Total pages in book: 80
Estimated words: 75539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 75539 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 378(@200wpm)___ 302(@250wpm)___ 252(@300wpm)
“You shouldn’t have told me. Now you’ve cursed it.”
“Eh, feels like it’s already cursed.” I patted the spot next to me on the long, cloudlike couch. “Come. Sit. Enjoy fine cinema.”
“Just us?” Xavier asked. It didn’t sound suggestive in any way, but I still took it that way.
I swallowed my salty, butter-drenched mouthful. “Yes. Mom went to go to sleep.”
“How’s she doing?” Xavier asked. He looked at me with that handsome baby face of his, those loose curls of dark hair begging to be played with.
Hmm… Maybe this movie night wasn’t a great idea.
“She’s doing fine. She’s really grateful to Warrick for getting her out of there. My mom’s a falcon shifter, so she took to the sky until it was safe.”
“Good, good.” Xavier reached over. “Can I?”
“Mhmm,” I said and tilted the bucket of popcorn in his direction. I picked up the remote and turned the television on, the screen already open to the streaming service. “Ready for the movie?”
“Let’s do it,” he said. His voice was deep and gravelly, and it did something to me. Made me slightly self-conscious. Did I look too casual? I’d been living with Xavier for about a month now, so he’d seen me in plenty of different states, but tonight, I didn’t want to cosplay a slouch. I wore paint-stained black sweatpants and a blue striped shirt I wasn’t even sure was mine. I was sure I looked like a mess.
The movie started with the scene I could recite line by line. A white limo pulled up to curling golden gates, the limo driving up a seemingly miles-long driveway to an ivy-covered estate. The limo came to a slow stop, and the main character stepped out with one broken heel hanging from her hand. A flurry of doves flew out behind her, some whacking into her back and shitting on her shoulders. A handsome Italian housekeeper ran out of the mansion and went to help her, unknowingly helping his future wife.
I set the popcorn between us and said, “Is it weird that we’re supposed to feel bad for Penelope here, but I don’t? I’m happy for her. If it wasn’t for this mess, she wouldn’t have gotten the idea to ‘fake’ marry Gino to get revenge on her rival.” Xavier had gotten comfortable by kicking off his shoes, resting his sock-clad feet on a satin ottoman.
“I don’t think that’s weird at all. I agree with you, actually. I mean, yeah, I feel bad for the bird shit and the way she was set up, but I do think the happiness of the moment outweighs the literal shittiness.” He let out a huff. “I’d rather have her shitty day than ours.”
“That is very true. I can’t believe that all happened less than twenty-four hours ago.” Maybe once the shock wore off, it’d make more sense to me. “Today just feels like a bad dream…”
“Was that your first time ever killing someone?”
I stared at the screen. Penelope was furiously recounting her day to Gino. “Yes. I’ve obviously witnessed death, but I’ve never been the one to deliver it. I… I know it was either me or them, and I know I did the right thing, but I’m scared that any blood on my hands makes me a monster.”
“It doesn’t. Like you said, that shifter would have killed you if you didn’t act first.”
“I know, but the taste of blood, it was awful. I feel like it’s still in my mouth.” The butter coating my taste buds began to taste metallic. I rubbed at my lips as if I could wipe the smear off me. “I hated it.”
“You shouldn’t love it. It’s okay.” Xavier reached across the short distance between us and grabbed my hand. Was this somewhere in the bodyguard manual? A section where he learned how to moonlight as a therapist? A loud cacophony of sounds came from the TV, where Penelope had accidentally dropped a couple of buckets of paint on her and Gino.
She just couldn’t catch a break, huh.
“Death is something no one can or should get used to. My line of work has brought me face-to-face with the reaper on many different occasions, and I never get used to it. You defended yourself, and that’s it.”
“At least I know I can do it. That makes me feel a little less useless for this starlight dagger hunt.”
Xavier smiled at me, flashing those pearly white teeth. “Who says you’re coming? I’m keeping you locked up in the castle until we figure it out.”
“Um, no, I don’t think so. First off, I’ll go crazy if I’m locked up anywhere. And second, I want to help. You’re my bodyguard anyway—you should be around me at all times.” I shrugged as if it were that obvious.
“There’s plenty of times I’m not around you.”
“Like when?”
“When you’re showering. And you take hour-long showers. Sometimes I worry you’re actually a turkey shifter and drowned while looking up at the water.”