“I’m going to go back upstairs and eat,” Jax groans. He grabs a plate of food and brushes by my arm.
“I can go to my room to eat. This is your house; Emmett shouldn’t be tucked away in his room.”
Jax pauses on the stairs and looks at Callum.
“Tonight, you can eat down here. You’re our guest and Emmett wants you to feel welcome,” he says pointedly at Jax, who scoffs and continues to walk up the stairs.
“Ignore him,” Knox says, walking over to grab my hand and guide me to a chair. “Did you have a good shower?”
“For fuck’s sake, Knox,” Callum growls.
“What?” he asks innocently. “Oh, the masturbating. I wasn’t talking about that. Well, fuck. Thanks a lot Callum. I was just trying to be nice and now you’ve made me make it awkward.”
“I think you did that all on your own.”
Wanting to put Knox at ease, I rest my other hand on his arm. “It was lovely. Both the shower and the orgasm.”
“I think I’m in love,” he bows as he backs away. “What would you like to eat?”
“You don’t have to get my food. I can do that.”
“I insist. You’ve had an eventful twenty-four hours.”
His words remind me I’m not just staying at a guy’s house I just met. I’m on the run, hiding.
“I’ll take some lasagna and bread, please.”
“That’s it?”
“She’s not a shifter, Knox. She won’t consume as much food.”
“Right. I knew that.”
“Sorry. He’s just a little excited.”
I laugh, “He’s fine. It’s sweet.”
Knox is the kind of person who just makes you feel calm and happy. Like the days by the water. No matter your troubles, there’s nothing that water can’t seem to fix. He has the same qualities, it seems. Although he doesn’t seem to make Jax happy. Quite the opposite. He seems to take pleasure in making Jax mad, although I get the impression it doesn’t take much, which could be why he does it. It seems… fun.
Callum is more of a mystery. He brings a calmness to the house and direction. He steers them and they follow, although judging by Jax’s reaction with me, it seems like they don’t always agree.
Callum thinks I can help them, and until he figures out how, he’s going to keep me safe. The only thing is, I need to figure out who I am and what my powers are before he figures out how to use me to get what he wants. Once I have my strength and power, I won’t need them anymore and can leave.
Dinner was delicious, and it was nice to have someone to talk to while I gorged myself on enough pasta to last me for a year. Knox is hilarious and didn’t stop talking the entire time he was eating. So much so that while I was cleaning up the dishes, he took his first bite. Callum insisted I didn’t need to clean, but I needed to contribute somehow to show my gratitude for them watching over me.
After dinner, Callum showed me the library, which is absolutely massive. It’s two stories on the back of the house with floor to ceiling shelves full of books. Callum said he likes to read and I guess being as old as he is means he would have collected a ton of books. There’s no telling how many first editions he has in the room. I’ll have to do some exploring tomorrow.
He walked straight to a section where the books looked ancient, with leather backings and buckles to hold the pages together. He pulled one out and handed it to me. The writing on the front had been worn away, but he said it’s full of history about the true fae.
Back in my room, I grab a blanket off the bed and perch myself on the chaise in front of the fireplace. Even though the book looks like it will disintegrate into a pile of ash with one strong flick of the wrist, Callum assured me it’s in solid condition.
Even still, I gently flip the cover open. The title page is written in some sort of ancient lettering that I can’t make out with words written below that I try and fail to sound out, so I flip the page. The top of the page has the number one written in a fancy font, but the letters underneath it are in the same odd lettering.
Why would he give me a book that I can’t read?
Should I be able to read it?
Is this the true fae language?
