Page 20 of Broken Destiny

“He’s tethered, miss,” Duggar begins hesitantly. “I don’t know if we can break that bond.”

“It will be broken!” I hiss. My hand forms a fist and slams down upon the blankets ineffectually. My legs twitch with energy. I want to pace, but in my agitation I’d just fall on my face.

“What’s going on?” Kodi demands. His eyes fly wildly from me to the vampire to the little library goblin. Avery, for his part, merely stares at the wispy figure beside me, and I wonder what he sees.

“Is this your ghost?” Avery asks me, ignoring Kodi’s question. “He’s barely there.”

“They’re draining him,” I wail dramatically. I might be overreacting, but it’s my fucking fault he’s here. It’s my fault they’re killing him…again.

“You told them about me?” Kodi asks, and I can’t identify the emotion behind his voice. Is he surprised, angry, pleased? “Who is he? What is that?” He points a white finger at the goblin, who merely stares at him without any emotion, but his wings twitch. I move to push the ghost’s hand down to stop the rude finger-pointing, but my hand doesn’t touch anything. The cold sensation that shivers through my skin is final, like death, but I refuse to let it play out like that.

“Avery, have a seat, please.” There’s a small table where I can eat meals at, presumably, and Avery finds a seat without fail, only causing more confusion in Kodi’s expression.

“Are you blind? No, wait, are you a vampire?” He hisses the last word. I frown at him.

“Kodi, please, shut up before you embarrass yourself.” I sigh and pass my hands over my face, wishing I’d eaten more food earlier in the day. I’m suddenly hungry, and I could use the distraction. No sooner do I think it than food appears on the nightstand next to the bed and the table where Avery sits. He makes a small sound of surprise but otherwise doesn’t react, unlike my undignified squeal. Kodi’s lips twitch. It makes me happy to know he still has enough energy to laugh at me. I stuff a couple grapes in my mouth while staring at the collar around my friend’s neck.

“What’s going on, Zo?”

I swallow quickly. “So, I’m the new librarian, you know that already. I can pick four guardians to watch over the library and me. I want you as one of my guardians, Kodi. I have since they first told me I have an ounce of influence. If you don’t want the position, that’s fine, but I won’t let you stay where you are. They can’t drain you like some battery. It’s inhumane, and I don’t give a shit whether you’re not human or you don’t have any supposed rights. It’s wrong.”

Kodi snorts. The sound is so full of derision that it reminds me of myself and Avery when I asked him the same. “I’d make a piss-poor guard, Zo, and you know it. Besides, I don’t think you have the authority to overturn this one. That little guy there said I was tethered.” His tone is harsh and resigned, and I wish he were solid enough to smack.

I growl; it sounds surprisingly leonine and inhuman, making me falter for a second. Both men stare curiously, but I shake off the strangeness. I’ll evaluate it later. “Don’t give me that, Boo. Who guarded me at the orphanage? I would have been raped and beaten ten times over if you hadn’t scared away every asshole over fifteen.” I shiver in remembrance. Avery’s hands clench on his lap, but Kodi just blinks. I square my shoulders. “I have the authority. I stole Avery from his master.” I make air quotes with my fingers to show how I feel about that word. I look at Duggar. “What about this tether?”

The goblin hoists his compact body into the chair next to Avery. He nibbles at a block of cheese and points at Kodi with his empty hand. “It’s the collar around his neck, which I’m sure you’ve surmised. It’s stronger than a simple paper contract, which is what Avery had with his previous boss. It has magic in it you’ll have to overcome.”

“But it’s possible.” I latch onto the slim hope.

Duggar shrugs. “Yes? I don’t know. It’s never been done before. How do you propose to manipulate something you can’t touch?” He isn’t questioning my strength. The goblin’s tone reminds me of a schoolteacher’s; it’s a challenge. He may not know whether it’s possible, but he wants me to try.

I think hard, flipping through the information I have in my brain. How did my tormentor manipulate my magic or my wings if they hadn’t appeared or evolved yet? How did the old man put the collar on Kodi in the first place?

“Avery, you deal with the undead. Do you know anything about this?”

The vampire shakes his head slowly, his eyes sad. “I’m sorry, Zosia. I’ve never encountered anything like this before. Your friend’s signature is almost gone. It’s like he’s fading from this world even as we speak.”

“No,” I growl again, and my back itches in irritation. I reach toward the ghost, hoping that sheer force of will allows me to touch him. He doesn’t shy away from me this time, but his head hangs low. He doesn’t believe I can do it; his doubt hurts and fractures my resolve.

“Kodi, you have to want to be my guardian,” I murmur, lowering my voice and my hands.

He glances at me. I swear I can see a glint of tears in his beautiful gray eyes, so different yet so alike to Avery’s. There’s a brief flash of blue, even though I swore it was green last time, and I regain my determination.

“Of course, I want to. It’s all I’ve ever wanted in this afterlife, to protect you.” Another flash of color suffuses his skin, and Avery gasps. I don’t have to ask to know that Kodi’s form is pulsing with power. I reach for him again, this time forcing my will into my hands. I close my eyes, convinced that my sight is furthering the illusion of nothingness.

The first time, my hands encounter nothing. Cold static shivers along my flesh but nothing else. With a grunt, I try again. I meet the soft elasticity I felt the first time I poked him in the car. He belongs with me, I implore the library. He belongs with us. I need him. I never knew how important he was to me until my life changed. I can’t imagine him anywhere but alongside me.

I open my eyes with an irritated huff, twisting on the bed and rising to my knees. It’s not comfortable for me to kneel, but it offers me a better reach. Kodi’s eyes widen as his eyes flicker down to my waist. I know I’m revealing the delicate, silky panties that the library provided, but it doesn’t matter. One is blind, one is married and not my species, and one is a ghost who can’t touch me. My modesty means nothing compared to what I’m about to do.

A flash of color springs into Kodi’s cheeks and my own face blazes - but not with embarrassment, with determination. “Hold onto that emotion,” I order. “It makes you more real. It gives you color.”

“Zo,” Kodi sighs and his eyes fall again. “It’s ok. I’ll fade away, and you’ll never have to deal with me again. I’ll be at peace.”

I stare at him, capturing his colorless gaze. “Is that what you want?” I demand the truth. “Don’t think about what you think is better for me. What do you want?”

“I want to stay,” he whispers.

I nod. “Then hold on to that emotion, whatever it is you’re feeling. Believe in me.” His eyes flicker again and trail over my body. If he were alive, I’d say that emotion was near to desire, to longing. He shouldn’t possess those earthly needs, but it makes no difference. Just as long as he’s feeling something, I instinctively know I have a chance to help him.

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