Guardian

Chapter 6

1234.

Isabelle quickly learned that using her powers resulted in fear, which led to violence. People viewed her as a threat and she had narrowly avoided death more times than she could count. And so she would travel to a different village, one where rumors a beautiful demoness had yet to reach.

And she made herself a home by wedding a young farmer. He did not have much wealth, just as she lacked anything of value besides the heirlooms she refused to give up and which she kept hidden so that no one would ever discover them.

After a year of her husband's hesitation, Isabelle finally proved herself worthy of working the fields with him, desperately needing more in her life than tending to the animals and sowing torn clothes. Perhaps it was a mistake to push her husband, who was adamant that he did not need the help of a woman. But she had assumed that it would be gratefully accepted, many of the other wives pitched in during the harvest, at the very least.

But the other wives had all been able to bear their husbands children. Isabelle feared having children, feared passing her curse to an innocent child and elongating the legacy of magic. So she did all that she could to avoid getting pregnant, although she could not deny her husband pleasure nor could she verbally admit that she did not want to extend the family tree.

So she had to make herself infertile. She had learned of herbs and that were meant to prevent a woman from having and child, but she was afraid to rely on old wives' tales. Instead, she coupled the herbs with use of her powers to keep her powers from being passed on to another generation.

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(Olivia's POV):
The first thing I did when I arrived at work was check on the beagle I had performed surgery on the evening before and found that he was recovering nicely. It was honestly such a relief to receive news like that after the night that I had had.

My morning proved to be rather relaxing, which was a surprise as I was usually flooded with serious cases since I was one of the more experienced vets in the office, trusted with the emergency surgeries and the animals that no one could figure out what was ailing them. But not every day had to be exciting and filled with life or death situations.

Around noontime, Tyler showed up at the office and after finishing my checkup on some newborn kittens, I rushed out to meet him and take my lunch break. I was still technically on call and could be ushered back to the office on a moment's notice, but it was nice to have a break from work and spend some time with my boyfriend.

I placed my lips on his as soon as I reached him and he smiled into the kiss, "you know, I was starting to think you had forgotten about me."

"Sorry, a litter of kittens was suddenly placed on my schedule and it was the owner's first time so there were a lot of questions that I had to answer. But I am quite relieved to see you."

"Why, is something wrong?" He inquired, his expression turning protective.

I shook my head, "just a rough night, that's all. Plus, we haven't been able to go out in a while and I missed you."

I slipped my hand in his as he led me out of the clinic and down the street to the restaurant that we frequented when he came to pick me up at my office. He had made a reservation, knowing that lunchtime at New York City restaurants was crazy. We had barely managed to make it in just time to keep the reservation before the table was relinquished to a party walking in.

We took our table and ordered our drinks and food immediately, both of us having developed a standard order that we would get every time. Once the waitress had disappeared, Tyler let out a sigh.