The beast and the blessed novel by Ashley Breanne

Eight: Joselin

Joselin's P.O.V.

The darkness had never looked more appealing than it did at that moment. Either that or I opened the door before me and faced the man I knew was standing on the other side. I didn't need to hear him or see him to know that he was there.

I could sense his beast, his aura.

He was lying in wait patiently, like he was waiting for the perfect moment for him to pounce on his unsuspecting prey. Only I knew Tobias was on the other side of the door.

My heart was beating rapidly, giving me away as well. He knew I was here, and I knew he was listening to the erratic thumping in my chest. He had been for the past five minutes that I stood there, staring at the doorknob.

Was he the lesser of two evils?

Knowing he was willing to wait for me to leave my tower instead of walking right in to confront me made me even more anxious.

The darkness I would need to teleport through gave me enough pause, but being unable to walk freely down the hallways made me angry. This was my home. I didn't even know where Tobias slept, but it wasn't in the castle.

Yet, he was preventing me from doing my job by cornering me.

After a long internal debate during my shower, I finally decided to talk to Killian about my suspicions. But to do that, I would need to get through the wall of muscle that had gone from ignoring me the past few months to avoiding me the past two weeks to torturing me.

On the other hand, I hadn't traveled through the empty realm on my own since my near-death experience. Every time I considered it, a shiver would run down my spine, and I felt the nails clawing at my skin again.

They had wanted me to stay last time. A knife was sticking out from between my shoulder blades from Talia. She had helped raise me, but as soon as she had the chance, she had thrown that dagger with deadly precision and lodged it into me. It wasn't surprising. She had always held grudges and was vindictive, but she was also one hell of a teacher.

What had caught me off guard were the sudden presences in the darkness. Before, it was always quiet and empty. I could travel through to anywhere I desired in the blink of an eye. But at that time, there were others.

Demented voices, hands, and claws pulled at me, tearing my clothes and skin, trying to drag me away from Aurora and Agatha as I fought to get them to safety. I had done my best to get them out of that darkness quickly, but one creature trapped in that world scared me above the others.

I had felt their warm breath on my exposed shoulder only a second before their rough tongue slid across my skin, tasting the blood that dripped down from one of the scratches they inflicted on me. In my mind, I had seen the exit of their world. I was ready to leave and take my people to safety, but as my blood coated their tongue, the low growl of satisfaction made me freeze with terror. Every hair rose as I felt my mouth open in a silent scream.

If it hadn't been for Aurora pushing what little magic she had left to me, I don't know if I ever would have come to my senses.

Yet, now that I was stronger, it seemed easier for me to zip through that world to get to where I needed to go rather than facing Tobias.

I counted in my head to one hundred, taking long and calming breaths as I tried to decide if it was worth the risk.

While Tobias wouldn't kill me, I needed a break from his mind games.

My hand turned the knob as I settled on ignoring the man as I let my feet carry me to Killian's office. Tobias was leaning against the wall across from my tower entrance, his arms crossed and eyes glaring at me impatiently.

"Wrong choice,” I whispered as I let myself go, flickering into the darkness that filled my soul with unease. I watched through the first two flashes as Tobias lunged forward, grabbing my hand before we were sucked in and prepared to travel.

My hand tightened on his as I silently thanked the Goddess that Tobias had come with me, even if I wasn't ready to speak to him. It took everything in me not to stop and glance around in the vast emptiness as I felt eyes on me. I knew Tobias could sense it too, as he let out a warning growl.

It only confirmed that I was not ready to travel there again. Whatever had gotten a taste last time was still there.

Killian. Get to Killian.

As quickly as we had entered, we were free, standing in front of Killian's open office door. The king raised an eyebrow at our joined hands, and I pulled away from Tobias aggressively, shoving mine into the back pockets of my jeans.

"Joselin, Tobias,” Killian greeted respectfully. I flicked my hand back, not bothering to look at Tobias as I shut the office door in his face. I knew I didn't have much time. As soon as I closed the door, leaving the two of us alone in his office, I had probably set off some alarm bell somewhere. We wouldn't be alone for long.

"We need to talk about the war." I started, moving forward to stand before his desk, not bothering to wait for his permission before slumping into one of his visitor's seats like I used to when we were younger.

"Natalie is extraordinary, isn't she? I haven't ever seen that kind of power before, let alone that kind of unpracticed control.” He picked up the paper he had before him as he muttered, scanning over the words before grumbling in annoyance and setting it to the side.

"Not the point,” He let out a distracted chuckle as he continued to work, so I waited for him to look up at me again before speaking. "Someone survived. At least one witch, and by the feel of it, she is powerful.”

"Can you deal with it?" He asked, and my eyebrows pulled together as he continued to shuffle through his work. I knew he had been busier than usual lately. Still, I wanted to snap at him for how he dismissed me when I was discussing a threat to his mate and possibly to myself. Perhaps, I wasn't so far off on my theory of not being needed or wanted around anymore. "Natalie is still training. I do not think she is ready to face off against another opponent so soon."

And there it is.

Once she was trained and felt confident in her abilities, she could handle the threats herself, and there would be no need for me.

"Yeah, don't worry about it. I have it covered.” In no way did I sound convincing, but he seemed too distracted and busy to notice. Either he trusted me greatly or didn't care about what I had to say. At least he couldn't say I didn't warn him. Still, it didn't make missing my best friend any less. "lan, what do you say tonight we sneak into the kitchen after dinner and grab a couple pieces of pie for old time's sake?"

It was one of my favorite past times with him. Until this most recent year, after a hard day, we used to sneak into the kitchen and steal a few bites of whatever dessert the cooks had made that day. We would climb up on the kitchen counter and stare out through the large window at the back garden. It didn't matter if we were twelve or twenty-five. The tradition had been long-standing.

The cooks knew about it. Even when they didn't bake anything that day, we always found peanut butter and jelly on the counter or a pudding bowl in the fridge just for us.

Then I had a vision about finding his mate, and our traditions crumbled. While building his relationship with her, I had given him space. Now, I could barely work in the same room as him without something or someone causing us to go our separate ways.

Killian had Natalie, and while she was also my friend, there was no room for me to join as a third wheel. They enjoyed spending all of their free time together and alone. I was at odds with Tobias, unsure where we stood, but

I was positive our friendship had probably been ruined.

Charlie, Killian's sister, had been the only other real friend I had here. She had left to visit her mate's family to ensure their health and safety after the war. No one had heard from her since she left, and she usually went anywhere from a few months to years before she would come back home to visit. "I'm kind of swamped tonight, Josie. What about tomorrow? Natalie and I can come down for a short bit." He glanced my way, and I forced a smile as I nodded.

Looks like it would be all three of us.

"Sounds great. I'll just leave you to it then.” I glanced at the clock on the wall as I walked out of the office. Seven minutes. That had to be a new record.

The thought was cut short as Natalie's smiling face appeared at the end of the hallway. She waved as she approached, and I lifted my hand halfheartedly in response. The petty part of me in the dark part of my mind wanted to tell her that she was late to interrupt my conversation with Killian, but I forced it down.

There was no need to take my bad mood out on her when I just needed more sleep after last night's horrific events.

"Hey, I was hoping I would see you again today," Natalie exclaimed, but her feigned excitement was masked by the nervous way she tugged at the wolf pendant around her neck.

"Here I am," My palms smacked my thighs as I lifted my hands slightly and let them drop.

"It's so weird to see you walking around instead of popping everywhere.” She laughed, but it sounded uneasy. I held still as she moved up to my side and tilted her head closer to my ear, once again reminding me that she was a good friend as she kept her voice low. "Rona was just telling everyone who would listen in the sitting room about what happened...

about your parents.”

My jaw clenched as I stared straight ahead down the empty hallway.

"I advised her to watch what she says, but that woman is just..." Natalie trailed off, knowing she needed to be careful when speaking about others in public. Even if we thought no one was close enough to hear her, we couldn't be sure.

"Thank you,” I said, storming away from her, down the stairs, and to the main sitting room. I wanted to wring that witch's neck.

The fireplace was sat cold and empty, and the windows were open to let in the afternoon air. At least half a dozen people were present, but I didn't bother to see who they were. My gaze was locked on the man who had shattered my heart as he sat on the couch with Rona beside him. Her legs were thrown over his thighs as she spoke to him with a seductive smile.