Bloody Curse | Book Two of Blood Trilogy

Chapter 45

Caleb 

Walking to our room, my fingers itched to touch my daughter's cheek and pull my wife into a tight hug. I closed the door with a soft 'click' so Jill wouldn't wake up but that was exactly what she did. 

She sat straight up in bed and looked right into my eyes in the dark room. I tiptoed up to our bed and settled beside her but first acknowledging how Hazel rested right in the middle of our bed. I bent down to kiss her forehead then my wife's. 

"How are you?" She whispered. I continued staring at her despite the darkness in the room.

"Everything is alright. I just want you and Hazel to be careful and take caution." I stated back. My hand reached out to rest on her hip from habit. She nodded in response but I was mesmerized by how my fingertips traced the curve of her hip down to her upper thigh. Her heart beat rapidly and it filled my ears. 

My fangs itched to draw down and sink deep beneath the surface of her soft skin. I chastised myself internally and withdrew my hand from her and looked back up into her dilated pupils. 

"This war will settle down soon enough, my darling." She whispered and tucked a loose piece of hair behind my ear. I sighed to her touch and knew exactly what she meant. She knew that I craved for her but everything was happening so quickly that anything could occur at any moment. 

I pulled her hand into a tight grip with mine and laid my lips on top of her hand. 

"Sleep well tonight, love. It's been a long day and I need you to maintain high energy." I stated then stroked a single finger down Hazel's cheek and walked out the room without another sound being made. 

Long strides took me exactly where I wanted to be. I smoothed my black dress shirt from any wrinkles and turned the knob without knocking. 

Asher and Violet glanced up from their busy positions so I approached them and waited for them to give me any initiation on what the next move would be after containing one of the Shadows. 

"We could use the Shadow and either have it bring us to Anabelle or lure her to us." Violet stated and glanced at both men in the room. The office was quiet and the slightest blows of wind could be heard against the large glass window. 

"That sounds like a suicide mission though." I refuted and glanced at her to see if she had an alternative to that. "We can not risk anymore lives and put this kingdom in any more danger than it already is. We are barely recovering." 

Ash only nodded to my statement but the three of us remained quiet for some time before she perked up in her seat. 

"We know where the Shadows have been hiding. They prefer to be underground but what would happen if we get the leader, somehow, and bring her out in the daylight or contain her in manmade material, just like the Shadow in the metal room." She paused to give a side glance to her husband, 

"We know that common Shadows can survive in daylight because we've heard, smelled, and even seen them in the light of day, but that is only because their leader is underground. She most likely provides the powers for them to fight and become invincible. She's strongest when she is underground." Violet concluded and awaited for the both of us to either agree or disagree. 

I sat in the seat and bobbed my leg up and down contemplating the possibilities of this task to be successful or not. It was a decent claim yet we had no evidence of Anabelle being weakened by the sun. I sighed and ran a hand through my hair in distress. We had no other choice and Violet's theory seemed like a legitimate one seeing as we've never spotted the devil queen in the middle of the day. 

I glanced up at Asher and he looked at me at the same time. I've known him long enough to know that he wanted to give it a try just through the communication of his eye contact. 

He had already made up his mind. He would carry out his wife's theory and see if she was correct in order to eliminate this suspense once and for all. 

"Shall we see each other again tomorrow morning then? That should give us time until noon to get our stuff together and make sure that the sun is bright and shining. Let's hope for a good day." I patted Asher on the shoulder and nodded to  Violet in dismissal then strolled out the room towards my family. 

It had been a long and winded day and I was dying to lay in bed next to my daughter and wife. 

They laid peacefully under the covers so I walked to the bathroom and glanced at myself in the mirror. Nothing surprised me. 

I looked like a walking mess. My brown hair was pointing in all directions, my green eyes were tired, and the bags beneath dragged to the floor. My complexion did not look lively and my body felt sore and lacked the sleep that it yearned for. I sighed and shook my clothes off to leave them on the bathroom floor. 

I trudged to the closet and threw on a fresh t-shirt as well as some pajama pants. I couldn't wait to slip into bed and rest beneath the warm covers. 

I slid into bed with caution as the tiny person between us was sound asleep but I also didn't want to wake Jill up either. 

Both the mother and daughter's heartbeats were in-sync and I listened to the melody and slowly felt myself drop into a deep slumber where my tense muscles no longer held tension.