AllFreeNovel
Share Us
She only smiled sweetly at him.
"Hey, hey," a female voice called from the door.
"You're back!" Jazz cried and pushed herself up from her lying down position. It took her a couple tries to push herself up off the couch, but she succeeded and rushed to give Grace and Dalton a hug as they walked through the door with Damian and Uriah, the Demon King and his designated protector for the treaty meeting.
Jazz had become very comfortable with us the past six months or so since she'd been bonded to Drew. Because her own family was killed by Vampires, Jazz had taken my brothers, Sylee, Sophie, and Grace in like we were her family, and she wouldn't let us go without a fight. We let her show her emotions, even if Grace wasn't huge on physical affection like that all the time. The pregnant girl needed the love.
"It's nice to see you again, Damian." Cal crossed the room to shake hands with both Demons. "Uriah, it's nice to see you again too. You timed it perfectly. Jeff was about to get his butt kicked and buried in another thirty seconds. He offers his thanks, I'm sure."
Cal looked back and winked at me. I scoffed and shook my head in response.
"We the first back?" Dalton asked as he relaxed against the wall.
Jazz nodded. "Yes, and I wish everyone would just get here so I’d know you're all safe. I understand it's not like anyone knows the routes you're taking or that you're the escorts for the other races, but the Council knows, and that's not good."
"Everyone's going to be okay, Red." Drew pulled her to him as her eyes teared up once more.
"Gosh, I'm so tired of crying." She swiped a few tears away as they fell on her cheeks.
"Jazz, you're doing great." She raised an eyebrow, not believing me. "Your pregnancy is accelerated and you're still standing, so I'd say you're doing well. The high hormone levels and your exhaustion are going to take a toll on you. It's just the way it is."
"I'd like to see you pregnant sometime, healer, and then you can tell me it's just the way it is." Jazz grumbled and headed out the door to the main part of the house. "Let's wait out here. It stinks in there."
Drew had installed a bathroom with showers at the back of the gym, and I headed there with Drew and Cal. Dalton was in charge of Jazz's safety while we were gone.
More voices than I’d expected came through the gym from the living room as Cal and I crossed the large room. Drew had beaten us in his rush to be by Red’s side.
Nate’s here.Dalton’s voice reached me, and Cal slapped me on the back, indicating he’d heard the message too.
“Looks like you’re up.” He gave me an encouraging smile. It had been a long time since I’d seen him as relaxed as he was today. Wishing his relaxed mood would stick around wouldn’t make it happen, but I still yearned for it.
We entered the living room, and while Cal kept walking to greet the witches, my feet stuck to the floor and the blood drained from my face. The lungs I’d been blessed with at birth refused to expand and draw air in.
That face. Oh gosh, she was supposed to be dead.
The smiles and happy moods in the room were enough to make me almost vomit. I’d considered myself prepared to meet these monsters, but the magic in my body reacted to my hate-filled anger and told me otherwise.
A high point came when the warrior-healer entered the room. Nathaniel had promised me that none of the boys remembered the night so long ago. The warrior-healer's reaction proved otherwise. His complexion paled, and he stumbled into a wall. If he recognized my face, he surely was terrified right now. A smile of pure, evil glee wanted to break out on my face, but I settled for giving the man an exaggerated wink and wicked smirk. He gulped hard. I could see his throat move with the action.
"Hi, Nate." One of the brothers, Carmon, moved to shake hands with the man I'd come to protect. While everyone thought I'd come to protect him from the other races, I'd come to protect him from these child Elementals. I wouldn't put it past them to underhandedly take my Warlock's head off. They'd already killed too many of my people, and I planned to avenge them all, starting with the warrior-healer.
My plan had already begun to be put in place. It had been my suggestion to request the weaker warrior-healer as our Elemental protector. In private I'd jumped for joy when Nathaniel had passed on the news our request had been granted. Nathaniel thought I had a crush on the boy, and I let him believe it, but a crush was the furthest thing from the truth.
The sight of the man and his brothers caused an internal flame to blaze to life, but I held myself together on the outside, knowing I had plans for them.
"Who is this?" Carmon asked, turning in my direction. I pasted on my best fake smile—I'd been practicing in a mirror for years, and I couldn't tell the difference between fake and real now—and stretched out my hand to shake his. His hand was warm, but I wanted to cringe away from hands which were so blood-covered it made me ill.
"My name is Tessa Carver," I introduced myself. The man in the back of the room slumped further into the wall at my name. I'd wanted to keep it a secret for as long as possible, but I couldn't lie or not answer. Nathaniel wouldn't like either of those options, and because he was my mentor and friend, the only family I had left, I tried to please him.
That made this whole thing a little harder than it would have been had he not come. For some reason, Nathaniel liked these evil monsters. He'd be upset when my plan succeeded, but he'd move past his grief.
Snow fell outside in the early afternoon light. I hated snow, but not as much as I hated these boys.
"Jeff?" Carmon had turned to his brother, and the happiness cleared from his face. The Commander's legs carried him over to his still-ill-looking brother. "Are you okay? What's going on?"
Jeff shook his head and pointed to the dining room table. Carmon assisted his brother to the long wooden furniture as everyone stilled and looked on.
"Sorry," the warrior-healer finally spoke once seated. "I need some water."
