The Beast And The Blessed

Twenty-Five: Joselin

Joselin’s P.O.V.

I just wanted to invite her to join the council. Now I was trekking through the forest, blinded with fury, and wanting her dead.

She had said it was a favor, but it wasn’t. It was a test. Whether she had tried to trick me into going under the disguise of a favor or Killian sent me, I would be sent regardless. She had already talked to Killian before trying to get me to agree as if I had a choice.

Knowing I wanted her to join, using the council position as leverage was sneaky. I respected it.

Killian had wanted to know what was different this time than when he would send me on quests in the past. The answer was simple. I had something I longed to come home for this time. I had Tobias.

All the other trips or missions he sent me on were because he didn’t trust anyone else to know or be involved in them. But at least with those, he had given me most of the information I needed to stay safe.

I used to go in, slinging magic and drawing blood. I took what we wanted or needed and went home to my tower. As much as I wanted there to be, I had nothing waiting for me back there. Nothing hanging over my head, telling me I had to come back to them or reminding me what I was fighting for beyond it being my job, just another assignment.

Now, I had Tobias. I had someone to love, and the idea of not coming home to him scared me. The idea of anyone hurting him frightened me even more. Aurora using her magic on him, had me seeing red, and it took everything in me to resist the urge to gut her like a pig.

I would have done it if Killian hadn’t ordered me to stand down. Her life should have flashed before her eyes, but she just smiled as she stared at me with pride. She had enjoyed my show of dominance and possession. It made me even more curious about what was happening inside her head.

Killian had given Tobias permission to walk me to the edge of town before we had to part ways, and the kiss he had left me with made my toes curl and my chest warm. It was the best kiss of my life, and I hoped it wouldn’t be my last.

“Crazy old bitch,” I mumbled as I walked around a fallen tree. I did have to admit that while I was livid to be separated from Tobias right after we finally became something, I was terribly curious.

If it weren’t something cool, like a dragon, I would probably return home and kill

Aurora just for the disappointment she caused me.

The sun had fallen, and the dark forest around me was silent until another explosion shook the Earth.

the past five hours. Whatever was happening on that mountain was attracting a lot

not having the option

use my flashlight and give my

to the stream of pale light between the trees

should have stopped, made a camp, and maybe slept for a few hours, but that was for the weak. The longer I took, the greater the

wanted to know why I hadn’t heard about this mysterious creature before when it was clear others had. Maybe I might have wanted

through the trees. Low voices could be made out, and

showing me his side before walking out of sight behind the trees. The glint of silver metal hanging over his chest made

Hunters.

on the fire. If they were anything else, they would have been able to

used to be in hiding before the Great War

slitting their throats was enticing. I just couldn’t justify wasting time. If they stayed in their camp for even the

left them. They would be dead soon anyway. Someone stupid enough to light afire on a hunt would not last long out here. The world had become an

me, and I rolled my eyes at their stupidity. Laugh it up now, gentlemen. You’ll be

through the trees. It was my second favorite sound. The first was the way he moaned when he had his head between

of sweat ran down the back of my neck, and my hair stuck to my skin, where my ponytail hung down against my back. I had gone several miles and could reach the mountain by morning if

pulled myself into a tree, bracing myself in the branches, and closed my eyes. I was thankful that there were no Fae or Sprites in this one. I had made that mistake before, and the little

and I felt the wave of heat

the mountain’s base, the thicker the air became. It was charged with electricity, and there had been no way for me to determine

finally understood. This was why I couldn’t use my magic. There was a protective shield around the mountain. I didn’t know what would happen if I used magic, but based on what I had assumed were landmines,

this creature was, it was strong and intelligent, able to set up and plant mines in the ground. I groaned in disappointment that it wouldn’t be a dragon. With claws as large as theirs, they would kill

me, looking for any

ground for a long time. With careful steps and my eyes peeled, I made my way forward. The sun quickly heated the Earth, and I was sweating and irritable within minutes. It only meant I had to work faster so the other creatures in the hunting parties wouldn’t smell me. If

of this anger before I found the prized creature and brought it back to the castle and me back to Tobias. A fight didn’t sound too bad,

chin and to her throat. I slowly pulled my dagger from its sheath on my thigh as her perfect teeth elongated again to slightly curved, thin needles before she bit into the side of