Blood Bind (Feitan x Reader)

Chapter 2

The clock ticked the early morning hour. You turned in bed, fluffing your pillow and pressing your face into the fabric. It was tough enough to sleep normally, but even worse when there was a patient in the guest house.

Better.

You blinked.

No – not better. You were even more uncomfortable. Uneasy.

You shifted again and jolted as a presence invaded your senses like a warning and a promise. You stumbled out of bed, taking blankets and pillows with you. The Hunter's Association would have laughed at the spectacle you were making of yourself during a home invasion. You sounded like a caged animal trying to escape captivity. Sloppy and out of practice.

You pressed your ear to the bedroom door, thanking whoever that you'd closed it the night before. Not that the caution mattered. Your approach wasn't graceful and the presence certainly heard blankets rustling and feet crashing on hardwood. But they hadn't moved. Their aura remained set in place.

This wasn't Phinks. You knew what his presence felt like. He'd had no stamina left to conceal himself when he arrived. This was the other one; the presence from yesterday that seeped deep inside your bones.

He could be fast, stealthy, and dangerous. Most likely the case since he hadn't moved when he heard you. But if you were too aggressive, you could escalate needlessly. You'd warned Fay that if you died, Phinks would too. But that staked too much on their unknown relationship with him. Maybe they didn't care if Phinks died.

Plus your maps were all over the kitchen.

Stupid, stupid, stupid.

But even more stupid would be to call attention to them if this intruder hadn't paid any attention.

The knob creaked as you pushed the door out. The hall never felt as long or the shadows as nefarious. Branches outside swayed in swaths of light and you scowled as you jerked away at the movement.

But the closer you stalked, the closer you needed to be. Intoxicating. Ravenous like a wildfire and sweet like the promise of eternal sleep. The presence yearned for your own.

Closer. Something tugged your limbs, compelled their movement. Nothing external; something too deep to consider at the moment.

Each step, each careful breath felt like a step towards where you needed to be. You'd show no fear, give nothing. He'd invaded your space but you would set the rules. With a final, soothing breath, you rolled your shoulders back and glided into the living room.

Moonlight seeped through parted curtains behind the couch where he sat. Fay's shadow stretched through the room, reaching to you like you were reaching to him. The light caught the cut of his cheek bones and the vicious fascination burning in his grey eyes. If not for his telling gaze, you'd miss his expression entirely. A cowl wrapped his face and a large overcoat blocked any tense or concerning body language.

A book sat in his lap. Your book from your shelf. He'd made it halfway through the story while you slept. He'd been here a while and hadn't made a move to harm you. Yet, at least. Just reading by moonlight like he did this often.

He folded the corner of his page and dropped the book on the couch as he stood. You frowned. You wouldn't go into his house and fold his book pages.

His eyes moved up your body, giving only a cursory glance to the knife you held up just enough to make a point. Everything moved slowly with him, like he had all the time in the world. But it looked more calculated than anything.

"Do you like the book?" You swallowed at the yearning and vulnerable waver in your voice, unnerved at the strange question you couldn't possibly explain asking. Not when there were about twenty ways to ask what the fuck he was doing in your house at 2 a.m.