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.

failure, and it was only

was about to die. It seemed to bother him more that he wouldn't have been able to face his killer before he was sent to meet the Goddess. Without embracing his powers, he would have died anyway. But getting

was going to murder another, it was only fitting that they do it face to face, not

had shared a look with Tobias that Cyrus seemed to pick up on immediately. It was then that

what was happening until it was too late. At that point, she

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

than our own future. I had been working hard enough for the past decade to save and protect everyone else. I didn't even feel guilty

thinking about myself

of us, only

neck, his nose nuzzling through my hair,

tightened around me, pulling me against his

I was acting unusual. If I weren't, I would have been wrapped

it felt more like a silent demand for an explanation. I pressed my lips

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

wasn't even good with

type of mother I pictured I would be wasn’t very inspiring, making me regret bringing it up. If he did want kids, and I had them, would he resent me for not being the

tone, answering his

He wanted them.

room as I lay still in his arms, scared that if I moved and faced him that the conversation

tried to ease my fears, but inside I was fighting down my stomach acid

Kids.

his own into the world. He would be a great father, but I knew I would not meet

do if I were

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

king found me, I was taken in and assigned to be mentored by the Royal Advisor at the time, Talia. She abandoned me when Killian chose me to stand by his side over her

to travel the world slaying monsters. She never asked if I wanted to come, and she rarely returned

women in my life were power-hungry bitches who made me want to pull my hair out from the frustration