Cold Visions of Future's Past

Chapter Seven

Author's note: HI! I'm alive, I'm still writing (not as much), and life is--busy. I wanted to add more to this chapter before I posted it but I've kept everyone waiting long enough. My love to all <3

Enjoy!

Chapter Seven

"What are we watching tonight?"

I plopped down on the couch with my popcorn bowl as Jon flitted his way through the movie selection screen. Every time I thought he'd settled on one, he went back to scrolling.

We kept the rest of the day pretty chill and ordered in for dinner. I watched Michael put the nursery back together and gave input on what else we might need or want now that I knew the room existed. I was excited and that excitement became infectious. Jon relaxed and joked around long enough to help Michael hang up some dangly seagulls on the beach side of the room. Michael turned the brooding off a couple times to smile as I teased them both from my spot on the cloud-shag carpet. But once his eyes snagged on my throat, at the bite mark, the brooding made a reappearance and a silent apology came down the bond.

I ignored it, only acknowledging with a mental ping of my own that I was ok. The bite would take time to heal but I'd rather he did it then have our bond severed. That just wasn't an option. Ever. I'd spent most of my life feeling alone and I wasn't about to go back now. The day flowed and now we waited on Michael to come back from the entryway with the food while Jon picked the movie.

Or tried to.

"Jon." He was driving me nuts with the indecision. He stared at the description for Inception for a moment before going back to the flipping.

He glanced over at me. "I can't decide."

"How about we make Michael pick." I snuggled back against the seat cushion and popped a few kernels into my mouth. "Since he's taking so long!"

I knew the man could hear me so I didn't need to be louder than raising my voice. He poked me through the bond and I smiled.

"He'll probably pick something superhero-y," Jon responded.

That was true. "Wanna take bets on if it's DC or Marvel?"

We looked at each other for a few seconds and said in unison, "Spider Man."

It was the safest bet. Light humor, easily solved drama, had action. Neutral ground after the day we'd had.

My phone binged on the cushion next to me and I ignored it. Whoever it was could wait until tomorrow but then a second ding came through and curiosity got the better of me. I flipped it over, got a glance at the screen, and immediately put it back the way it was. Nope, wasn't dealing with that tonight.

Jon eyed the phone before saying, "You should say something to him about that."

I was suddenly grateful Michael hadn't arrived yet and was dealing with the food delivery at the front door. Though he could hear loud voices, normal conversational tones were a different story.

"It's nothing," I played it off, knowing what Jon hinted at.

"No, it's not." He went to grab for my phone, but I moved it out of his reach. "Ana—"

"I said it's nothing." I met his eyes. "So it's nothing."

Truth was, it wasn't nothing.

The Guild and its members kept my illness and my pregnancy quiet. Slayers protected our own but that's where their generosity ended.

The members of the Guild who despised me for a colorful amount of reasons had decided to torture/spam me with everything Gregori did for the last two and a half months. It was a guerilla tactic to get me to leave the Guild as the texts and pictures weren't about mundane things. They tended to be graphic and include lines like: No one wants you here, not even our Leader; if he's screwing her, why are you still hanging around?; he's moved on to better; he'd be happier if you were dead; It wouldn't be hard to make you disappear; Doesn't this just make you want to die?