“That is not within my power. I think I would have noticed that, in fact, I would have used it often if it was.” He said.
“You’re snickering, but it’s not funny. It was chaos, Theseus. I can’t even wrap my head around everything that happened because it was so much at one time, let alone give you a play-by-play recount of it.”
“Then show me.” He pushed off the elevator doors, moving to me.
“How?”
“Do you trust me?” he questioned randomly.
“Little too late to ask, don’t you think?”
He waited.
“Fine, I trust you.”
He lifted his hands for me, and I stared at it. “Give me your wrist, and think of everything that happened. Don’t let your mind wonder onto anything else.”
“No problem there—ah.” I hissed as he bit my wrist, his teeth breaking the skin. My blood rose to the surface.
His eyes never left mine as he drank, and it should have hurt, but instead, I felt warm.
How did he make me feel warm? Even in the lab…
“Focus,” he muttered against my skin, and it tickled.
I nodded, closing my eyes, thinking of what had just happened, leaning toward him, he stopped, placing his arms around my waist, pulling me to his hard chest.
“I understand,” he whispered, releasing his bite but not my waist. He licked the blood from my wrist as it began to heal. “It truly was you, Druella. What an astonishing gift.” Of course, he’d be amazed instead of concerned.
“Why now?”
“Maybe you did not need it until now.” He kissed my forehead just like before. “Whatever the reason, I am grateful you spared me from seeing you hurt.”
“But you did see it,” I replied, trying to back away.
“You know what I mean.” He actually let me go. “Now we must go face them.”
“Again?”
He nodded. “But thanks to you, we will be wiser about it.”
“Theseus…”
“Do you suggest that we spend the rest of eternity in this box?” he replied, amusement clear on his face at the idea. “Do not worry; I know what I must do.”
“Can you let me know what I need to do?” I muttered as he turned back to face the doors.
“I doubt you would listen or enjoy even being told.” His fingers paused over the door for a brief instant before he pressed the stop button.
“Main floor.”
“Shut up,” I mumbled at the voice, and Theseus gave my hand a gentle squeeze again.
When the doors opened fully, the scene was different. The witches weren’t hiding in wait, and the vampires, the young Lucy, Taelon Swan in his suit, were already waiting. They stood opposite from each other like chess pieces, waiting to be moved. All of their eyes shifted to us as we came out.
“Ms. Ward, if you wished to see me again so soon, you shouldn’t have left,” Theseus said to her.
Her eyes narrowed, but she put that classic fake and overly polite smile back on her face. “On the contrary, you said your name was Christian de Apollo, Taelon says you are a Thorbørn. So, am I meeting you for the first time?”