A Howling Heart
Chapter twenty-two

The absolute fear in her eyes is haunting. I've seen glimpses here and there of it before in her concern for my safety, but never have I heard a blood-curdling scream come from her.

Her scream fills the house, causing the structure to quiver with unease. I swear all surrounding wildlife has fled, the leaves on all the trees have blown off, and the dead have begun to arise. It conjures a possession in Matias that even I am startled by.

He inserts himself in between us. His chest rises and falls with deep breaths, and his gaze narrows. Assessing my mother for signs of threat has come back positive, and he doesn't seem to want to chance anything, but she's my mother. She wouldn't hurt me.

Would she?

"Matias?" I reach for his shoulder, splaying my fingers over the thick muscle. "What are you doing? It'll be alright. Just let me-"

"I'm not letting you do anything, Fae!" he demands again as he covers my hand with his. He squeezes my hand for assurance but pushes it behind his back so I remain separated from my mother.

Shock barrels through me. I blink rapidly, closing and opening my mouth, startled by what is beginning to unfold in front of me. Cold chills roll down my spine, causing me to shiver. I wrap my arms around myself for a moment, hoping the fear and anxiety consuming me will wane.

This is insane.

"If you'd just let me-"

"Fae!" He barks my name as a warning. "Stay behind me."

"You're ridiculous. I can help her. She's confused, sick, let me-"

He wraps an arm around his back to press me against him. "I swear if you don't listen to me, I will throw you over my shoulder and run you out of here."

Well, she must not be that much of a threat if he's allowing us to be in the same room as her. It's still annoying not being able to make the decision of whether I want to risk my life to comfort her, to bring her back down to reality.

"We are each other's. Your body is as much as mine as mine is to yours, but in matters of safety, I will do what it takes to keep you from harm."

It feels like there is no sense in arguing. Not when his own stubbornness always seems to outshine mine in the end.

He isn't budging....

"No, I'm not," he affirms.

I guess it's endearing that he's risked his life, even if I disagree.

The notion does something inside me. I find that spark between us that grew ferociously in the kitchen, to the point he needed to excuse himself, returning. Drawn to him, my hands encircle his waist as he takes deep breaths and finally speaks. "Are you okay, Fae?" His voice is raspy. The arm holding me behind his back tightens.

"Uh, yes. Yes. I'm okay, Matias."

He breathes a big sigh of relief. "Anima mea, I will protect you until my heart stops beating."

Very "hopelessly in love with you" aesthetic. That's just how Matias always comes off.

My hands tighten along his waist and he lets out a deep breath.

"My queen. Stay behind me."

I don't think there's real reason to anymore. The screaming has died down. Fear makes my mother's limbs shake from what I can see while peering around Matias's arm.

The accusing finger she points at Matias quivers with unease. Her eyes are wide, and her upper lip curls with disgust, bearing some of her teeth.

"Fae? What the heck is going on?"

She glares at Matias.

"He should be the one you're scared of! Not me! He's, he-" She shakes her head in disbelief. "Him and I have-are-tell her Esai!"

Wait, she thinks Matias is Esai? I suppose they have some similarities. Add her fear and the illness that has been messing with her memory, and it's completely plausible that she would mix things up.

My mother's attention shifts at the sound of floorboards creaking. Her head snaps sideways, and that's when I follow her gaze and see him. The real Esai...

Matias's uncle.

Flashbacks fill me with dread. All of a sudden, I am thrown back into the night I was only an employee hired to watch this sickly man. He doesn't look so sickly anymore, but he's full of the angst he was back then.

The panic I endured returns. My hands slip from Matias's waist to my throat. Tightening forms in my chest, and breathing becomes more challenging.

"Fae?" Matias questions, noticing the change in me.

Esai's vengeance-filled eyes have continued to haunt me. I swallow the lump that has formed in my throat and try to squeak out a reply. "I'm fine." I'm unconvincing.

"I won't let him or anyone hurt you, Fae," Matias says softly. "Believe me."

And I do. I do believe him. Unlike the man Matias was the day after I was attacked, a man who denied it ever happening to me for his uncle's protection, the man he is today won't allow harm to come to me if he can help it. "I do."

"Good."

Esai looks vastly different. In fact, the change is miraculous. Life and vibrance fill him as he enters the room, his eyes mirroring that dark, blood-red that Matias does. So black it's the blood of the dead. "My mother," I whisper to Matias. "Don't let him hurt her. Please? Let me go to her."

I try to move around him. He sidesteps to keep me distanced from her as well.

"Matias," I hiss," and when he goes to reply, I dart around him to my mom.

When she wraps her arms around me protectively, Matias's expression relaxes a little. My mother directs her words to Esai.

"You. Esai...." Her voice is a startled whisper as her arms tighten around me. She takes a few steps back, leading me with her, to add more distance to Matias's evil grandfather. "No. I thought you were dead." Esai scoffs and takes a step forward.

Matias's jaw ticks, and he stretches out his hand, fed up with my independence now that the threat has switched between my mother and Esai. "Fae, come here."

My body immediately feels an electric pull to go into his arms-a strange sense of safety lingering with me from Matias's touch.

Will Esai have the gall to attack me again?

That's when I hear Matias's voice, invading my private thoughts once more.

'Come. He will not hurt you.'

As much as Matias continuously wants control over others, he will never have it fully.

By the way, Esai is staring at my mother and me. I wouldn't bet that the man won't go against his nephew's wishes and try to take a bite out of both of us.