Page 47 of Craving Carla

“It is, Amari. It’s going to send her back into the shadows,” he confirms, and I hang my head down wanting to weep for her.

“But there’s still hope.” Damon says, keeping his eyes ahead. “Since you’ve come into Wintermoon, Carla smiles more. Slaps you a lot too.” I chuckle lightly at that. “You may feel likeWintermoon is a gilded cage—at least that’s what you like to call it, but to a formidable woman like Carla, it’s a home she never had.” He looks to me, flipping his coin in my direction. I catch it, opening my palm and looking down at it. Heads. His silver denarius coin worn from centuries of flipping.

“I hope that when you take her out of this diner, that you give her the hope to stay.” I look up at him, a bit at a loss for words.

That’s the thing about Damon—you never truly know what he’s up to until you reach the end of the journey. It wasn’t Damon’s intention to have me secure the borders. He brought me here because he knew I’d be the one supernatural that would give her a reason to stay.

But what he doesn’t know is that while my heart doesn’t beat for this woman, she owns it—completely.

I can’t turn it off. I’m falling for Carla. Craving her in ways I don’t understand. And when I leave Wintermoon, I’m taking her with me.

I don’t understand this, how it’s even possible. To want a woman my heart will never beat for. Is this my punishment for being such a womanizer? I haven’t exactly been the most uplifting to women over the centuries. I use them for pleasure and sustenance and nothing more. And now I’m falling for a woman I can’t have. And it’s killing me inside.

What I’d give for my heart to beat for this woman.

I’m suddenly pulled from my thoughts when I hear Carla say the words that could make my heart quicken, but it doesn’t.

“No. I’ll never turn my back on Wintermoon,” she says, and I look to Damon who’s raising an eyebrow at me, smirking.

Smart bastard.

I toss his coin back to him and adjust my suit. I just got the cue I needed to go get my woman and take her back home.

This date is over. Whether she likes it or not.

I don’t bother with heading for the roof door this time. Instead, I step onto the edge of the roof, then jump down, landing perfectly on my feet, then adjust my suit. Damon does the same, landing perfectly behind me. He flips his coin, then starts walking with me across the street, but we stop when the ground suddenly rumbles. Damon looks at me with a groan and says he expected this would happen.

The street to the diner is eerily quiet, like humans knew tonight was too dangerous for them to be on the streets. We haven’t even seen a car pass by the area, another red flag that this whole date was orchestrated. I’ve looked into Ackley—he’s a broke college student looking for money to fund his studies on arachnids. He’s studying to become an arachnologist, specializing in spider venom compounds that could, when properly isolated, serve as undetectable masking agents. And I’m starting to figure out how he’s going to come up with the money he needs now that Alexis is here.

The children suddenly come out of every corner, appearing in their full size. Some are dinner-plate sized, others the size of small ponies. Tofi is among the largest, her burgundy body as she approaches on the street, followed by Niko with his intricate patterns. They slip from spaces that seem impossible for their size—from storm drains, from beneath parked cars, from the narrow gaps between buildings.

I smile at Damon, and he narrows his eyes at me.

“They are going to ruin everything and possibly get hurt,” Damon complains. I give Damon a wink and hold my hand up to him. Tofi approaches first, sending images of Carla being in danger to me. I smile and try to pet Tofi, but she gets irritated and shifts away.

“That one is feisty,” Damon says with a snort.

“She’s frustrated,” I say, looking back at him. “They’re tired of being ignored. They’ve warned Carla about putting her safety at risk.” Damon pauses for a moment, then approaches me.

“You can talk to them?” he questions, and I grin at him.

“Of course I can speak to them. I could always speak to my little friend Kemnebi. Why wouldn’t I be able to speak to them? As a matter of fact, they call me daddy,” I say with a smug grin. Damon takes his coin and places it in his pocket. I look back to Tofi and the others. There are twenty of them here, but there are more. I haven’t had the time to actually stop and take count or get all of their names.

“Tofi, I’m going to need you and the others to go back into hiding, for your safety,” I say, my tone cool. I reach out to try and calm them but Tofi hisses at me this time. I smile at that. They don’t play about their mother. Neither do I. But it’s impressive, seeing what they’re willing to do to save her.

“Mommy has a knack for getting in trouble. You showed me that the other night, and what you’re willing to do to save her,” I say, standing firm. I don’t think they’ll hurt me. They’re still trying to warn me, thinking I’m not listening.

“I care for your mother,” I say, and Tofi finally relaxes. I don’t think she believed I did. “I’m going inside to get her and bring her back home—to Wintermoon. But I need you to listen to me.” I use the one thing I know they want to hear. “Listen to Daddy. Listen to me. Go back into hiding, and I’ll get Mommy and bring her back to you. But if you do this, try to get her back yourself, some of you will get hurt again, and we can’t have that. You know how it affects Mommy.”

Tofi and the others are quiet for a moment, but then Damon smiles. They must be sending him images as well.

“I didn’t know this is how they communicate,” Damon says, staring at them in amazement. They send me images, warning of what they’re going to do to me and Damon if we fail. They’regoing to rip us to shreds, then feed on our bodies for days. That makes me burst out into a dark laugh. I look to Damon who’s clearing his throat and adjusting his tie. But then Tofi starts to back away, and the others follow, going back into the shadows, disappearing into their small spaces like they were never here before. Damon looks to me in amazement.

“Daddy?” he questions with a smirk. I adjust my suit and roll my eyes at him, then head for the diner.

I’ll tell him about that part later.

17

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