The Beast And The Blessed

Thirty-Seven: Joselin

Joselin's P.O.V.

Dinner was a tense affair. Cyrus seemed uncomfortable trying to manipulate Rona into getting information from her, but he didn't have a choice.

She was obsessed with getting him to talk and spill his secrets. He was convinced she had actual feelings for him, even if it was only a physical attraction. Perhaps she would accidentally let something slip if he took advantage of that.

Even better would be if we took advantage of how close she let him and had him sedate her.

One quick slip of a needle and her magic could be blocked for hours. It would be the perfect way to question her. But if I was wrong about my suspicions of her, it could have catastrophic consequences when she was released. Killian wouldn't let me just kill her, no matter how badly I wanted to.

He insisted that we still had to follow the rules. He was trying to be a good leader, and he was. But that didn't make it any less frustrating when the rules were getting in the way of my job to protect him.

Cyrus agreed to try the more civil way first and attempt to get Rona to talk to him. He violently opposed my idea of resorting to drugs and torture, but

I was sick of waiting for someone to slip up and trying to be discrete as I searched for answers.

Someone who had been in the mountains the night before the war had built that altar and had performed the ritual to drain another of their life essence and magic. Someone powerful enough to perform that ritual on their own, if they were alone, shouldn't need more magic unless they were doing something big.

Cyrus was running for his life, needing protection from some unknown threat who wanted him dead. When I asked him about it during dinner, he confirmed the same thing he told me in the mountains.

He felt them.

He felt them pulling at his soul and magic, trying to separate the two. He looked haunted as he recalled the event that finally pushed him to ask for help. I had experienced something similar fifteen years ago, so I knew he remembered how much it hurt, with his experience being only a few months ago.

The pure and unbridled agony that came with that curse haunted me to this day, and I knew he would have to live with it for the rest of his life too.

When that didn't work, the mountain shook fiercely like it was about to come down on him. He said he was positive that if it wasn't someone powerful, it had to have been one of the Gods because he had never felt anything as strong or threatening.

livid by their failure, and it was only a matter of

face his killer before he was sent to meet the Goddess. Without

murder another, it was only fitting that they do it face

up on immediately. It was then that we shared the story

that allowed her to kill her mother using the distant absorption of her magic. Her mother, Melinda, didn't realize what was happening until it was too late. At that point, she was too weak to fight back. Rona drained her of everything, stealing

should have been on that. As I crawled into bed, my mind should have been dissecting every word that crossed Cyrus's mouth tonight, looking for hints or

of anything other than our own future. I had been

thinking about myself

thoughts of

back of my neck, his nose nuzzling through my hair, his hot breath hitting my skin,

around me, pulling me against his bare

is not true," I whispered, but he was right. Even if he couldn't hear my thoughts, I knew I was acting

as he waited. He was patient, but it felt more like a silent demand for an explanation. I pressed my lips together until he placed a

head and look at him. Kids. The thought made my stomach turn because I didn't know what answer I wanted. I didn't even know if I wanted to

even

me regret bringing it up. If he did want kids, and

excitement laced in his tone, answering his question

He wanted them.

still in his arms,

neck felt wonderful as he tried to ease my fears, but inside I was

Kids.

gone through as children, he wanted to bring some of his own into the world. He would be a great father, but I knew I would not meet his expectations.

what to do if

in my life growing up had abandoned me or turned on me. My parents had locked me in my room for the first decade of my life, hiring priests and witches to try to take my gift from me. It was unclear whether they knew that ritual would kill

to be mentored by the Royal Advisor at the time, Talia. She abandoned me when Killian chose me to stand by his side

world slaying monsters. She never asked if I wanted to come, and she rarely returned home for visits. Her

made me want to pull my hair out from the frustration of having to deal with