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.

them to safety. I

exposed shoulder only a second before their rough tongue slid

and take my people to safety, but as my blood coated their tongue, the low growl of satisfaction made me freeze with terror. Every hair rose as I felt my mouth open

been for Aurora pushing what little magic she had left to me, I don't

easier for me to zip through that world to get to where I needed to go

in my head to one hundred, taking long and calming

me, I needed

Killian's office. Tobias was leaning against the wall across from my tower entrance, his arms crossed and

unease. I watched through the first two flashes as Tobias lunged forward, grabbing my hand before we were sucked in and prepared to

me not to stop and glance around in the vast emptiness as I felt eyes

only confirmed that I was not ready to travel there again. Whatever had gotten a taste last

Killian. Get to Killian.

door. The king raised an eyebrow at

I knew I didn't have much time. As soon as I closed the door, leaving the two of us

the war." I started, moving forward to stand before his desk, not bothering to wait for his permission before

He picked up the paper he had

as he continued to work, so I waited for him to look up at me again before speaking. "Someone survived.

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 mate and possibly to myself. Perhaps, I wasn't so far off

And there it is.

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

about it. I have it 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

day, we used to sneak into the 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

found peanut butter and jelly on the counter or a pudding bowl in the fridge

had given him space. Now, I could barely work in