Page 23 of Broken Destiny

“Watch over her?” I ask as the ghost floats away.

“Always.” He whispers the word, but my vampire hearing catches it, and I nod in satisfaction. I have no desire to return to my lonely apartment, but she’s safe for now. Hopefully, each of her guardians will be as attentive as Kodi. We shall know tomorrow. Now that she’s coming into her power, I have a feeling Zosia will draw the men toward her swiftly.

Chapter Eleven

Zosia

Kodi floats into the room the moment I awaken, and I’m overjoyed to see that he looks less weary than before. Another thing worries me, though.

“Are you mad at me?” I ask quietly after I take a sip of the water Gilly left for me. She disappeared when the ghost returned.

His gray eyebrows rise. “Why would I be mad at you?”

I shrug and wince when my back protests. My spine has been aching since I touched the magical collar. “I essentially traded you from one form of slavery into another.”

“Not true,” Kodi says as he sits down next to me on the bed. He’s not any more solid than he was at the orphanage, but it seems like he retained a little of the ability to manipulate the living world. Now, he doesn’t fall through the bed. “You gave me a choice. I didn’t have to sign the book.”

I peer at him from behind the russet-colored hair that has escaped its braid. “Why did you?”

“Because it felt right. I’m not ready to move on yet. I have unfinished business here, even if I don’t know what it is. But beyond that, I feel like part of my purpose in this afterlife is to protect you. I may be a spirit for that reason alone.”

I stare at him a second, surprised by his sincerity when all I usually get from him is sarcasm and jokes. A relieved breath leaves me. “I can’t imagine being here without you,” I admit nervously. To hide my face, I sit up and move the blankets aside that someone pulled over me.

I can sense Avery’s radiant energy in the main library. I can smell him, that fresh scent like moonlight and night-blooming flowers, even though there are several closed doors between us. My fingers still ache from holding the raw magic, but they appear human again. I stare at them as if they no longer belong to my body.

“They want me to shift,” I say quietly as I arrange the blankets over my upper thighs and pick up the ointment again. I attend to my left leg, having only partially completed my right when I was distracted. The salve is magical, and I remind myself to thank Ansel. I owe that man much and wonder what he’ll ask in return. “It’s part of the conditions of my employment.”

“You can do it, Zo. I saw your fingers when you took hold of that horrible tether. It’s just a matter of time.”

I shiver, peeking at my friend from the corner of my eye. He’s staring at my hands as they rub the salve into my knotted, aching leg muscles. I’ve never been ashamed of my deformities around Kodi, but the twisted curvature of my thigh and the inward bend of my calf and ankle must look horrible to his eyes.

“I’ll have to remember.” I nearly choke on the words. “That’s the block. I have to remember before I can shift.”

Kodi’s hand hovers over mine like he wants to touch me, and I meet his gaze. His eyes are fervent, silvery-gray with whatever substance keeps him visible to me and a few others. I want to know what color they really are; the subtle flashes of blue and green only made me more curious. Are they one or the other? A mixture of both?

"You are the strongest person I’ve ever met, Zo, and you’ve grown even more in the short time we’ve been here. You can do it.” His lips jerk into that crooked grin I know so well. “I can’t wait to see your sphinx form. You’re going to be so badass.”

A laugh bubbles out of me as I finish rubbing the salve in. “Not a wolf, or a dragon, or even a griffin. Half lioness, half woman. How does that even happen?” My face twists as a particularly unsettling image assaults my mind. “Never mind. I don’t want to know.”

Kodi laughs, and it’s again the free noise that I loved hearing after he pranked the kids at the orphanage. I’m sure I’ll face repercussions from taking off his collar, but I’ll never regret it. “Yeah, let’s not think about that. I think sphinxes are badass. Unlike a wolf or a dragon, you’ll still be able to speak and communicate. And you’ll have wings.”

My smile falters. “What if he messed up my wings? I’m sure that was part of his intent. What if they’re fucked like my legs? Duggar says that even in my sphinx form, my legs will probably still be bent.” I don’t have to specify whoheis. One thing is certain despite my lack of memories - it was a man, or men, that held me captive.

“Your wings will be beautiful, Zo,” Kodi assures me. He looks at my shoulders like he can picture them rising from my back.

I nod just to make him happy, but it turns into a yawn. I stretch my arms wide. “I’ve done more today than I have in a week, maybe in years.” My gaze flits around the room. Even though I can sense the library and my two guards, the apartment is so much bigger than my little closet. I twist my hair nervously. “Will you stay with me tonight?”

Kodi nods and shifts so that his back is resting against the headboard. The huge mattress could still fit three other men, and my cheeks flush red with the sudden thought. The ghost seems to notice the size of the bed at the same time.

“Why is your bed so big?”

I shrug and clear my throat. “Gilly says it’s in case I want to sleep in my sphinx form.”

“Right,” Kodi mutters, but it doesn’t sound like he believes that. He crosses his arms over his chest and doesn’t say anything else, though.

“You can leave after I fall asleep.” I quickly change the subject. “I know you don’t sleep, so it will probably be boring. Just stay with me until I fall asleep?” It isn’t the first time I’ve asked him, but I’m still getting used to him sitting in my actual bed and not hovering in the corner of the ceiling like the specter he is.

“I’ll be here,” he answers gruffly. Content in his presence, I lay down next to him. Since he isn’t corporeal, I lie as close to him as I can without his cold static prickling my skin. He might only be there in a non-physical sense, but his presence lulls me to sleep nevertheless.

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