Bound Trilogy: Bound: A Supernatural Story (WLW)

Chapter Thirty

Pen woke up and reached out beside herself, but found an empty bed. An empty bed...?

She hurriedly sat up and glanced around the otherwise unoccupied room. In a panic, she knelt along the edge of her bed and didn't see Bast's rucksack anywhere. Pen scrambled to her feet and, ignoring the cold that engulfed her, ran for the door and down the stairs. She heard a deep chuckling from the kitchen and made her way there in a frenzied hurry.

"Xenia! She's gone! Bast is...!" She trailed off as she spotted Bast standing in front of the stove with Xenia on one side and Jules on the other.

All three turned toward her rather slowly and Pen watched Bast's eyes widen as she swept them up and down her body. Gabe sat at the table, nursing a mug of coffee, and they all looked at her in complete puzzlement. Pen reddened, remembering just what she wore -- a tank and a pair of oversized boxers -- and covered her torso with her arms, shivering under their gazes.

Bast was at her side in a second, taking off her sweater and putting it over her shoulders. "Hey, you okay?"

"Uh... Yeah. I just... I didn't..."

"I'm still here." Bast dipped her head down to meet Pen's gaze, but she looked anywhere else.

It had been three days since the last ceremony, meaning it was now the week of the Red Harvest, the final night of which was growing closer. Xenia had gone unchallenged the entire week and had grown even stronger by it. Each day, Bast seemed more at peace with where she was, yet the fear she would leave still rang clear in Pen's chest. In fact, it may always be there, as they had yet to actually speak on things of real importance and had only skirted the issues of what came next in their conversations over the last few days.

Pen swallowed and gave Bast a tentative smile, backing away. She needed some space. If she didn't get it now, she would only be hurt later. She couldn't imagine being parted from her soul bond that was still budding. Still blossoming. What if Bast did leave her again?

She'd already done it once and yes, she had come back, but she'd also left the last time Pen had tried kidding herself into thinking she was finally accepting herself...or her. Bast looked at her like a hurt puppy and winced.

Pen clutched her sweater tighter around her torso and turned toward the stairs. "I'll just go get dressed."