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.

attracting a lot of attention, and I knew I wouldn’t be out here alone

air to provide myself a cool breeze and not having the option to teleport to where I needed was irritating. I was happy I had decent

would have to use my flashlight

to the stream of pale light between the trees as possible to see my path

and maybe slept for a few hours, but that was for the weak. The longer I took, the greater the chance of

before when it was clear

be made out, and I pressed myself further into the harsh bark when a shadow passed in front of the fire, stopping to look out through the trees in my

side before walking out of sight behind the trees. The glint of

Hunters.

fire. If they were anything else, they would have been able to see or stay warm

they made when we used to be in hiding before the Great War when Lycans took over. They would never be safe. They had gotten confident and comfortable, and

I just couldn’t justify wasting time. If they stayed in their camp for even the next four hours, assuming someone else didn’t come

on a hunt would not last long out here. The world

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

my second favorite sound.

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 I kept

I was thankful that there were no Fae or Sprites in this one. I had made that mistake

up when the tree I was in shook from the next blast, and I felt the

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

if I used magic, but based on what I had assumed were landmines, it would surely result in death. Who, or whatever

strong and intelligent, able to set up and plant mines in the ground. I groaned in disappointment that it wouldn’t be a

scanned the dirt before me, looking for any sign of disruption,

quickly heated the Earth, and I was sweating and irritable within minutes. It only meant I had to work faster so the

a good thing. It would help me burn off some of this anger before I found the prized creature and brought it back

woodland nymphs were enjoying their midday meal. A redhead with long wavy hair threw her head back as she laughed at something one of the other women said. Fresh blood ran down her 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