”

He made a sympathetic expression. “It’s a lot out there.”

With a sigh, I pushed off the door to walk farther into the room. “Yeah, it really is. Figured I’d take a break and make some lunch.”