Page 76 of Venom Island
“Oh.” She considers that for a moment, then follows up with her favorite question. “Why?”
He laughs a little, the sound a bit rusty in nature. “Magic.”
She nods like she understands. Then she looks at Enrique. “What’s magic?”
He sighs, giving his brother an exasperated look, then attempts to define the concept for our child.
The conversation goes as expected with a lot of questions from our little wolf. By the time they’re done, it’s nearly Hel’s bedtime, so I take her to her room to begin her routine.
Enrique joins us a bit later to give her a kiss good night, then returns to Joseph in the other room.
Over an hour later, I leave a sleeping Hel and find Joseph talking to Enrique on the balcony outside our dining area. They’re deep in conversation, one I don’t want to interrupt. So I go get myself ready for bed instead.
“Joseph said to extend his thanks for letting him meet Hel,” Enrique tells me as he enters the bathroom, where I’m dressed in a robe. “I think it helped him.”
“You do?”
He nods, then he rolls his neck. “He needs… normalcy. Something to get him out of his head.”
“Did he go back to his, um, quarters?” I ask carefully, aware that Joseph doesn’t live among the others under the dome. He stays in a cabin just outside of it now, which is much better than the padded room he lived in before.
“Yeah,” Enrique murmurs. “He needs to pack.”
I frown and turn around to face my mate. “Pack?”
He dips his chin again, his gaze catching mine. “He’s heading to Andorra Sector tomorrow. To see Savi.”
My lips part. “What?” He’s refused to see her for months. “He’s finally ready?”
Enrique huffs. “No. Not at all. But he needs to do this. He has to see her. Because if his presence won’t wake her from that coma, then nothing else will. And then…”
I swallow. “And then…”The humane thing would be to let her die, I think, finishing the sentence with a shiver.
He pulls me into his arms, his chin resting on top of my head. “It has to work,” he whispers. “It has to.”
I nod, agreeing with him.
But I can’t help wondering,What if it doesn’t?
He holds me for a while, no doubt feeling my sadness and concern through our mate bond. Then he pulls me into the bedroom, where he strips me of my robe before removing his own clothes.
“I need to hold you in your nest tonight,” he tells me. “Please, tesoro.”
“You can always hold me,” I murmur. “I’m yours.”
“And I’m yours,” he echoes, lifting me into his arms to settle us both inside my pillowy haven.
Ourpillowy haven. “It’sournest, Enrique,” I remind him.
“I know. But I like hearing you correct me,” he admits, his face in my hair as he holds me close. “Just like I enjoy hearing you deny me.”
“We are not discussing a second pup right now,” I mutter.
He chuckles. “No. But maybe next week during your heat?”
I growl, making him laugh more.
“I love you, pequeño tesoro,” he whispers. “I love you so fucking much.”
