“What did you do this time?”
I sit up a little straighter in the bed, wincing as the movement pulls at my side. Dani had not yet gotten around to dressing that wound before . . . What exactly happened between us? What was that moment? Did we almost have a moment?
Her phantom touch lingers on my skin and a heat stirs in my abdomen. It bites through the pain and heightens my senses, and I'm all too aware of the scent of her cucumber shampoo mingling with the metallic odor of blood on the bedsheets. It fills my nose and I exhale a shaky breath.
For the first time in a long time, I felt vulnerable. Seeing Nessa's reanimated corpse, dug up from her grave as a haunting reminder of one of my many failures, had been unsettling enough; laying on this bed while Dani tended to my injuries, knowing what I am and not giving it a second thought as she held it together while the walls of my tenacity cracked and splintered around me, was downright unnerving.
This was not good.
The barista wordlessly picks up her medical supplies, her green eyes purposely avoiding my gaze as she walks out of the room, and my chest tightens. Was she afraid? Ashamed? Why did I care?
“Ashe?”
I blink and readjust the phone against my ear. Hearing Nadia's voice again after all this time unravels the tattered threads of my emotion and I'm unable to hide the slight quiver in my tone as I say, “I need your help.”
“Have you been feeding again?”
“Yes. No, I mean—” I hate that she makes me feel like a scolded child, but Nadia had always been good at knocking me down a few pegs. Taking a deep breath, I continue. “That's irrelevant. It's about the ring.”
“Did you lose it?”
She knew that was impossible. “No,” I mutter. “But it's no longer in my possession.”
There was a long pause before Nadia finally asks, “Have you informed Catalina?”
It has been six years since I last spoke to her, and nearly two decades since I last saw her, and Nadia was still as practical as ever. Was a little empathy too much to ask for?
I clear my throat. “She's the one who suggested I call.”
“I see.” Another pause. “This is becoming a habit with you. Need I remind you that last time—”
“Please,” I urge, squeezing my eyes shut as I lean my head back. I knew what she was about to say and I really did not want to open up old wounds. “Don't. Not from you.”
The hint of a smile is reflected in her pitch as she says, “I take it Catalina is still holding that mistake over your head?”
“More or less. She's not exactly happy about this whole situation, either.”
“And why should she be? She has risked much for us, Ashe, and you nearly exposed us once before. If they find out about your soul ring this time we will not be able to save you again.”
“Nadia, please.” I grit my teeth. “Can you help me or not?”
“You know the only way to remove it is by—”
YOU ARE READING
Soulbound
Paranormal"Would it kill you to let yourself open up?" "No," I sigh, tilting my chin and fixing my gaze to the ceiling. I clench my fists, nails digging into my palms as I fight to stay grounded. "But it might kill you." ************* One is a half-demon with...
