AllFreeNovel
Share Us
At that moment, Tarvish and Teran let themselves in the front door. Teran had a key to the house, like she did with my own house.
“We found the SUV and brought it back,” she said softly, patting my shoulder.
“Hey there, January. How are you?” Tarvish asked.
“Tired and in the throes of this migraine. I wonder if I’ll ever be able to function with it like some people do. If I could even makebasiclife decisions without checking on my health—mental or otherwise.” I leaned down again to kiss Killian’s fluffy head. “Thank you for helping him. You probably saved his life.” Once again, tears spilled down my cheeks. “I’m sorry,” I said, glancing up at the demon. “I’m not holding it together very well right now.”
“It’s okay. Cry if you need to.” Tarvish glanced over at Rowan. “You should put her back to bed.” He turned to me. “I promise you, I’ll sit up and watch over Killian for you. Your grandmother and I will spend the night here.”
“What about your kittens?” I asked, sniffling as he handed me a tissue to blow my nose in.
“They’re fine. We locked them in the nursery and they have each other and toys and food. Nothing’s going to happen to them. Your grandmother has the house warded so well that even a real demon couldn’t get inside.” He touched my shoulder. “Here, let me help you.”
Before I could say anything, he gathered me up in his arms. I was shocked by how strong he was. As he carried me to the bedroom, I blew my nose and awkwardly patted his horns. “You’re nice. I’m so glad you and Rowan are an item.”
“Yes, well, so am I. I adore your grandmother, and we’ve found a nice balance,” he said.
Rowan was right behind us and caught our conversation. “Except that I’ve put on ten pounds because of your cooking!” But she was laughing.
“Good, you can use it,” Tarvish shot back. He deposited me gently on the bed, then returned to the living room to watch over Killian as Rowan once again covered me up.
“Teran’s going to stay the night, too. It’s late and we don’t want anything else to happen without us here. Rest now and don’t worry. Killian will be up and on his feet by morning.”
Hoping she was right, I let her slide on my sleep mask again. I thought it would take me hours to drop back into sleep, but a few minutes later, I began to drift, and the rest of the night I slept so deep that nothing short of the end of the world could have woken me up.
* * *
When I woke again,it was tena.m.and the cool winter light was peeking through the cracks in the curtains. I reluctantly slid out from beneath the covers, testing to see how I felt. While my head still ached, the intense migraine had backed off and I felt halfway human.
I groaned as I stood and stretched. I seriously needed to take a yoga class. I’d been working out, though my sessions were down to once a week ever since I’d developed ERS, but lifting weights wasn’t the same as yoga and the stretching would do me good. I thought about a shower but it was more than I could manage at the moment, so I dressed in a black gauze skirt and a blue V-neck sweater and, after brushing my hair back and applying my makeup, I wandered out into the living room.
Rowan was in the kitchen, making breakfast from what I could see, and Killian was sitting in the recliner, an ice pack on his forehead. He started to move as he saw me but I held up my hand.
“No, you stay there. I’ll come to you.” I leaned over, wincing as my head throbbed again, then kissed him on the nose. Tarvish was playing with the cats on the floor, so I sat down on the sofa near Killian. “We’re a pair, aren’t we?”
“Yeah, I should say so,” Killian said, forcing a smile to his lips. He winced and I realized that he must be hurting like crazy since someone had dropped him with a pipe.
“How are you? I was so worried,” I said, reaching out for his hand.
He used his left to keep the ice pack in place, but stretched out with his right to take my hand. He squeezed my fingers, holding on tight. “I feel like I got drop-kicked by a brick wall, but other than that, I’m dandy.”
“Who the hell did it? Did you see?” I wanted to go find them and beat them to a pulp. Seeing my fiancé sitting there in pain, with a black eye and bruised forehead, set fire to my temper and I wasn’t about to let this go. I was determined to find the sucker who did this and put them out of commission for good.
“I don’t know,” Killian said. “He snuck up behind me. I recognized the scent of cologne, though, but I can’t remember where from.” He set the ice pack on the coffee table. “I could go for some strong coffee and something to eat.”
“You’re in luck,” Rowan said, peeking into the living room. “Brunch is ready.”
Killian stood and immediately wrapped his arms around me. He nuzzled my neck. “I forgot to ask howyouare,” he said.
“Don’t worry about me—I’ll be okay. I was worried about you.” I leaned into him, breathing in his scent. “I was so scared when they told me what happened.”
“I’m tough, love. I’m all right and I sure won’t ever be that lax again. Not now. Rowan told me about the Covenant of Chaos targeting you. We’ll put a stop to it. Don’t worry. I promise you, it will be okay.”
I wanted to say “Don’t promise what you might not be able to deliver,” but I realized he needed to believe that he could protect me. That he could prevent anything bad from happening. I rested my head against his shoulder and then led him to the table.
Rowan had gone all out. Eggs—scrambled and hard boiled—sliced ham, bacon, sausages, hashbrowns, toast, fruit salad, an assortment of pastries and cheeses, and several types of juices. As we gathered around the table, taking hands, Teran murmured a prayer to the gods to thank them for our brunch, and to ask for protection and insight. As we dove in, my phone rang.
I glanced at it. Tad was calling. “I should take this,” I said. “Hey, Tad. What’s up?”
