The Blessed And The Beast

Thirty-Six: Joselin

Joselin’s P.O.V.

My eyes were glued to Cora all day. She was happier than I had ever seen her, making me anxious not to know what was happening inside her head. The curvy woman walked quickly, with only a small limp, as she practically danced around the castle.

If it weren’t for her long skirt that cut off mid-shin, no one would know about her prosthetic leg.

Having Rona gone made everyone happy.

I wasn’t aware of another explanation for Cora’s behavior. The only thing that changed was Rona leaving. It made me think that I had been right.

Even I knew walking up to her and asking Cora about Rona’s trophy wouldn’t be appropriate. How would I word that? Hey Cora, have you seen your leg lately?

The middle-aged woman would probably try to skin me alive. Her leg was a sensitive topic. Granted, it had not only been cut off years ago in a battle, but the person responsible for her losing it had it as a keepsake and was probably using it against her. I would have slaughtered Rona long ago if I were missing the limb.

Her dishwater blonde hair shined in the sunlight, visible to me even with a window and a lot of space between us. The stripes of silver that gave away the plump woman’s age seemed to be thickening by the day. I had to wonder, if I told her about her leg being on display in Rona’s bedroom, would she do my job for me? Would knowing about it be enough to have her go mad and kill Rona, so I wouldn’t have to deal with her anymore?

It almost seemed too easy. I could bait Cora and sit back to enjoy the show. But then, it would make finding out if anyone else was involved more difficult. There was no point in killing Rona if she had others working with her. Cutting off the head of the snake only worked when it was a one­headed serpent.

“You’ve been very nosey today.” Cyrus teased from my right. I turned with an unamused stare, forcing my eyes away from the courtyard through the window of the great room in the front of the castle.

She was going into town. It wasn’t unusual for her, but it meant I couldn’t follow. I had been watching her all day, and following her into town would only make her suspicious of me.

I disliked her, as did Aisha and Margot… so I disliked the entire council. But the last thing I needed was her turning hostile on me when I already had Rona to deal with.

It would be suspicious for the council to turn down a descendant of the moon goddess from joining us if she pledged. She was all but guaranteed a spot. With Aurora on my side, I hoped that the last council seat would be someone worthy of trust and respect.

I ignored Cyrus’s comment and narrowed my eyes at him. We needed to get him alone to discuss the issue of Rona and the part he was to play in it.

“You’ll be joining us for dinner tonight, cousin.” The emphasis on his cover made him roll his eyes.

“As I have since I got here/ His snarky retort reminded me of the conversations I would hold with Killian. It was how friends bantered, but I didn’t know how to make friends, and there were only three people that I trusted fully.

I wrinkled my nose, wishing I could say it was my home too. But I hadn’t moved in yet. It was still his

served to you.” He laughed but fell silent when another presence joined us in the room. My

was always more intent when I pulled my hair up. Now whenever I did it,

I took a deep breath, feeling him stop behind me. When he didn’t move or speak, even in

he had taken the time and care to remove

to take the stem from him, smiling as I spun and

when Tobias’s hand shot forward and grabbed the front of his shirt, lifting

persona he put off contradicted the power radiating from him. No wonder Cyrus needed shelter

almost sad how little he

when he was no longer hiding, he could embrace his magic. But for now, he was like the runt of the

hand possessively on my hip. His jaw ticked as he clenched his teeth, but I was still focused on the rose

let me know that he had been thinking about me, even though we had been apart for most of the day. He was so

more to me than all the big things that happened in our relationship because

me, and I knew without words that he was asking why I was alone with Cyrus. He hated the

will be coming to dinner to

smiled as I let my hand rest on his chest, leaning further into him with the rose between

on his statement of it being ours. Tobias turned his burning glare on Cyrus, his brown eyes swirling to the black of his beast at the thought of the

I coming for dinner, or will

***

table before Cyrus arrived. When he did, his lips pursed, and his eyebrows met his hairline

stated, and I looked around the room, not seeing what was so wrong with it. The dark grey couch had a few black throw pillows on it. The coffee table

was neat,

my tongue, wanting to tell him I didn’t ask for his opinion, but tonight was all about

He muttered, and I glared

need it to be kid friendly.’ I snapped. We weren’t there yet. I hadn’t even moved in yet and wanted to keep Tobias to myself longer.” That’s none of your

the back of his neck again as his cheeks turned pink. “I was going to the kitchen late last night, and I walked in on… well. Queen Natalie was demanding that the King get her good

cleared his throat just as Tobias rounded the corner, handing me

but my mind was locked on the idea of us having kids. What if they looked like me? What if they