The Beast And The Blessed

Eight: Joselin

Joselin's P.O.V.

The darkness had never looked more appealing than it did at that moment. Either that or I opened the door before me and faced the man I knew was standing on the other side. I didn’t need to hear him or see him to know that he was there.

I could sense his beast, his aura.

He was lying in wait patiently, like he was waiting for the perfect moment for him to pounce on his unsuspecting prey. Only I knew Tobias was on the other side of the door.

My heart was beating rapidly, giving me away as well. He knew I was here, and I knew he was listening to the erratic thumping in my chest. He had been for the past five minutes that I stood there, staring at the doorknob.

Was he the lesser of two evils?

Knowing he was willing to wait for me to leave my tower instead of walking right in to confront me made me even more anxious.

The darkness I would need to teleport through gave me enough pause, but being unable to walk freely down the hallways made me angry. This was my home. I didn't even know where Tobias slept, but it wasn't in the castle.

Yet, he was preventing me from doing my job by cornering me.

After a long internal debate during my shower, I finally decided to talk to Killian about my suspicions. But to do that, I would need to get through the wall of muscle that had gone from ignoring me the past few months to avoiding me the past two weeks to torturing me.

On the other hand, I hadn't traveled through the empty realm on my own since my near-death experience. Every time I considered it, a shiver would run down my spine, and I felt the nails clawing at my skin again.

They had wanted me to stay last time. A knife was sticking out from between my shoulder blades from Talia. She had helped raise me, but as soon as she had the chance, she had thrown that dagger with deadly precision and lodged it into me. It wasn't surprising. She had always held grudges and was vindictive, but she was also one hell of a teacher.

What had caught me off guard were the sudden presences in the darkness. Before, it was always quiet and empty. I could travel through to anywhere I desired in the blink of an eye. But at that time, there were others.

tearing my clothes and skin, trying to drag me away from Aurora and Agatha as I fought to get them to safety. I had done my best to get them out of that darkness quickly, but

their rough tongue slid across my skin, tasting the blood that

mind, I had seen the exit of their world. I was ready to leave and take my people to safety, but as my blood coated their tongue, the low

what little magic she had left to me, I don't

now that I was stronger, it seemed easier for me to zip through that world to

to one hundred, taking long and calming breaths as I tried to decide

me, I needed a

I let my feet carry me to Killian's office. Tobias was leaning against the wall across from

I let myself go, flickering into the darkness that filled my soul with unease. I watched through the first two flashes as Tobias lunged forward, grabbing my hand before

Tobias had come with me, even if I wasn't ready to speak to him. It took everything in me not to stop and glance around in the vast emptiness as I felt eyes on me. I knew Tobias could sense it too, as he let out a

confirmed that I was not ready to travel there again. Whatever had gotten

Killian. Get to Killian.

entered, we were free, standing in front of Killian's open office door. The king raised an eyebrow at our joined hands, and I pulled away from

flicked my hand back, not bothering to look at Tobias as I shut the office door in his face. I knew I didn't have much time. As soon as I closed the door, leaving the two of us alone in his office, I had probably set off some alarm bell somewhere. We wouldn't be

forward to stand before his desk, not bothering to wait for his permission before slumping into one of his visitor's seats like I used to when we

picked up the paper he had before him as he muttered, scanning over the words before grumbling in

waited for him to look up at me again before speaking.

it?" He asked, and my eyebrows pulled together as he continued to shuffle through his work. I knew he had been busier than usual lately. Still, I wanted to snap at him for how he dismissed me when I was discussing a threat to his

And there it is.

trained and felt confident in her abilities, she could handle the threats herself, and there

covered." In no way did I sound convincing, but he seemed too distracted and busy to notice. Either he trusted me greatly or didn't care about what I had to say. At least he couldn't say I didn't warn him. Still, it didn't make missing my best friend any less. "Ian, what do you say tonight we sneak into the kitchen after dinner and grab a couple pieces

kitchen and steal a few bites of whatever dessert the cooks had made that day. We would climb up on the kitchen counter and stare out through the large window at the back garden. It didn't matter if we were twelve or twenty-five. The

when they didn't bake anything that day, we always found peanut butter and jelly on the counter

While building his relationship with her, I had given him