Sebastian Bear (complete)

Thirty-Two

THIRTY-TWO

What could he possibly have to tell her that would need such sincerity? Her mind bounced from one awful possibility to the next. She nodded, realizing she had never responded to his saying he needed to talk in the first place. He sighed, taking her hands in his. Madeline tried to focus on his words and not the paths of his thumbs against her palms.

"Ezra told me something after dinner and I didn't think anything of it but the more I think about it..."

"What did she tell you?" Madeline interrupted only because she could see the chaotic nature behind Sebastian's eyes would trigger a rambling.

"She said she'd heard the whispers and that they mentioned you or at least that's what she thinks."

"The whispers?" Madeline asked. She sat up a little taller. None of what he said made sense. Who was whispering about her and why should she care?

"The Lowlands whisper, it's a language from Tres Manor. It's almost impossible to interpret unless you have the ear for it. Ezra has the ear for it and she's been hearing it a lot lately."

"Okay," Madeline was still confused. "I still don't understand how this has anything to do with me."

Sebastian sighed, leaning back and pushing his hair from his forehead. He wasn't holding her hands anymore, his eyes moving up as if searching the back of his mind for something.

"The way the whispers work are like... fortune-telling. They talk about a possible future. It doesn't mean that it will happen but it means that it could happen if things keep going the way they are going and Ezra has heard the whisper talking about a mortal who defies all rules hitting the City Center."

Madeline had heard so many insane things over the last few weeks with Sebastian. For some reason, she couldn't wrap her mind around the whispers actually meaning anything. How would she get to another world soon?

"I wasn't in a hurry to figure out how to make me visible in this world but I should be I guess in case I need to protect you." He was talking more to himself than her and she shook her head at his frantic words.

"I'll be fine. Don't worry about me," Madeline tried to calm him.

"I think we should stop the Avlis visits for a while, at least until Ezra knows more about what's going on." He already had his mind made up but it didn't stop Madeline from disagreeing with him. She reminded him about his family and how long he'd gone without them. He said they would still be there in a few weeks and that they would see them soon enough. Madeline didn't agree but dropped it. It was too late to be arguing.

"Why are you taking this so seriously all of a sudden?" She'd asked him on their way up the stairs.

"What do you mean?" They were down the hall before she even tried to elaborate.

"I mean you said that Ezra said this after dinner and we were kissing and you didn't seem worried about anything. I'm not saying you're lying or anything but normally you are an open book with emotion and I didn't notice..."

Sebastian closed the door behind them.

"I can't lose you," he answered plainly. "I won't."

She nodded, not trusting her words to be enough comfort to him. They lay down, Madeline's closed her eyes as soon as her head his the pillow. The last thing she remembered before drifting off to sleep was the soft sweet words of Sebastian Bear.

"I want to be in your life forever, Madsy."

Madeline had a nightmare. She was stuck in a box that was filling with water. She woke gasping for air. The clock read at four a.m. Sebastian was gone and she had a guess he was trying to figure some things out. Even before she'd taken that last calming breath before sleep, she'd felt his breathing was uneven and presumed he wouldn't be able to sleep. She hated him being uneasy. He was the calm one.