Page 55 of Touched

She practically shoots to her feet. Her wings fan out, lifting her from the couch to hover above me in the room. “Yes,us. A book was open on the desk within the Archives. It had a Rougarou drawing, and these herbs and weapons were also on the page. I didn’t realize it was relevant to whatever is happening. But it apparently is. Whatever is happening out here, in your world, the Fae know about it…

“And as far as myhelping you, you forget I heal quickly. I’m very capable of fighting these men. Ifyouremember correctly, it wasmewho savedyouearlier…twice!” Her features are tight as she glares down at me. As pissed as she is, I cannot help my immediate thought.

She’s even sexier when she’s angry.

Managing to calm my rampant desire for her, I retort, “Calm down, little fairy.” Her glare intensifies. “I know if it wasn’t for you, I probably wouldn’t be sitting here right now. But it’smyjob to keepyousafe.I’m a man, dammit!And as strong as you are, I’m supposed to protect you!” Her eyes narrow on me menacingly, glowing golden, and her lips pinch so tightly they appear white. “Maybe that’s sexist, but I do not fucking care! I’ll be sexist then!” Inhaling deeply, I try to control my sudden rage at the idea of not being able to protect her. I snarl, “How can I do that if I let you risk getting hurt while fighting these men? No— these beasts! You can heal from wounds, but not if they kill you! Right? Are you alsofucking immortal?” We glare at each other. Her eyes are literally glowing and I can feel my blood pressure spike.

Grams clears her throat loudly. I can clearly see how pissed Aeris is, but I’m just as pissed. Before either of us can say another word, Grams calmly says, “Callum, son, take some advice from your older and wiser grandmother… never tell a woman that she is incapable of doing something. We’re stronger than you think. I understand your fear. You love her. That’s not sexist. All hail the manly men. That’s you wanting to protect the woman you love. But your Kindred is right.”

Aeris’s eyes stop glowing, only sparkling at my grandmother’s words. She nods, a small smirk dancing across her lips. She lovingly says, “Thank you, ma’am.” Then, she turns to me, haughtily saying, “I will not let you fight these men alone, Callum. With me by your side I know that we can handle anything they try to throw at us.” Her voice quiets slightly as she mutters, “And no… I am not immortal. There is no such thing!”

* * *

Islide the trunk into the bed of my truck before realizing I don’t know how my truck got here.

I have no idea how Trevor managed to get it to Grams’s. Can he drive? How? He can’t even reach the gas… or is it troll magick?

Do trolls have magick?

Or did someone else drive it here?

I haven’t the slightest idea how the hell it made it from the street in the Quarter to Grams’s house, but here it is.

Shaking my head to clear it, I decide to ask Grams about the truck later, and climb inside the driver’s seat before starting her up. The engine purrs and I pat the dash. “Good, girl.” Aeris sits in the passenger seat staring out the window, looking lost in thought. “We’re all set. Are you ready? And do you know how my truck ended up here?” I ask before shifting into drive and pulling out of the driveway and the safety of Grams’s place, onto the dark, quiet street.

“Yes, I’m ready. And no, I do not,” she mumbles, clearly still perturbed with me.

Well, okay then.

After meeting with my grandma, we talked outside in the backyard privately about what our next move would be. She has to get back to Laric before her family notices she’s gone. And since the sky is starting to shift colors from night to sunrise, that needs to be now. She asked for time to talk to her parents so we can see where we go from here. She also thinks her brother, Cyrus, can be swayed to our side, and help with her parents, once he understands we Zinged.

If what my grandma says is true, they cannot keep us apart since we’re Kindred. But from how she’s described her family’s feelings toward me, and the human world in general, I don’t think it’s going to be that easy.

Not that I’m human.

Our plan is for her to travel home to Laric, to talk to them about her and me. About us. In the meantime, I’m going to drive to my family’s hunting cabin deep in the Barataria Preserve. It’s super hard to access and is very dangerous. The native species rule there. It’s off the beaten path and only true locals even dare to enter it. Grams disclosed the whole swamp is also warded. The same as her home.

Who knew? Well, until very recently, I certainly didn’t.

There, I can come up with a plan and get in contact with my team. I have no idea how I’m going to explain all of this to them without sounding like I’m completely off my rocker. With the things my grandma gave me to fight the Trahan brothers, I should be able to take them down. Arresting them isn’t an option anymore. The only thing left on the table is eliminating them altogether.

I took an oath to serve and protect New Orleans. To do that, this is my only option, but I’ll need backup. I know Aeris thinks that with her by my side we can defeat the Trahans, but I don’t want to risk anything happening to her. In order for this to happen, my only choice is to involve those I trust with my life.

Am I really going to enlist humans to help take out a supernatural—no, a Gifted enemy?

What fucking choice do I really have at this point?

If I do this, will they believe me and agree to do this by my side?

* * *

Callum’s truck finally comes to a stop beneath a grove of cypress trees. We’re deep in the swamps, at the edge of a bayou. The terrain was rough, with trees basically beating against the truck the whole way in. Cypress knots, vines, and sticky mud seemingly reached for the truck, almost as though they wanted to drag it into the murky swamp, but the truck persisted.

Sighing loudly, Callum points to a flat-bottomed boat just ahead of us. “I’ll need to take the boat the remainder of the way. There are no roads here. No trails. You felt how rugged it was getting to this point. The camp is only accessible by water. And there are a great many foes in this water. But I’m safe here. It’s warded, according to Grams. That would make sense. Only those with our bloodline, or those with no intent to harm us, like locals who don’t know about the Gifted world, can get in.”

“This is where I’ll be for the time being. When you can come back to me, I’ll be here waiting,” he says, shutting off the engine and turning to face me.

The waning dark casts shadows over his face as I wipe a tear from my cheek. I hate saying goodbye. I wish he’d come back to Laric with me, but I understand why he won’t. I hope once I talk to my family about us, that this will be the last time we’ll have to be apart.

---