Page 19 of Fighting My Demons

“We are home,” I tell her softly, trying to see if I can get away with not erasing her memories.

Blaine and Xavier will already be able to smell my magic on her; I don’t want them smelling compulsion on her, too.

“I must have dozed off,” she says, giving a shake of her head, trying to remember. She looks at me confused for a second.

“Were we arguing?” she asks, and I find myself unable to lie to her.

“Yes, we were arguing over you having dinner with us,” I tell her, leaving out a few things.

Her heart rate increases, and I realize I have to say something more before she loses her mind and calls the cops on me. That is one headache I do not feel like dealing with. She goes to say something when there is suddenly a bang on my car window next to her head, making her jump and turn. Her heart skips a beat and she curses under her breath. If I were human, I would have missed it. She quickly unclips her belt and gets out of the car, and I see that it is her scumbag brother. Bella gets out of the car, and I quickly do the same thing.

Brian grabs her arm, roughly jerking her toward the stairs leading to her apartment, but she yanks her arm from his grip, stepping back toward the car and away from him. I watch them argue but she keeps retreating, something about a credit card not working.

“Don’t start this shit, Bella. I don’t give a fuck who you are with. I will drag you down there if I have to,” he snaps, reaching for her.

I step beside her, draping my arm across her shoulders and tugging her to me.

“And you are?” this small-minded brother of hers asks me.

“Her boyfriend. And you?” I ask him, hoping she does not rebuke me.

She doesn’t, and I see her brother looking at her a little shocked. Maybe she hasn’t had many boyfriends in the past.

“Bella doesn't have a boyfriend,” he says, confirming my thoughts.

“You’re right. She has three. Now, how about you fuck off ?”

He laughs, folding his arms across his chest at the challenge, and I can smell Bella’s fear. I don’t know who she is afraid for, but she doesn't need to fear for me; her brother is an annoyance but no threat to me.

“Who’s going to make me?” he asks.

I fight the urge to snap his scrawny neck. If he wasn’t her brother, I would have killed him already.

I nod toward the stairs where Blaine and Xavier are leaning on the railing, looking down and watching. Brian looks up at them. Blaine smiles, his eyes flickering black, and Brian takes a step back noticing it, too. His heart rate skips a beat, and I can feel Blaine’s magic slipping over him. Bella is shaking under my arm, frozen, staring wide-eyed at her brother, before I realize what she is staring at. The gun jammed down the side of his pants.

“So, what will it be? Are you leaving yourself or by force?” I ask him.

He glances back at Xavier and Blaine, who start walking down the steps, their eyes trained on Brian. Blaine wants to kill him. Wants to make him suffer just so he can enjoy listening to him scream.

“I will come see you another time, Bella. And answer your damn phone,” he says, jogging out of the car park.

Bella lets out a breath before stepping out from under my arm.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” she says staring after her brother.

“Shouldn’t you be saying thanks?” I ask her, and she looks at me.

She huffs, but I can see how much she fears him, smelling it encasing her, addictively sweet. I shake the urge off, and her shoulders drop slightly when she sees her car drive off down the road with her brother in it.

“Thanks,” she breathes after a few seconds, and I can sense her relaxing now he is gone.

“Well, you can thank us over dinner,” I tell her.

She sighs, clearly not wanting to entertain the idea, but eventually nods, giving in.

“Fine. Dinner, and that's it. And did you have to say I have three boyfriends?” she snaps going back to her normal defiant self.

I chuckle, and Blaine walks over to her, tossing his arm over her shoulder.