The Pentagram Child(47)

“So Keira, a big brother birdy told me you were the new Librarian on campus, is that true?” I laughed and thanks to four glasses of beautiful golden bubbles I followed it with a trademark snort. This made Draven laugh and I shot him a dirty look, one that did nothing to wipe the grin from his handsome face.

“Yep, that’s me! I can’t hook you up with The Gutenberg Bible but if ya fancy a bit of Harry Potter then I’m your girl” I said with a wink at Sophia that ended with my mouth dropping open like a guppy when she said,

“We already have a Gutenberg Bible, oh and a first edition Harry Potter, signed of course by the talented J. K. Rowling herself but I am holding onto that for Pip’s birthday…”

“The Gutenberg Bible...? Wait, Pip’s birthday is coming up?” I asked deciding this was more important than the five million dollar book that was one of the rarest out there.

“Yeah and she has a massive crush on Harry Potter, which is only because he reminds her of Adam.” Now this made me smile and because of my tipsy state I thought it a good idea to turn back round to face Draven and say,

“It’s Pip’s birthday soon!” with possibly the biggest grin in history that I could feel almost crack my lips.

“Yeah sweetheart, it is.” He replied giving me a warm look that almost made me melt…what am I saying, almost my ass, I was already melting like a cherry flavoured ice lolly in the Sahara!

“Oh shit!”

“What?” Draven asked concerned with my dramatics when throwing up my arms.

“What on Earth am I going to get her!?” I said thinking it best to cut the ‘Bloody Hells’ whilst around the Demons in the room.

“Are you kiddin me, she is like the easiest person to buy for! For starters just think of something you wouldn’t be caught dead wearing, add a rainbow and some Gothic skulls, black and white stripes and there you go!” Sophia said making everyone laugh, as yeah, she was pretty spot on with that one.

“I think I know what we can get her…” I turned to Draven oblivious to the fact that everyone was now staring at us and silence had washed over the tent.

“…I saw this girl when I was back at home for Christmas and she was wearing this Fraggle Rock t-shirt, she would go mad for it and…” I trailed off when I saw his brief expression of pain and it took me a while to realise my slip up until it was far too late.

I had said ‘we’.

“What’s a Fraggle Rock?” This question came from Zagan and thankfully it broke the tension my mistake had caused. I gave him my thankful eyes and he winked at me when no one was looking. I was just happy that my little mishap had quickly been brushed over and having me explain the old puppet show known as Fraggle Rock was enough to get us to the next topic without incident…

That was until I started to fall asleep.



I don’t really know what was happening but I felt deliciously safe with a pair of solid arms wrapped protectively around me. I think I even released a contented sigh as I snuggled closer to the warmth and my hands fisted the material I was already clutching on to. It was like my body was scared of losing the blissful cocoon it had encountered and was acting on reflex.

“Leave them be, it’s about time they found some peace for once.” I heard a distant voice speaking in hushed tones and I wondered what perfection the next part of my dream would hold. But then my body quickly tensed at the horrible thought that threatened to turn this beautiful dream into a nightmare. What if someone tried to take me from these arms or worse still, what if these arms suddenly pushed me away?

But then something glorious happened, almost as if my dire thoughts had been heard. The arms that held me tightened around me and pulled me flush against the body lying next to me. I could feel my nose touch the softness of a t-shirt that covered the hard planes of a strong chest and I could hear the steady heartbeat behind that strength. I flexed my fingers out from the tight fist and spanned them across a man’s lower back feeling for the skin I knew was hiding there.

I moved so slowly, knowing somewhere in the back of my mind that if I woke him up this would all end and I couldn’t allow that to happen… not yet. So with painfully slow movements I pulled at the material ever so slightly and sucked in a breath when my fingers finally felt the warm skin beneath. It was as if my body craved the connection, even in sleep. I was drawn to this man in such a way it was like my body needed to be locked down to keep me away from it…

Like I needed to be imprisoned.

But wait, why was that thought such a sobering one? Why did my heart jump as though an understanding just rammed me in the chest?