Nazreen

Chapter Forty-Seven

Nothing could beat the feeling of sleeping next to her soulmate. Clutching the covers didn't hit the same as laying snuggled up against his warm chest. His arm was slung across her body, freshly drawn runes painting both of their skin.

Emilio's first order of business?

Fixing their tracking runes.

But he'd added more to the mix whilst she'd been asleep. On her hip, she housed a rune that'd protect her from curses. At her ankle, she carried another rune that'd make her body heal faster, vampire be damned. And on her side, she had a rune that'd build up her energy. By the sounds of it, she'd be needing it to drift into her shadow form.

She'd explained the difficulty of movement in her shadow form. How tiny tasks had been draining. He'd spent most of the night plotting ways to overcome it.

Now, he'd be running on little to no sleep. Not a problem normally, only he hadn't slept a wink since they'd parted ways.

A loud banging came from the door.

"Nazreen!"

Fuck. He might've never met the woman, but two guesses said who that voice belonged to.

The Queen rattled the doorknob.

At least one of them had made a point of locking the door.

"Nazreen! Get up and open this door!"

Fuck. He gave her a shake, but she clung to him tighter.

The vampire seriously hated waking up.

"Come on snowflake," He whispered at her ear. "You have to wake up."

Because if Annaliese got impatient and broke the lock...

Fuck. If Annaliese was here, that meant she and her werewolf husband were finished recuperating. Which meant that a werewolf could be lingering just outside of the doors. Which meant someone out there would be able to scent him.

He shot up in the bed, snatching his boxers, trousers and shirt up from the floor. He stabbed his legs in, grumbling.

"Nazreen? Come on snowflake. Wake up for me."

"Five more minutes."

"Nazreen!" He knew the exact moment she recognised that voice, and their situation, and the shit said situation entailed. He stood back to watch her body tense. "If I have to call you one more time!"

She shot awake, sitting up in the bed. Panic stormed her features as she reached out for him.

"Don't go."

She's killing me here.

"What do you want me to do?" Because he'd do it, without question. "If I wait here, I'll die."

"I—"

"Nazreen!"

She glanced back at the door, lip wobbling, then back to him. "Please. Please don't go, just—"

"Hey—"

"I love you." She threw it right out there in a rush of breath.

Did she even realise how momentous that was? Just what she'd confessed to him? She didn't give it any thought, fretting, glancing back at the door again.

Puh.

She loved him.

Nazreen loved him.

Ah God, now his heart felt all sorts of funny.

"I love you snowflake." His voice came out thick and croaky. "But if she breaks that lock and finds me in here, she'll kill me. Is that what you want?"

"No."