Page 55 of Blade

Serena had wanted me to sit down with them and talk about practical things so they could show me my current financial situation.

“She’s not living in the real world.” The way he nudged my shoulder that time was more like a caress. “She’s been so focused on fixing their mistake she seems to have forgotten you’re a person with feelings.”

Sometimes slightly big feelings and sometimes muted, almost numb ones.

“I’ll be grateful at some point in the future.” At the moment there was just too much going on. “I’m glad to be in this form again, though.”

Henley’s glare made me want to smile. “You’re too nice for your own good.”

Based on what I was feeling from him, it seemed like he thought he needed to save me from myself.

“I might get angry eventually.” I wasn’t sure what I was feeling if I was honest. “Would that make you happy?”

Henley’s skeptical look made what he thought of that very clear. “I’ll be angry for the both of us.” He huffed. “You’ll end up feeling sorry for it and apologize.”

My mate would just threaten them and smile.

“Then we’ll make a good team.” Somehow he seemed to think he was going to screw up our relationship all while doing his best to save me from myself. I wasn’t sure how the two concepts went together, but all I could do was show him we’d be fine. “Like when we rescued each other. I saved you from the net and you saved me from being lost forever.”

The way Serena had talked around it made me think she’d started to doubt they would find me. It made me wonder how long the spell would’ve kept me in that mindless limbo. We didn’t normally have this much of a longer lifespan than humans. I should’ve already been dead years ago, not looking the same or better than the day of the spell.

“I’d have figured out how to save myself.” Pouting, he glared ahead of us as we walked. “You just handled it differently than I would have.”

He was adorably delusional.

“And I couldn’t have left you.” Henley rocked into me again before shifting to stand beside me. “You wouldn’t have let me, so it all cancels out in the end.”

He was going to be stubborn about ridiculous things.

“You’re the softie. You’d have come back for me and you know it.” He might have a difficult relationship with his family and a lot of humans in general, but he liked monsters. “You’d have brought me treats and probably wandered around there calling for your kitty.”

And then would’ve gotten himself killed by something equally as dangerous.

“My murder kitty.” His huff made me smile. “Get it right.”

Murder kitty.

“I apologize.” Part of me wanted to take his hand or pull him into a hug, but a bigger part of me felt panic at the idea.

I did my best to ignore the anxiety it sent through me and copied his shoulder movement to nudge him slightly. Somethingabout it didn’t go right, though, because he frowned instead of smiling at me. “We take things at our own pace, right?”

“Of course.” It wasn’t lying to agree with him. “Which direction should we go?”

He stopped.

I hoped the pleasant look I gave him would fix the situation but he crossed his arms over his chest. “You look fine. You’re not fine.”

Was it the mate bond or him just being good at reading people?

“There’s a lot to process, so I’m not going to lie to you and tell you I’m fine.” He’d never believe it anyway. “I am, however, processing and enjoying being here with you.”

Walking around town had been a good idea no matter where we ended up. I wasn’t sure if it was left over from being trapped and mindless or simply all the stress, but just the physical act of walking was making me feel better.

“That was a really good way of agreeing with me and not actually lying.” He might’ve been praising me but he glared at me even harder. “So good job. I’m not going to get distracted, though. You do not have to touch me in public like a boyfriend or partner for me to know I’m your mate.”

How could he be so accepting of things I wasn’t ready to talk about but so stubborn on others?

“It’s much more acceptable for us to be open now. I know that.” He’d made sure to not-so-subtly turn on a documentary-style video to show the change in the general perception, so I knew it wasn’t illegal and Serena had made sure to specifically state that we wouldn’t run into any issues in town.