Page 123 of Mortis

One swipe of my claws and this would finally be over.

Kill him, the Beast urged.

“Kael!”

Sebastian would live for another few minutes.

Only because Teddy would always be more important.

I tore across the cemetery, closing the distance within seconds. I seized the back of the man’s cloak and wrenched him away from Teddy. One flick of my claws opened his throat, and blood erupted down the front of his cloak, splattering Teddy’s scrubs.

The mortal crumpled, and I caught Teddy before he could fall with him.

“My treasure.”

I crushed him against my chest and pressed our foreheads together.

He was here.

Alive.

I breathed him in. Beneath the metallic stink of another mortal’s blood was my favourite scent in existence. Sweet and warm. Entirely Teddy.

“Hey, big guy.” He attempted to cradle my face between his bound hands. “I missed you.”

Relief flooded through me. “I missed you too.”

I lowered him carefully onto his feet and shredded the ropes around his wrists and ankles. Angry red marks circled the tender skin beneath them, and a growl rumbled from my chest.

“I’m okay,” Teddy assured me. “I’ll put some cream on when we get home. They’ll heal in no time.”

When we get home.

I clung to those words as I lifted one wrist to my mouth and kissed the irritated skin, grazing it lightly with my tooth. When I did the same to the other, Teddy’s breath caught and his pupils dilated.

“Hey, lovebirds.”

Arlo appeared beside us, slightly dishevelled but otherwise unharmed. He reached into his pocket and pulled out Teddy’s glasses.

“Lo!”

Arlo carefully slid them onto his best friend’s face. Teddy blinked several times as the world came back into focus, and Arlo smiled. “Hi, babes.”

Teddy immediately threw his arms around Arlo’s waist. Arlo wrapped his own around Teddy’s neck and squeezed. “You found my glasses.”

Arlo shrugged. “Priorities.”

I opened my mouth, ready to tell them both to run. Because Teddy was safe, and Arlo was accounted for. Now I could finish what I had started sixty years ago.

But Sebastian stopped me before I could.

“Sorry to interrupt this touching reunion,” he called across the cemetery. “But we have a ritual to finish.”

I turned. Something rested between his hands, and everything inside me stopped.

The book.

The same book that had bound me all those years ago. Cracked leather covered its ancient spine. Yellowed pages bulged between its covers, worn by generations of hands that had used the words within to hurt me.