“You just left her there, alone?”
“What the hell was I supposed to do? Do you want me to take her back to the house? You know that they could follow her scent right back there. She would never stand a chance and you know it. At your place, it’s so far off, that’s why no one has ever found you out there.”
“How long ago did it happen?”
Nathan told him that it hadn't been long, and that Cassandra had only been there for about an hour. Antoine wasn’t concerned about her getting attacked or anything. He was more concerned about what that was going to mean for the future. How was he going to explain any of it to her? How was he going to stay with her, sleep in the same house with her, and leave the status quo the same?
He asked Nathan what he had said to her and Nathan just kind of shrugged. “I told her that it wasn't for me to say and she seemed pretty willing to take that. I think she was spooked about the way the place went up when she was there minutes before that. You know that first time you almost die feeling that you get? Well, she had it in spades.”
“I think it's even worse for them because they don't heal like we do. They have a longer recovery time, and they are easier to kill.”
“Yeah, she was pretty freaked out about it.”
Antoine just agreed solemnly. He had spent time going through the same thing. He didn’t like the idea that she’d had such a close call.
“I should've fired her when I had the chance.”
Nathan just waved him off distractedly. “You know me, I am not going to judge.”
“Bullshit, you’re judging me right now. And, I'll have you know that whatever it is you're thinking, you're wrong. There will be none of that.”
Nathan just grinned wider and that really aggravated Antoine. “I am the one that’s going to call bull on that. You’re in love with that damn human and, well, a little time alone, it doesn’t take a seer to know what happens next.”
Antoine cursed underneath his breath. There was no way that he was going to agree to that. He had not even admitted that to himself, so he certainly wasn't going to say it to Nathan, not when he was smiling like an idiot.
***
What Antoine hadn't thought about was what Cassandra was going to see when she was inside of his house. He didn't have a lot of visitors over, but even then, he put most of his artwork in his bedroom. As long as she stayed out of there, she wouldn't know that several of his newest drawings were of her. It had to be done from memory, of course, but he had a really good memory and it made Antoine realized then, that he probably was twisted up over that human far more than he realized.
When he walked in and saw her with one of them in her hands, it made Antoine feel weird. It was like she was now privy to a secret that he did not necessarily want her to know about. It was his secret and his secretive nature made it hard for him to share much of anything, especially his innermost thoughts.
He barked at her, even though he didn’t mean to. He couldn’t help it. He had not been prepared to see her with her hands on that picture. He didn’t want Cassandra to know that he had feelings for her. She wasn’t to know those sorts of things. It was bad enough that he felt them at all, worse when he realized that she knew about it.
By the look on her face, though, he knew he’d gone too far and was kicking himself about it. He wasn’t used to being extra gentle with women and humans. He didn’t know how to be extra gentle with them. He wished that he did because of the way she was looking at him.
“Sorry, I don't mean to be a dick.”
“Well, for something that you don't mean to do, you're pretty good at it.”
Antoine just shook his head and smiled. He couldn’t help but agree. He was quite good at it. He had been told that many times before, so it had to be true.
“Really, I am sorry. I'm just not used to having someone in my house.”
“You live here by yourself?”
Antoine agreed and she looked around the place. It was pretty big for just him.
“It seems pretty big for just you to live here all alone.”
“I don't like confined places. This seemed like the best of both worlds. It’s not too big, but there is plenty of room for me to move around. Have you seen the rest of the house?”
“Well, I tried to be good and sit still and just wait for you to get back, but it took you awhile, so I started to snoop around. I hope you don't mind too much.”
Obviously, he minded, but Antoine told her that he didn't. Antoine was already saying that he was being a bit of a jerk and was trying to temper it down. After the day she’d had because of him, Antoine didn't want to make it any worse.
“Anyway, I didn't get past your room before you saw me.”
“Well, let me show you the rest of it then.”
