She didn’t care about clothes or anything else that could be bought in a store. She reached up on her tiptoes and returned his soft kiss with one of her own. “I have everything I need. Right here in front of me.”
CHAPTER
31
After centuries of empty soullessness, Mikhail was finally whole. Nothing could have prepared him for what Claire had ignited in him. He no longer saw the future as an endless chasm, dark, cold, and as lonely as a tomb. And despite the danger that loomed, he no longer feared that, either. They had both survived their trials. Nothing in this world could separate them now.
That wasn’t to say that there weren’t many loose ends still to be tied up. One of them was currently sitting on the couch in the living room, tiny legs tucked beneath her as she channel surfed.
After her weeklong transition, Claire was still riding the high of her transformation. What had happened prior to that—the incident at her apartment building—hadn’t even entered her mind. So far Mikhail hadn’t sensed an ounce of distress in her, but when her memories of that time surfaced past the Collective it was sure to rekindle that distress.
“When can I see Claire?” The girl, Vanessa, had remained remarkably calm considering all she’d been put through. She shared Claire’s resilience, that spark of otherness, and that the Sortiari had spared the child only served to pique Mikhail’s curiosity.
“Soon.” Alex had stocked the kitchen with kid-friendly food, as he’d called it. Popcorn, soda, prepackaged pizzas, and other such things that could be easily cooked in a microwave. It all looked like junk to Mikhail, but he wasn’t about to argue. Not when the girl had already been through so much. If she wanted to eat food that looked no better than the cardboard it was packaged in, then so be it.
After their shower, Claire had collapsed back into their bed, falling into a deep sleep almost before her head had a chance to settle on the pillow. Their bed. The thought filled Mikhail with a deep sense of satisfaction. There would never be another sunset that he would awaken to lonely. Incomplete. Perhaps even, with time, the nightmares would fade and having Claire by his side would banish those specters of his past spent in that damned tomb beneath the ground.
Though until Gregor the Black died a bloody death not much would serve to truly heal Mikhail from the ordeal.
Which led him to his second and third loose ends. “I have a meeting now, Vanessa. Do you think you can entertain yourself for a while?” Alex had gone home. Ronan was out on another errand, and Jenner was in the study, keeping watch over Mikhail’s reluctant guest. For the girl’s safety, Mikhail hoped there was enough on TV to keep her riveted to the screen. At least until tonight’s business was concluded.
“I’m fine,” she said without looking away from the teenage-fueled drama fest currently playing. Mikhail pinched the bridge of his nose and let out a sigh. Was this even appropriate for a girl her age to watch? He had no fucking clue. “I’ve decided that since I’m staying here, I should get to stay up all night and sleep all day, too. It’s totally cool with me.”
Again, Mikhail felt entirely too unprepared to care for a human girl. Didn’t she have school to attend? He’d have to check with Alex, since care of the girl had fallen to him in Claire’s absence. He hoped that his mate would soon wake, because he had a feeling he was going to be in way over his head with this one. “We’ll see what Claire thinks about it,” he replied as he headed toward the study. “Stay put until my guest leaves. Yes?”
“Yes, sir,” she said with a saucy salute and a wide smile. Something in Mikhail’s chest tightened at her beaming expression and he wondered, would his own child have as instant an effect on him as this girl had?#p#分页标题#e#
Jenner stood outside the sliding doors that led to the study, his spine ramrod straight and his expression fierce. He was weighed down with an assortment of weapons: a saber strapped to his back, twin daggers at his thighs, and a pair of semiautos under each arm. The male meant business, and Mikhail couldn’t be happier for Jenner’s presence. In a few short days he’d undergo the transition, though Mikhail wouldn’t let it happen as carelessly as he’d turned Ronan.
“She’s playing nice.” Jenner’s voice grated like metal scraping over gravel as he let out a soft snort of derision. “But she doesn’t really have a choice at this point, does she?”
Everyone had a choice. Including Siobhan. They would never be allies, but he hoped that they could reach a tentative peace at least for now. He left Jenner outside the door, confident the cagey female wouldn’t try to kill him in his own home. She was here because she wanted to hear what he was about to say. And he was going to make the most of this reluctant meeting.