Free Shafted by Kymber Morgan Page B

for Anteros comfort. And the pencil lines usually
defining her eyebrows were missing, so he had to look close to
realize they were raised in concern.
    The connection with Eros he hadn’t sensed
since his brother’s fall, rippled through Anteros as his twin
shifted his corporeal form to mist. Shooting a last glance over his
shoulder he caught Eros’s half salute and nod good-bye before he
vanished.
    “What’s all the racket?” Christian burst in
from the opposite side of the room leading from the kitchen and his
eyes fell on Callie.
    “Callista! What’s this Neanderthal done to
you baby?!”
    The next few moments became surreal and
Anteros had to shake his head to remember he wasn’t watching a
Greek tragedy.
    Looking from one to the other, he watched the
inn keeper turn her gaze on him and cover her gaping mouth with her
hands as though he were already convicted of a terrible crime.
Christian leaped like some parody of a two legged gazelle over the
coffee table to sweep Callie up in his arms. Hers dangled at
awkward angles and her head lolled forward until her chin came to
rest on his shoulder. Her eyes opened slowly and focused on the
first thing in her line of sight.
    Him.
    Anteros’s mind raced ahead and he felt sick.
Like watching a car spin out of control heading for the ditch, he
knew he was powerless to stop what was about to happen.
    From one heart beat to the next, time stepped
in line again and the imprint took hold. Callie’s face lit up.
Seeing the false adoration shining so bright in her beautiful eyes,
her heart filled to overflowing, shattered his into tiny
pieces.

Chapter 12

    Callie couldn’t remember anything after
telling Teran about her mother and grandmother not getting along.
And what the heck was wrong with him? He looked like he was ready
to peel his skin off, he was fidgeting so much.
    “Sorry about the noise Mrs. Turnbull. Callie
fell asleep and I didn’t want to turn on another light in case it
woke her. So I ended up stumbling on the rug, banging my shin into
the chair and knocking it over.”
    When exactly had she done that? She didn’t
remember feeling sleepy.
    “Callista, Sweetie-pie, are you sure you’re
okay?”
    She hated it when Christian called her that.
Even though his concern was genuine, the way he was fussing like a
mother-hen, made her want to push him off the couch. “Chris,
please, for the third time, I’m fine. You heard Teran. I dozed off.
It was him who banged his shin, not me.”
    Hoping he wouldn’t sense how badly she needed
him to back off, she put pressure on his shoulders pressing him
back and bounced to her feet. “See all good.” By the confused look
on his face she hadn’t totally succeeded.
    Mrs. Turnbull turned the overhead light on
and gave each of them a pointed look. “Well, I’m just happy
everything and everyone’s okay. Now if you’ll follow me Mr.
Stapleton, since you’re settled into your room now, we can see
about putting together something for you to eat.
    “Oh and Callie, there’s an email for you from
Community Services. You can access it from the desktop at the front
desk or there’s a plug in thingy there behind the desk for a
laptop.
    “Mr. Anders if you need anything for your
leg, there’s first aid supplies in the upstairs bathroom.” With
that she sailed from the room on fuzzy slippers with her paisley
patterned house coat flapping around her ankles and disappeared
around the corner.
    Christian looked at the empty doorway and
back at Callie. “I think I should walk you to your room.” He sent a
sideways glance at Teran.
    Who did he think he was kidding? “Don’t be
silly. Mrs. Turnbull’s making you up a plate, and I’m fine thank
you.”
    His mouth opened and his stomach growled.
Callie’s eyebrow shot up and his jaw snapped shut. Escaping through
the door with a red face, he grumbled over his shoulder. “Well
night then. See you in the morning.” He shot one last look Teran’s
way that left no doubt what he