Page 32 of Bound By the Sleeper’s Harp

“Can I explore?” She asked, keeping her eyes on Teddy. A flash of heat coated his skin. It was just a fucking cat. It shouldn’t have irritated him to see her pay it so much attention. And yet, she hadn’t looked at him once since walking in.

He hesitated. “Fine. Explore wherever you want. Just…stay out of my room.”

“Sure.” She glanced up. The tightness in his chest eased the moment her eyes fell on him. “Is the house still…locked or whatever?”

“Yes. It’s got a solid security system—a hybrid form of witch tech. You won’t be able to get in or out without me. We can fix that once I know you’re safe. But until then…”

“Right. I guess that’s fine, since I’m going to nest.”

“Nest?”

“Yes, it’s what you do when⁠—”

“I know what fucking nesting is, sugar.”

“Okay, then why are you so surprised?”

Because his goblin brain seized on that word like a drug—nesting, claiming, staying. A female making herself at home in his space, arranging his things to her liking, settling in for the long haul. Every possessive instinct he possessed was purring with dangerous satisfaction. He blew out a breath, trying to get his shit together.

She’d had a bad night, seen her dead professor’s house this morning, and discovered her apartment destroyed, her neighbor murdered. He needed to stop being such an asshole. “Fine. Do whatever you need. Like I said, make yourself at home. It’s your house too, for the time being.” Tingles spread through his limbs at those words. He ignored them. “Let me know if you need anything.”

“Sure.”

He turned to the stairs, climbing them.

“Bastian?” Her voice was soft. He stopped and looked over his shoulder at her.

She licked her lips, drawing his gaze there briefly. His fist clenched.

“Thank you. I know I called you an asshole. And I mean, you kind of are.” He huffed. “But it's really nice that you're letting me stay here when you don't even know me. I'm sure it's purely professional—can't have your business partner getting murdered—but…” The sarcasm dropped, sincerity bleeding through her next words. “I appreciate it.”

His chest tightened at the way she'd dropped her walls and shown him her soft vulnerability underneath all that fire. He swallowed, hard. "No problem, sugar." Then he turned and fled up the stairs before he did something stupid. Like tell her that what his body was feeling for her wasn't professional at all.

12

Most of my day passed in a blur. I got Teddy settled, finding a place in the laundry room for his litter box, putting the majority of his things in my own room. Then I showered and unpacked, taking advantage of the dresser and empty closet in the guest suite. I didn’t know how long I’d be stuck here, but I had to admit, it was a big step up from my apartment in terms of amenities.

Not only was there a jetted tub in my guest suite, with a separate, giant shower, there was a pool and a hot tub out in the back yard equipped with a deck perfect for entertaining. Not that I could enjoy it, since I was stuck in the house. When I explored the rest of the house, it only got better. Besides two bedrooms on the second floor, one of which was Bastian’s, there was a game room in the third floor attic. He had a collection of old arcade games, an air hockey table, and a pool table. The far side had a small wet bar. I stood in there and gawked for a good five minutes.

The finished basement had been turned into a giant gym. Not your run of the mill home gym. It was packed with equipment, sure, but it also housed an entire section of weapons, punching bags, and everything else a mixed martial arts student like myself might fawn over.

At least while I was here, I wouldn’t get rusty. Maybe Bastian could teach me a thing or two. With a gym like this, and given what he was, he was highly skilled. I’d seen how quickly the knife had appeared, how deftly it sank into Luke’s chest. I wondered how often he practiced down here.

That pulled certain images to the front of my mind. Images of him shirtless, fists taped up, throwing his body into punches. My eyes darted to the punching bag and my cheeks flushed. Because I could practically see him there, covered in a sheen of sweat.

Heat rushed through me and pooled in my core. Ugh. I should have packed my vibrator. Something to take the edge off all this…tension, or whatever it was building between us.

Turning my back on the room, I trudged up the stairs.

Bastian had left earlier. I knew because I’d heard him shout his goodbye while I was freshening up in the bathroom. I wasn’t sure how long he’d be gone, and I didn’t have his phone number, which was probably a good thing.

I wandered around the house, looking at things in more detail. My mind kept jumping back to my apartment. I didn’t want to think about it, but each time I pictured the devastation, a sinking sense of helplessness washed over me. Assuming I was ever safe enough to return, what the hell was I going to do about the mess? How much was it going to cost to replace everything? Mattresses, furniture, my freaking TV?! It would run somewhere in the thousands. I didn’t know if Vivi had this sort of thing covered under her renter’s insurance, but I had a feeling we wouldn’t see a penny of reimbursement.

I forced my attention elsewhere, taking a seat at the kitchen island where I opened my notes app and spent some time making the list Bastian had requested. My phone was in airplane mode, just to be safe. I mentally confronted everything I remembered about Professor Miller’s artifact collection, and then I started listing everything out. I put a couple of details about what I remembered about each artifact, and then a note for all the ones that were missing, which had been nearly all of them. As I’d told Bastian, I really didn’t know if she’d gotten rid of them over the years.

Artifacts were powerful objects. While they could only be made by humans, they could be used and controlled by anyone. That’s why my necklaces worked so well for me. One had been a gift from my father during my childhood, the charm that allowed me to see through glamor. The other was a protection medallion that Professor Miller had come across long before she’d met me. She’d found it accidentally, after seeing it worn by a female subject in a famous art piece. It was what was supposed to keep me hidden after the Luke Incident.

My fingers drifted to my neck and I brushed both pendants. Artifacts didn’t fail. Something had happened that allowed Luke to find me, after two years of remaining hidden. I’d stopped leaving a paper trail, gotten rid of my credit cards, used a burner phone, and relied on Vivi to maintain the paperwork for our apartment. I guess it was naive to think I’d hide from him forever. I suppose I hoped he’d forget his threats, forget about me completely and move on.