Monster Like You

Chapter 22

I didn't immediately realize what had woken me up. The clock next to the bed claimed that it was still too early and you could sleep for at least two hours, or even all three, but something was bothering you. I tried to remember what had woken me up at such an incredibly early hour, and when I remembered, I twitched anxiously. A noise woke me up. Some noise in my empty apartment, where there was no one but me. Or it shouldn't have been.

I sat up in bed and listened. It was already getting light outside the window, but the room with the curtains drawn was still in semi-darkness. I couldn't make out any extraneous sounds over the deafening pounding of my heart, but I got out of bed anyway, threw a robe over my shoulders and went out into the dark corridor. It was quiet here, but the feeling of someone else's presence did not let go.

"What kind of weird paranoia is this?" I asked myself, listening to the silence.

I took a few cautious steps towards the living room, but stopped a little short of reaching it, pressing myself against the wall. I knew I looked stupid, but I convinced myself that if there really was no one in the apartment, then no one would see.

"Vet, don't be afraid, it's me," a quiet voice came from the living room. The one that I would recognize from a thousand similar ones.

I let out a sigh of relief, but immediately tensed up again: What is Nathaniel doing in my apartment at five o'clock in the morning? How does he even get here every time?

"How did you end up here?" I asked, already boldly entering the living room and finding my unexpected guest in an armchair. In the living room, I don't pull the curtains at night, so it turned out to be quite light here, but I didn't see Nathaniel right away: he was sitting in the darkest corner. "And what are you doing here?"

He was silent, staring at me intently. I didn't really see his face, nor his eyes, but I felt an attentive gaze on me. I pulled my robe closer and crossed my arms over my chest to be sure. She came closer and sat down on the sofa, waiting for an answer.

Nathaniel stirred, coughed awkwardly, leaned forward and rested his elbows on his knees.

"I had guests last night," he began without preamble. It seemed that at the same time he was closely watching my reaction. "With a gun and an electric shock."

"You mean that someone broke into you?"

"Most likely, with the purpose of kidnapping," Nathaniel nodded.

My heart jumped to my throat and beat in it, making it difficult to breathe and speak. Here it is. What Gervase was talking about. He was right: they came for Nathaniel after all. And I couldn't prevent it. Either I turned out to be a very weak spy, or Sincere was involved, which I could not follow.

"We need to inform Gervase, you need protection," I jumped up, intending to find the phone, but Nathaniel also got up quickly and stopped me, squeezing my forearm tightly.

"I definitely need protection, but I can't trust Gervase," he said quickly, looking into my eyes through the gloom. "I can't trust anyone in Corps."

"But you're here now. And I also work in Corps. Why do you trust me?"

Nathaniel grinned, but the grin was a little bitter.

"Because of your attachment to my human half. I may have doubts about your attitude towards me in general, but you won't do anything wrong to a piece of your precious Bond," his voice sounded as caustic as usual.

Nathaniel was standing very close, his uneven breathing burning my cheek. The fingers, too strong for a human, gripped the forearm so tightly that it hurt.

"Probably, bruises will remain," I thought distantly, because no serious thought was formed in my head.

I had to find the words to explain everything to him, but he was on edge. Too tense to listen long and carefully. I'll start with the wrong one - he'll put me on the list of those who can't be trusted. And after that I won't see him again.