Half-Blooded | The Dark Child Prophecy Series [✔️]

Chapter 21: Turning Page

"You really should rest more," Marcus scolded gently from somewhere off to my right. I smirked, my eyes still closed, knowing he was talking to Jenny. He wasn't pleased she had decided to talk her way out of being in the infirmary.

"I'm fine," she answered him. "I'm on strict bed-rest instructions from Doc, I've had my transfusion, and I've promised not to push it. He said so long as I take it easy, I'll be just fine."

I always envied how Jenny could get out of being reprimanded by firing back with calm, perfect logic that often couldn't be argued with. It always sounded very mature. I need to learn how to do that more effectively, I thought with a slight grin to myself.

"Still, I think you should have spent another night on the monitors," my stepfather responded. "Just in case."

She giggled, and I heard her shift from her place on the couch, the leather creaking underneath her. "I promised I would check in for a quick exam before the end of the night. It'll be fine."

I opened my eyes to watch as Luce reached across the space between them to rub her thigh that was buried under a thick blanket. He had forced her onto the couch with pillows and a quilt within minutes of joining us in the library.

The room had always been like a sanctuary to me while growing up. The shelves along the walls were filled with books, journals, memorabilia, and artifacts from the many ages; the Winslow grand elders had collected every piece and tome when they had once called the coven their second home. My mother was sitting on another huge quilt near the fireplace with Felicity, toys scattered around them. They were stacking blocks, Felicity occasionally giggling loudly or squealing in excitement as the pyramid grew bigger. Luce and Jenny took up the majority of the leather couch across from me while Marcus was seated in his favorite armchair off to my right, sipping a bourbon-and-blood cocktail.

I smiled, content, as I looked out the window at the falling snow for a moment from my seat on the window bench and its massive, thick cushion. It had been my claimed spot since I was a little girl. I pulled my cashmere blanket tighter when a draft of cool air brushed over me from the window as the winds picked up outside from the coming snowstorm, like a gentle howl to announce its arrival.

I wondered where the wolves were. They had yet to grace us with their presence after going to survey the borders and their potential new territory. Part of me hoped to put Jason at the mercy of Marcus and Luce, to see him get subtly grilled by my big brother and stepfather, even after the night-before's encounter. Part of me also wished I had been able to go with them, to shift and run across the property, and that he was sharing his body heat and the blanket with me. With a sigh, I shook my head free of the thought. He needed to be tortured a little more first.

"I'm with Marc. I think you should be in the infirmary, or in bed, with a bad romance novel and pillows," Luce agreed with our stepfather. I smirked again, still looking out the window.

"I can handle spending a few hours on a couch with you, no stress necessary," Jenny answered him. "I'm a woman. I was made to have these problems and persevere."

"Here, here," my mother giggled from off to my left near the fireplace, picking up Felicity's teddy bear and tickling her nose with its soft face.

The toddler squealed, laughing in a sound that always made me think of wind chimes. I sighed quietly to myself and watched as my mother and Felicity exchanged little sounds of excitement back and forth in baby language.

The rumble of the Jeeps out in the drive pulled my attention to the window again. The black paint glowed silver and bronze under the lamplights. I watched as the headlights died along with the engines. James climbed out of the first car's driver's side door. He was laughing at something that was said. From the passenger side, Jason got out, his grin infectious as he continued talking. He was dressed in a thick coat, a dark blue scarf around his neck. From behind him, Thomas climbed out and stuck close to his shadow. I glanced at the other Jeep to see Lara join Canaan and Daniel as the three followed Jason and James. The six walked up onto the porch and then they disappeared from my line of sight. I heard the telling sound of the front doors opening and then closing as their conversations continued.