Page 69 of Heartsong
His temper had gotten the better of him. Another guardian would’ve matched his flaring wings and flashing fangs with their own, but seeing them reflected in Anna’s eyes, Frey had realized the difference in their sizes and forms. Although Anna’s tongue was sharp, an acrid smell had filled the apartment.Her fear.The scent of it stuck in his nostrils, and with every breath he remembered how he’d frightened his mate.
Not only could he not protect her, now he scared her, too.
He’d thought she no longer saw his wings and horns and claws as frightening differences. He’d thought she was finally softening to him. Those evenings they’d shared had been the best of Frey’s life, holding his mate close, being allowed to touch and caress her.Learnher.
He’d thought he’d gone slow enough. Hadn’t pushed her.
Perhaps Anna needed to be pushed.She’s already angry with me anyway.
So Frey waited until the small hours of the night, when the world was quietest, to silently ease Anna’s bedchamber door open.
Inside, he found his mate asleep on her side, buried beneath her blankets. A black lump with two yellow eyes watched him enter. Captain made no sound, which Frey was grateful for, but the way the cat watched him warily had guilt nipping at him.
Frey ignored it. Guilt and consequences would be for tomorrow.
From the small table beside Anna’s bed, Frey gingerly picked up her phone. He took it with him back out into the kitchen and placed it on the counter, as far from her bedroom as it could be. She used the phone for many things, including her alarm to wake for work.
That done, there was nothing left to do but wait.
In those hours anticipating the sun, Frey girded himself for her anger, even her rejection. Although his soul cried against it, although his kin and ancestors would’ve hissed with disappointment to see him, he could bear their disapproval and her anger.
What he couldn’t stand was her being unsafe.
And so, when the sun finally rose, for the first time since Anna woke him, Frey welcomed the stone sleep.
20
Anna woke to a mild headache, a grumbling stomach, and Captain making biscuits on her cheek.
“Hmmnh?” she groaned, head and throat feeling fuzzy and thick.
“Mrr-ow,” Captain replied.
“Oh.”Right. She sucked in a deep breath, remembering last night.
Some of her indignation was still there, simmering just under the surface, but mostly she was just tired. Tired of waiting for the other shoe to drop. Tired of the headaches. Tired of the suspicion and paranoia and worry and…everything.
Letting out the breath in a deep sigh, Anna pulled herself out of bed and cringed. She was in yesterday’s clothes still, and her stomach rumbled ferociously.
Right, she’d run away before eating anything.
It wasn’t until she was halfway into a fresh shirt that she realized—
The sun was up.
A sound of distress stuck in her throat, she hurried through dressing. Her phone was missing too, but she was sure she’d had it in her pocket when she came in here? She always set her alarm?
Pulse pounding behind her right eye, Anna hurried out of her room.
“Frey, have you—?”
She came to a skidding halt in the living room.
Frey was already stone, and he’d positioned himself right in front of the front door, blocking her exit.
The reality of his big stone bulk trapping her inside took a moment to register. She staggered toward him, not quite believing it.
Something flashed on the counter, and she saw her phone, the alarm still going off.
