Chapter Twenty-One
Unsettled
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Without an invitation, Donovan wandered inside my motel room, looking casually around at the furniture. He had changed a little, his hair slightly longer, shading his face and his physique was musclier, like he'd been working out. There was also more darkness in my sensing of him. I wondered what he'd been doing in the past few months.
"Long time since we last saw you," I said in a cool voice. My insides were trembling, my heart pumping blood quickly to the muscles, anticipating a quick escape. I wondered how many adrenalin spikes I could take in one night. His dark, unreadable eyes flicked over me and he frowned in frustration. I knew that he was disappointed because he couldn't infiltrate my mind.
"You've been out of the country," he said casually, with a small shrug. "And I had no interest in making conversation with Humphrey 'I'm-superior-to-everyone' Fletcher."
Fletch was unaffected. He was watching me carefully, allowing me to make the decision of whether we would let Donovan back in or not.
"You must have heard our earlier conversation, or at least read Fletcher's mind to figure it out. I've been caught."
"Yeah and I find it hilarious that Liam's punishment for you stalking him is to make you see him three times a day. I mean, doesn't that give you more of an opportunity to see him? It works perfectly for us, you can get close to him, ask him that question. Except he's gone ahead and blocked his mind from me. That kid brother of his must've done something, same as he did to you."
"I don't know if I can keep helping you out, Donovan," I said sharply. "So far it's only got me into trouble and the way you were when I left for Vietnam, attempting to kidnap a young boy... That's sick, not something I want a part of."
His jaw twitched with anger but his expression turned to apologetic. "As soon as I left that house I thought of how stupid my idea was. I mean, I was just lowering myself to His level. So I didn't bother. And I went back to tell you but you'd gone and I could hear the sadness in Moira's head about your departure."
I felt a slap of guilt at the thought of the enthusiastic Moira whom I'd left behind but it was soon conquered by rage. The stink of a lie was in the air and Donovan was smothered in it. He was lying about leaving James alone, trying to trick me into forgiving him and accepting him back.
"Get out," my voice rumbled.
His hands tightened into fists and his rueful facade disappeared, revealing his true self. The wave of evil that now filled his aura smacked into me. I gasped in shock, surprised at how well he had hidden it. There seemed to be more to his mutation than mind reading.
"You're making the wrong choice, Huntress," he hissed. "When you've come to your senses send me a signal and I'll return, forgetting about this stupidity."
"GET OUT!" I shouted, shoving a wall of power into him. He stumbled back into the door. He glowered at me one last time before fleeing out.
I trembled on the bed, never had I been so furious and scared at the same time. There was something about Donovan, a deep dark luring, which frightened me, made me petrified because I felt a longing to join him in his darkness. A place where I could unleash my anger and never fear again. How would I stop myself from caving in, from being drawn under his spell?
The bed creaked and lowered as Fletch sat beside me. His long arm reached around my shoulders and rubbed warmth back into them. I leant against him, my head on his handy shoulder. He didn't say anything, just soothed with his massage. My eyes stung with tears. I was just so tired, weary of so many things. But Fletcher provided a blanket of warmth, kindness and security.
