AllFreeNovel
Share Us
A pair of hands grabbed my shoulders. I jerked away when the touch shocked my skin.
Hel didn’t warn me about this.
My chest tightened, making my breaths shallow. I felt like I was having a panic attack all over again. It’d been so long since I’d had to deal with one. That showed just how deep I was. I used to freak out over the slightest tug at my own power. Now, I swam in it like it was nothing more than cold water.
“It’s okay,” Maddox said softly as he wrapped his arms around me.
His touch should have hurt. My skin screamed when my clothes brushed against it. Yet, Maddox’s embrace turned down the world’s intensity.
“I should have warned you,” Hel said.
I angrily mouthed her words, mocking her. To my surprise, she didn’t yell at me. Hel stepped back and vanished altogether. She would reappear later, but I was grateful for the space she gave us.
Clinging to Maddox’s shirt, I pulled myself closer to him. He tightened his hold. In the circle of his arms, I sighed and tried to get my shit together.
Thankfully, the hard plane of Maddox’s chest was enough to get my mind off everything we had to do. I pressed my palm flat to his chest and rubbed my thumb along the stretch of skin exposed at the collar of his shirt. His breath hitched ever so slightly.
“This might not be the right time, but we should go out and find Fenrir,” Maddox said, disrupting my already distracted thoughts.
Frustration crackled inside me. My lips twisted into a sour pout. I closed my fist in Maddox’s shirt.
He laughed and hugged me tighter. I could have happily stayed here for the rest of my life, but lingering meant that the rest of my life would be a lot shorter than I wanted. There was work to be done if we were going to save the world and rewrite fate.
If I could have done both from the security of Maddox’s arms, then I would have. Instead, I extracted myself from his embrace and stood.
“How’s work?” I asked to dump a metaphorical bucket of ice over my lust-fueled thoughts.
“Peaceful,” Maddox answered. He went on to explain that he’d been catching up on paperwork since there was a lack of homicides in the area for once.
I shuddered. At least the human killers of the world knew when to take a break. It gave us time to focus on Fenrir.
Maddox
While I drove,my beast had one eye on Addie. She’d been quiet ever since her lesson with Hel. Addie’s panic after the lesson had set my beast on high alert. I could already tell that Addie was being stretched thin.
However, I had no idea how to help her. I tried to close the connection between us so that I wouldn’t be a constant drain on her power, but the wild hunger thrashing in the pit of my stomach refused to let me. If I didn’t keep consuming, then I would become a threat like Fenrir.
Part of Fenrir’s problem was his power-hungry ideology. I would never be such a selfish fool to follow in his footsteps, but I feared what starvation might do to my morals. When Addie was trapped in Hel’s domain, I caught myself eating things that shouldn’t be edible.
No, I would not elaborate on that. I was grateful to have Addie back for more than one reason. That didn’t make me feel like a good person. I should have been happy to have her safe and sound because I loved her. Instead, I was relieved to have my source of food back.
That was a huge part of why I hadn’t confessed my feelings yet. I didn’t want to make her think that I only wanted her for sustenance. My feelings weren’t some kind of ploy to keep her around, but I didn’t know how to make that clear. If she suspected me of trickery, I would never forgive myself.
How did I show her how I truly felt without my unearthly hunger getting in the way?
I didn’t have the slightest clue.
In the cupholder sat a potion flecked with glitter sparkles. I couldn’t tell if that was the magic in it or if Cerri had a habit of putting glitter in every one of her potions. Addie dipped a crystal into the liquid and lifted it over a map spread out over her lap. The crystal swung lazily before snapping onto the map.
Addie wrinkled her nose in response.
“Is he still at the alien lady’s restaurant?”
Addie stifled a laugh. “She’s not an alien!”
I completely understood who and what Queen Beryl was. Addie’s giggles were worth it every time I pretended to forget. If I could have taken on Fenrir all by myself, I would have. Addie didn’t need to get drawn into another fight. She was obviously exhausted by it all.
And I wasn’t helping.
