Everlasting

Chapter 7

Wulfric

"So?" Edmund asked once we arrived back at the magic shop. I ripped off the blindfold and glared at the wall across from me.

That didn't go the way I expected. We were supposed to pop in and out. Fen was supposed to tell me where my soulmate was so I would know what part of the world to avoid, and then I was supposed to be free.

I wasn't supposed to know his name was Griffin.

I wasn't supposed to have made what had to be a truly bizarre impression on a man I never meant to see again, whose opinion somehow still mattered.

And Griffin sure as hell wasn't supposed to have ever known I was there, or that I was his soulmate.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded, whirling to face the fae man whose eyes were full of turmoil.

"What?"

"That! We weren't supposed to stop to chat. In and out. That was the job," I ranted. Maybe I was being irrational. After all, it was clear Fen knew these people, and the fact he'd removed me from that situation at all was a minor miracle.

"We left right away!" Fen protested. "I barely said anything."

"You said too much." Now I knew about Griffin and he knew about me. He knew I was a vampire, knew I had found him through Fen.

Fen, who I was antagonizing... and who probably wouldn't keep doing me favors if I bullied him. What if he brought Griffin to me?

"I'm sorry. I was just surprised," Fen said, looking and sounding wretched. He looked helplessly to Glenna and Safiya, who had been watching us up to that point.

"Oy, cut it out," Safiya demanded, glaring at me.

I massaged my temples and squeezed my eyes shut, trying to ignore the way the world had gone red. Anger was a very visceral thing as a vampire, something that fogged our minds and whet our appetites for violence and blood. If I didn't calm down, things could get ugly.

Arms gently enfolded me. Edmund. Another body slammed into ours, joining in on the hug. Arlo. I breathed them in, and when I opened my eyes again the world had regained its normal color.

I looked to Fen, whose arms were wrapped around himself. His shoulders hunched inward, and he looked terribly guilty. "Sorry," I begrudgingly said. "Can we sit down and try this again?"

He nodded and even tried to smile a little at me, which only made me feel worse for lashing out, even though I was still angry at how things went down. Edmund refused to let go of me and I ended up wedged onto a sofa between him and Arlo. The witches and Fen sat down, too, watching me expectantly.

"What happened back there?" I asked even though I wasn't sure I wanted to know more.

Fen swallowed and looked to Glenna for help. She nodded encouragingly, offering him a warm smile full of love and support. Thank goodness she was here if he needed this kind of nurturing, because I wasn't the type to provide it. "I'm sorry for lingering. I wasn't expecting to know your soulmate."

Safiya perked up at this. "Ooh, who is it? A mer? A fae?"

"Griffin," Fen said softly, looking guilty and conflicted.

"What!" Safiya said too loudly. "Little baby Griffin? Everett's Griffin?"

Everett? Who the hell was Everett and why would he have any claim over my soulmate? Unwelcome feelings of jealousy flared without warning and that red tinge started encroaching on my field of vision again. Stop it, I commanded myself. It didn't help.