AllFreeNovel
Share Us
6
JACK (JORKAN)
Istared at Lily, at those stunning emerald eyes that were filled with pain and confusion.
I hated that she’d not known the truth about us for so long, but we were following our orders.
Protect her but don’t engage.
Well, we’d engaged in our own way, since she could see our projected states.
To finally be talking to her in person, to see her soft smiles with my real eyes and smell her uniquely pure yet wild scent, it was more than I could have ever hoped.
But now she’d brought it up.
That horrible day we’d had to break and manifest in order to save her. We’d put men in the hospital that day. We could’ve just as easily have killed them, but Dezikiel would have banished us from the Academy for killing humans, even if they deserved it.
Lily looked so fragile right now, thanking me for protecting her, like I’d even had a choice.
She was everything. Our one drive in life. It was why we were created. To protect her for all of time.
I hated remembering that day. How we’d failed her.
“We failed you,” I growled, hating how she flinched as the demonic voice of my true self flared.
“How? They were going to… they would’ve raped me if you guys hadn’t done what you did,” she whispered, those sweet emerald eyes full of distress.
“You still got stabbed. Even with all four of us there, we couldn’t stop that,” I growled, forcing myself not to snap at her. I could feel the fire burning inside me, the rage and anger boiling up inside, my fingers desperate to claw something apart. I’d wanted to rip them to shreds for hurting her.
But the man who’d stabbed her, he was never going to wield a weapon again. I’d made sure of that. He’d be lucky to be able to wipe his ass.
“That wasn’t your fault. You guys did everything you could.”
That was a lie, and I clenched my jaw. If we’d been allowed to show our true forms, to fully manifest, we could’ve stopped them. But our projected states were far weaker than our real selves. And we were under strict orders.
Orders we’d all nearly broken that day to protect her.
Dezikiel had stopped us from fully manifesting, finding us all in the library on the verge of leaping into our projections. He’d held us back, reminding us of the consequences of revealing ourselves to people.
“Did you take me to the hospital?” she asked, causing me to focus on her once more.
“Not quite. Tolrun did, Bug,” I corrected his name. We’d come to love the names she’d given us, and had started using them, even if they were rather silly. Like Bug and Creeper.
“We all went with him. We watched over you in your surgery, and stayed with you in the hospital,” I said, smiling gently at her. My rage was simmering down now thanks to the sweet expression on her face.
“I know. I remember waking to all of you there. All growling and worrying over me. It was when I realized that you guys weren’t terrorizing me, you were good for me. Well, that was when I thought you were just monsters in my head. I wasn’t alone,” she said, touching her pendant. If only she knew the power of that piece of jewelry she always wore.
“You guys saved me, and I’m forever grateful,” she finally smiled at me, her eyes twinkling. I just stared at her, utterly amazed. She was stronger than she knew, both in mind and body. She’d learn that soon enough.
But it was the sincerity of her words that touched me. And the look of pure gratitude in her eyes.
All I ever wanted to do was keep her safe. That was my purpose.
“Those men got badly hurt, I remember hearing about them from others on the street after I healed. I got myself a job as soon as I could. Couldn’t keep wallowing and living like that. You guys helped me pull myself together. I’d run away from my aunt’s place before that, unable to take her narcissistic abuse anymore, and braved the streets. Honestly, maybe I should’ve stayed with her,” she said as she pursed her lips.
“No. She was only using you for the money she gained being your guardian. We hoped to bring you to the Academy sooner, but Dezikiel said you couldn’t until you reached the right age. We wanted to help you so badly, and trying to mask you on the streets, that was exhausting. It drained us of our power, so when you found a rental, we were ecstatic. Warding a house is much easier than warding you on the streets. We all had to be there, twenty-four seven in order to ward you, and we weren’t sure if our magic was strong enough. Dezikiel even helped us maintain the protection when needed,” I explained.
“I’m so sorry. I didn’t know that,” she frowned, obviously frustrated with herself.
“How could you? We weren’t allowed to speak to you or reveal our true selves. At least everything can finally be explained now,” I said warmly.
Finally. Lily would learn the truth about everything. We could finally be with her and protect her the way we were designed to.
And tonight, when midnight hit, everything would change.
