Free VA 2 - Blood Jewel by Georgia Cates Page B

this mess while we’re gone.”
    I reached blindly for her hand.
Although I couldn’t see a thing, I led her to my bedroom. I stopped
at my door and turned to her before I opened it. “Once we’re on the
other side of this door, we will not discuss anything pertaining to
her or this situation. We’re going to finish celebrating your
birthday. Agreed?”
    “Absolutely.” She was smiling. I
could hear it in her voice and the way her voice sounded when she
answered me.
    We entered my bedroom and I shut
the door once we were inside. It felt good to tangibly shut the
door on the problems we had outside of this room. In this room, we
were free of problems, or at least we could pretend.
    “I’m afraid you’re going to have
to help me. My senses are all thrown off here,” I
explained.
    “What do you need me to do?” she
asked.
    I hoped Gia and Lairah were
listening when I told them what to do. “There should be something
on my desk for you.”
    “There’s a birthday cake with a
lot of candles. Like at least 50.”
    Damn, could I not depend on them
for anything? “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
    “I am,” she said as she rubbed her
hands up and down my arms. “You need to loosen up.”
    Whew! I would get her back for that
one later. “Good. That means Gia and Lairah were paying attention
to my directions.”
    “It’s a beautiful cake, but I
don’t think I want any right now. It’s not that I don’t appreciate
the trouble you went to to get one for me, but...”
    I didn’t want her to feel bad, so I
interrupted, “No, you don’t have to explain.”
    The chanting was getting louder and
I needed a distraction. “Let’s move on to your gifts. They should
be on the bed.”
    “There are two gifts on the bed.
Which one do I open first?”
    ”The big one in the polka dot
paper and bright bow.”
    “Okay. I’m opening it now.” I
heard the sound of paper ripping and I wanted to yell angrily
because I wouldn’t see her happiness. “It’s killing me that I can’t
see the look on your face. It was one of the things I was looking
forward to when you opened this gift.”
    The sound of paper shuffling and
tearing stopped. “I can wait until all of this is over to open
these. It’s really not necessary to open them now.”
    “It is necessary. I want something
to go right for your birthday and this is the only thing I can give
you that’s right at the moment.”
    She didn’t reply, but I heard the
sound of paper tearing again and then a moment of silence except
for the acceleration in her heart rate.
    “Oh, my goodness. How did you do
this?”
    “I came back to the house twelve
years ago after I took an interest in photography. I thought it was
the house drawing me closer, but it was you all along. It was a
strange day because I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you and your
family, but now I know why. Even then, you were my
Agápe.”
    I felt her arms wrap around me.
“This is without doubt the best gift I have ever been given. I love
you so much and it’s not because Anteros says I have to. I would
have loved you regardless.”
    The chanting was getting louder and
the pain behind my eyes was increasing, so I reached to rub my
eyes. “I knew you’d love it.”
    “It’s getting worse, isn’t
it?”
    I didn’t want to admit it because
she would realize she didn’t have the undivided attention she
deserved, but I wouldn’t lie to my Agápe. “Yes, it’s getting much
worse. It sounds like she’s screaming in my head and it feels like
stakes driving into my eyes from the inside.”
    Chansey was quiet and I felt her
lightly trace her finger over Marsala’s ownership mark around my
upper arm. “Do you trust me, Curry?”
    “Why would you ask me that? Of
course, I trust you, Love.”
    “If I asked you to do something
for me without question, would you? I mean if I believed it would
put an end to this?” she asked.
    “As long as you remain safe,
there’s very little I wouldn’t do to make