Broken Girl (Book I of Anita Blake Adoptive Mother Series)

Chapter VII

~ Asher's Point of View ~

It was a few hours now until Dawn and people were busy trying to figure out where Brittany could stay that would be the safest until Jean-Claude, Damian, and I along with the other vampires were awake, and we could all make a plan to stop Ahriman from succeeding in whatever he was planning.

For the time being I was keeping Brittany close to me, which was out of character for me, because of how self conscious I am about my scars. But it seemed that with her like with Anita my scars didn't matter. Though with Brittany she has probably seen worse.

Her and Kindle. Who I was still getting used to. I hoped that we would be able to stop Ahriman because if not, not only would we all probably be enslaved, but so will hundreds or even more of other people.

Right now Brittany seemed calm, however, she off and on had a small anxiety attack that drained whatever strength she had. *This is torturous.* I thought as I tried to keep her calm.

"I don't get why he wants me. I don't have whatever it is that he wants. I have never even showed signs that I do." Brittany said softly her voice coming out as a hoarse whisper.

"We will figure it out and stop him. We will teach him the hard way that he is targeting the wrong people." I said as I gently held her hand, my eyes making contact with hers, which changed color as Kindle took over.

"Or die trying. Right?" Kindle said and then asked as she slowly sat up.

"Yes. At the very least." I said smiling a tiny bit.

Kindle nodded.

"You took over for Brittany again." I stated.

"Yes. Because she's exhausted and overwhelmed. So I will be in her body while she's recovering." Kindle said.

"I see." I said.

"Thank you for trying to protect and calm her. She has no one but me." Kindle said after being quite for a while.

"You're both welcome." I said.

"Brittany feels something towards you." Kindle said after being quiet again.

"She does?" I asked unable to hide in surprise.

"Yes. If it came down to it her feelings are strong enough that she would sacrifice freedom for you." Kindle said.

I just stared at her because I didn't know what to say at first. Then I said, "Hopefully it won't ever come to that."

"Hopefully not. But if it does we better come up with a plan to counteract it." Kindle said.

I nodded quietly as I gently took her into my arms, she laid her head on my lap after a few minutes hugging me back to her. I gently stroked her feeling content for the first time since losing Julianna, and it just felt right. We stayed that even as Dawn came and took me out of my body for the day. The last thing I was aware of was being kissed twice, once by Brittany, and then again by Kindle. Which prompted my last thought, *When did I become so lucky?*