tightly. I finally shut it as lightly as I could and started the shower before he got suspicious of the reason behind my delay. As the water moved through the pipes and the first bits began to squeeze out through the shower head, my tears started to fall.
I couldn’t have just convinced him to be with me only to have some royal bloodline that I apparently belonged to take him away from me. That was, of course, if I would remain alive. I had a threat over my head, a cunning group, smart and strong, who had other plans for me as well. Since my mother had died, I’d pretty much made my own decisions, grown up fast, and had run my own life. Now I had two warring groups that wanted to choose what I did, who I became, and who I did things with. That just pissed me off.
With the back of my hand, I swiped at my tears. I took a deep breath of the steam-filled air. Looking in the fogging mirror, I’d be damned if I would let anyone control me, decide my future, royal and magical blood or not. They’d have to take me dead, I knew that.
The click of the door startled me, and I turned to an apologetic Lex, saying he was sorry for taking so long on the phone. He said nothing about the conversation, and I didn’t ask. Instead, I swallowed my disappointment in being kept out of the loop, as I ushered him into the shower. It’s not like they’d been honest with me up till now anyway.
Chapter Eight
Watching the blood roll off his body, mixing with the water as it went down the drain, drained any anger I had left out of me, leaving only the fear. I stood there soaping his back, wiping over what appeared to now be only scars on his shoulder. How could I be afraid when this man who apparently couldn’t be injured was my protector? He’d just taken out three werewolves to save me.
Still, how many still roamed out there, no one on my team apparently knew. And, I only had this one protector. At what point did he become outnumbered despite his strength? At what point could they take me? Kill Lex? This life I’d been thrown into, maybe in some ways even moved closer too, didn’t suit the easy lifestyle I’d become accustomed to. All my escapes into fiction to avoid real life, and now my real life looked like fiction...
Well, I’d just have to adjust. I’d done my part tonight. I’d actually defended myself and maybe even saved Lex. While he could heal, surely at some point, he could be injured past his body’s ability to do so.
A surge of adrenaline pushed blood through my veins, so rapidly that I could hear a whooshing sound despite the shower. Rather than give in to the fears, I filtered it into strength. Let them all try to take me or to take him away from me. I wouldn’t have it, or I would be dead, and die happy having had the time with him I had. There, werewolves, normal and magic, take that, I thought with a smile.
Silly, I know, but it helped. I straightened up from where I’d slouched against the glass shower door. I rolled my shoulders back, and put more effort into getting Lex cleaned up.
“You heal, but can you die?” I finally let myself ask.
“Sure. If my heart stops, my body can’t heal that,” he stated, not with the emotion I’d have expected, though.
At my frown, he continued, “It’s not that big a deal when you’ve lived as long as I have. I was created for a purpose. I don’t hold on anymore to the person I once was when I was merely human. For me, that life ended. That man died. And, the men I play, well, they’ve died to, as I have to keep moving since I no longer age, thanks to the magic.”
“So, you’ve had many identities then, over the years?”
“Sure. I was born a Matthew. When turned, I went to Mark. But, I moved out of M names eventually, and have been Sam and Doug, you name it, and I’ve assumed the name.”
“I can’t see you as a Doug,” I laughed.
“Yeah, wasn’t my best name,” he said, turning to
I couldn’t have just convinced him to be with me only to have some royal bloodline that I apparently belonged to take him away from me. That was, of course, if I would remain alive. I had a threat over my head, a cunning group, smart and strong, who had other plans for me as well. Since my mother had died, I’d pretty much made my own decisions, grown up fast, and had run my own life. Now I had two warring groups that wanted to choose what I did, who I became, and who I did things with. That just pissed me off.
With the back of my hand, I swiped at my tears. I took a deep breath of the steam-filled air. Looking in the fogging mirror, I’d be damned if I would let anyone control me, decide my future, royal and magical blood or not. They’d have to take me dead, I knew that.
The click of the door startled me, and I turned to an apologetic Lex, saying he was sorry for taking so long on the phone. He said nothing about the conversation, and I didn’t ask. Instead, I swallowed my disappointment in being kept out of the loop, as I ushered him into the shower. It’s not like they’d been honest with me up till now anyway.
Chapter Eight
Watching the blood roll off his body, mixing with the water as it went down the drain, drained any anger I had left out of me, leaving only the fear. I stood there soaping his back, wiping over what appeared to now be only scars on his shoulder. How could I be afraid when this man who apparently couldn’t be injured was my protector? He’d just taken out three werewolves to save me.
Still, how many still roamed out there, no one on my team apparently knew. And, I only had this one protector. At what point did he become outnumbered despite his strength? At what point could they take me? Kill Lex? This life I’d been thrown into, maybe in some ways even moved closer too, didn’t suit the easy lifestyle I’d become accustomed to. All my escapes into fiction to avoid real life, and now my real life looked like fiction...
Well, I’d just have to adjust. I’d done my part tonight. I’d actually defended myself and maybe even saved Lex. While he could heal, surely at some point, he could be injured past his body’s ability to do so.
A surge of adrenaline pushed blood through my veins, so rapidly that I could hear a whooshing sound despite the shower. Rather than give in to the fears, I filtered it into strength. Let them all try to take me or to take him away from me. I wouldn’t have it, or I would be dead, and die happy having had the time with him I had. There, werewolves, normal and magic, take that, I thought with a smile.
Silly, I know, but it helped. I straightened up from where I’d slouched against the glass shower door. I rolled my shoulders back, and put more effort into getting Lex cleaned up.
“You heal, but can you die?” I finally let myself ask.
“Sure. If my heart stops, my body can’t heal that,” he stated, not with the emotion I’d have expected, though.
At my frown, he continued, “It’s not that big a deal when you’ve lived as long as I have. I was created for a purpose. I don’t hold on anymore to the person I once was when I was merely human. For me, that life ended. That man died. And, the men I play, well, they’ve died to, as I have to keep moving since I no longer age, thanks to the magic.”
“So, you’ve had many identities then, over the years?”
“Sure. I was born a Matthew. When turned, I went to Mark. But, I moved out of M names eventually, and have been Sam and Doug, you name it, and I’ve assumed the name.”
“I can’t see you as a Doug,” I laughed.
“Yeah, wasn’t my best name,” he said, turning to
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