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I nodded. That sounded fair.
“Thank you,” I said.
Colter only nodded and turned to leave.
“Where are you going?”
“I have to take care of one or two things, and then I’ll take you back.”
That had to be okay. It wasn’t like I could argue.
While Colter was gone, taking care of hisone or two things,I carried my bags and personal things to my room. He’d brought everything here, and there was nowhere else to put it. Having my things did make me feel better about being here—more at home. Not that this washome.Colter had kidnapped me, and I was a prisoner.
I tried not to think about that too much. Panic sat like a lump in my throat, tightening my chest. Shock at what I’d seen the last couple of days was just waiting for me to let down my guard, and then a meltdown would follow.
I wasn’t ready for a meltdown.
I was strong. I’d been through a lot. I could get through this, too.
If I didn’t wake up in my bed in a minute and realize it had all just been a bizarre dream…
As long as I focused on making myself at home, I could keep the hysteria that threatened to overtake me at bay. I put the potted plants on the nightstands, the bookshelf in the far corner, on the coffee table in the center of an intimate circle of couches, and on the floor next to the windows.
The photo frames, I carefully put in the closet. I only kept one on my nightstand—a photo of my foster mom. She was the reason I was doing all of this. She was the reason I kept pushing, even when I felt like giving up. I hadn’t come this far, only to come this far.
I would keep going… once I was freed from this place. Colter and everything that had gone wrong was this bizarre tangent that put everything else on hold, but hopefully, it wouldn’t last too long.
When I was done, Colter appeared in my doorway.
“Ready?” he asked.
I nodded. I was ready to go home. I couldn’t stay there, but it was better than nothing, and I would breathe easier if I finally had that pendant around my neck again.
Colter held out his hand. I looked at it, confused.
“I’m going to use the ring.”
I’d noticed this ring the first time I’d seen Colter. It had looked like a family heirloom, then. Now I knew it hummed with magic.
“What does the ring do?”
“It allows us to travel through space and time, bending the rules to get where we want to be. Vampires can do it naturally. I had tech developed that resembles the vampires’ ability to dematerialize, using shifter magic instead of dark magic to do it.”
I frowned. “Vampires can teleport?”
“That’s not what they call it, and also not quite how it works, but yeah, same concept.”
My stomach filled with dread. “What’s stopping them from coming for me here, then?”
“Different beings have different magic, and it creates a barrier of sorts. Vampires can’t just move into a fae’s territory, or a shifter’s territory, without having to really fight the magic. Since they might want to come here, though, the apartment is safeguarded as an extra safety measure. My dad had contacts with Fae throughout his life, and spells have been put in place to ensure that nothing can get in here that doesn’t belong here.”
I eyed him dubiously.
“You don’t have anything to worry about, Liv.”
I had so much to learn about this world. Just two days ago, I hadn’t known this enchanted world existed, and now it turned out I was at the bottom of the food chain.
I hesitated before I took Colter’s hand. His skin was rough, like he did a lot of manual labor, and his grip was strong when he pulled me closer. His body was hard, his muscles taut with years of training, but he smelled good, and being this close to him didn’t feel dangerous. In fact, it felt safe.
