“Alright.”
A flash of surprise across his handsome face, but he hides it quickly with a brusque nod.
Callum busies himself laying out his sleeping arrangements and extinguishing the lamps in the room. After choking down one of the doses of medicine Soleil sent me off with, I slowly make my way to the bed.
The big bed.
The big,softbed that nearly makes me groan in pleasure when I pull back the covers and sit down on its edge.
The big, soft bed that’s designed to accommodate wings and would certainly be big enough for two if I wanted to call out to Callum and invite him to…
Nope. Not going there.
When the last light is put out, he settles down to sleep, and I do the same.
“Sleep well, Seren,” Callum says softly in the darkness. “And don’t hesitate to wake me if there’s anything you need.”
Tears prick at the backs of my eyes, hot and sharp and embarrassing.
I clear my throat. “Good night, Callum.”
18
Callum
I’ve got a crick in my neck and a twinge in my lower back when I wake up on my apartment’s floor, but the aches and pains are more than worth it for the sight that greets me.
My mate.
In my bed.
Though I know she’s only there because she thought she didn’t have anywhere better to go, having her near settles something in me.
It’s right that she’s here.
She was always supposed to be.
My beautiful, powerful, impulsive mate.
My talented, brave, resilient witch.
Everything Seren told me about herself last night still echoes in my mind. Everything about her past, her coven, the threads of obvious grief and self-recrimination in her voice.
It can’t have been easy for her to share all of that with me. It was difficult for her to be vulnerable, to delve into her painful past.
Something my witch and I have in common, apparently.
Knowing that, it’s an honor she trusted me enough to share at all. It’s an honor she decided to come back here with me, to allow me to give her at least one night of peace and safety.
Still, as I glance around the room, I have to fight back a wave of regret.
This place isn’t nearly good enough for her. I was so focused on seeing her here safely that I didn’t remember until we were on my doorstep.
Perhaps I’m just too used to it. Perhaps all the years I’ve spent roaming the realms on Myron’s orders, spending much more time away than I do here, have made it nothing but a passing thought.
This place has never been a home.
It’s a quiet, safe place to rest between jobs, but it’s never had much warmth to it. Or, rather, I’ve never bothered to add touches of warmth to make it feel like more than just somewhere I’m passing through.
