Surrender [H.S]

Chapter Thirty-Six

Layla.

"Why are you being so quiet?" Harry mumbled against my bare shoulder. We were currently lying naked on the bed in our hotel room, and he had just given me the bath he had teased me about. He had also told me why we would be leaving Las Vegas early, and I was mind boggled that he actually trusted my judgement enough to tell me.

I was finally going to meet the Council; a fact that I couldn't wrap my head around. They had summoned the Lords for a meeting, and despite that he didn't say it or show it, I knew that it had Harry nervous. And after hearing how much they love to bend the rules into their favor, I completely understood why. Which made me nervous too as to why they would want to see them. Harry hadn't really elaborated on that, though he probably didn't know either.

I turned my head toward him, and laid it on the pillow. My hair was still a little wet, but his was dry considering I was the one in the actual tub while he just washed my skin of the tension I felt, and apparently he also cleaned off the werewolf and shapeshifter scent.

"Thank you for telling me about the Council," I told him softly, and leaned in, gently kissing the tip of his nose. "You didn't have to. You could've kept it a secret until the last minute like you used to do, but you told me without being prompted."

Harry half smiled and stroked his hand along my bare back. I was lying on my stomach, and he was cuddled up to me on his side with his arm resting on my back; it was comforting being so close to him. "I'm trying to remember that you're not the same human you used to be when we met, and that you can handle more intense situations than I give you credit for."

My stomach warmed, and I couldn't help the grin on my face. "I guess we're both growing up. You're learning to trust me with things like that, and I'm learning how to keep my reactions in check," I commented.

He chuckled. "It was bound to happen." His fingers trailed down my spine, causing me to exhale a peaceful sigh. "Most vampires learn to keep a brave face, as some would say. They mask their emotions and keep a stone cold expression so no one knows what they're thinking."

"You used to do that, when we met, I mean," I said, softly, and gently touched the space between his eyebrows. This was usually the place his emotions came through the strongest, apart from his eyes of course. When he was stressed, or angry, they always knitted together to create a crease that I always wanted to kiss away. "I'm glad you haven't learned to mask them from me. I like knowing what you're thinking."

His lips pressed against my hand, before he nudged it away from his face to his cheek so he could rest against it like the pillow. He closed his eyes and slowly inhaled my scent. "I'd like to say I can hide my emotions from you, but it'd be a lie. You always do something to surprise me, and I know that won't change, so I doubt I'll ever learn how to keep bad things away from you."

"I'm a danger magnetic, remember? Anything within a thousand mile radius that could produce some kind of threat finds its way back to me," I said, meaning for it to be a joke, but it obviously wasn't taken that way, because when his eyes snapped open there was a hint of anger in them.

"And if I could, I'd shield you from it. You don't deserve for these things to happen, Layla. Emilia shouldn't be after you," he said, and sat up on the bed.

I sat up to, holding the blanket to my chest. "No one deserves it, Harry. No one deserves for Emilia to be after them either. But it's my destiny to end this."

He stared at the wall. "It's Khloe's destiny to end this, Layla. You're just supposed to help her."

"You'd rather a helpless four year old fight her than me?"