48. DEVRIM: ANOTHER SIDE OF HIM

“What was that about?” I questioned him as soon as I was sure that the bathroom was empty.
Obsidian flashed his teeth at me. “She was going to touch her.”
“You allowed Vanya to hug Betsy as few seconds before,” I pointed out.
“It’s not the same,” he muttered.
I blinked at him. Not the same? What the hell was going on inside that head of his?
Obsidian walked over to the basin and splashed his face with cold water, and then leaned forward with his head hung and palms resting on the marble counter top.
“You’re agitated, why?”
He rolled his shoulders and slowly straightened. I handed him some paper towels to dry his face. Obsidian aggressively wiped his face and dropped to towels into the basin before he ran a shaky hand through his hair.
“Too many humans,” he rasped. “They keep staring at me.”
I gave him a small smile. “They’re staring at all of us, not just you,” I said, but I knew he wasn’t listening.
Obsidian raised his hand and traced the scar on his face with his fingertips.
Stepping closer, I swallowed and id something without him ordering me to. Something out of my own free will. I pressed my lips to his cheek right over part of his scar.
When I pulled back Obsidian was staring at me with wide eyes. I smiled at him, but it quickly faded when he growled. He surprised me by gripping the back of my neck and pulled me towards him.
“D-don’t let them hurt me,” he whispered.
For a moment Obsidian dropped his guard and allowed me to see everything. Emotions flashed through his eyes—one after the other. Anger. Pain. Fear. Vulnerability.
“If they try anything, I’ll kill them,” I promised.
His lips twitched. “Funny,” he muttered. “You just warned me against killing them.”
I sighed and reached up to grip his wrist. Stepping forward, I pressed my forehead against his. I had a feeling that Obsidian hadn’t really thought his plan through. He wanted to protect Vanya, but being surrounded by humans were the last place he wanted to be.
How had he managed it all those times he travelled?
Obsidian licked his lips and then close the space between us. Everything faded from my mind as he kissed me. He stepped forward, making me move backwards until my ass hit the marble counter. In the next instant his body was pressed against mine. I knew better than to touch him, so I gripped the counter instead.
He reached up with his other hand and gripped my neck, fingers pressed to my beating pulse.
Obsidian loved knowing how his actions affected someone.
“They can’t touch her,” he whispered against my lips.
I swallowed. “Vanya’s right you know. You rejected her.”
He nodded and then shook his head. “She’s ours.”
He silence my words with another kiss—one that was interrupted by the bathroom door opening. I felt him tense.
Obsidian pulled away slightly but didn’t turn around. His eyes darted to the mirror at my back. Whoever it was made him smirk.
“Done with your reunion, sweets?”
I sighed and stepped out from in front of him. My eyes locked with Vanya’s and then darted over to Ezra. He instantly looked away but not before I saw it.
“It’s about to start,” Vanya said softly. “We need to find our seats.”

***

I had attended a Christmas ball only once before, and that was when Vanya had been a little girl and her mother had been in charge of everything. Vanya had performed in a concert then. I stilled remembered the look on her face when she stepped onto the stage for the first time.
It had been different then.
“We’ll be sitting at the head table with my father,” Vanya said as we entered the room again. “It’s—”
“No,” Obsidian growled. “We’ll find another table.”
“We can’t.” Vanya glared at him but he ignored her.
There was no sign of the vulnerability he had shown on the bathroom when we were alone. Obsidian’s guards was up again which basically meant that he was back to being the asshole Vanya always accused him of being.
“Where are you going?” Vanya hissed, hurrying after him. “Obsidian!”
I smiled and silently followed behind them. Like I expected he would, Obsidian made his way over to a table in the far back corner of the room. It was hidden slightly behind square walls that had been built randomly around the room—probably to keep the roof from collapsing.
Humans already sat at the table, laughing and talking, however they fell silent the moment Obsidian stopped next to it.
“Move,” he growled.
They stared at him for a few more seconds before they started moving. Grabbing glasses, plates and other stuff, they al scrambled to get away.
My eyes darted over to Vanya to watch her reaction.
She was staring at Obsidian with her lips parted slightly and her eyes narrowed. Whatever she had been about to say had been forgotten.
Obsidian walked around the table and took a seat right in the corner where the wall was to his back.
The wall as protection so nobody could sneak up on him.
Moving forward, I pressed my hand against Vanya’s back and urged her forward. She turned instead of moving.
“You’re the Alpha, aren’t you going to demand him or something?” she questioned.
“Demand him?” I smiled at her. “Nobody demands Obsidian.”
“Especially not Devrim,” Ezra hissed from our left. “He’d rather kneel for him instead.”
Ezra passed us and took a seat two chairs away from Obsidian. He didn’t look at me again.
“What does he mean by that?” Vanya asked.
I shook my head. “Nothing. Take a seat, rosebud.”
She hesitated, but I gave her no choice but to follow. I really needed to talk to Ezra and find out what exactly his problem was.
Obsidian winked at me when Vanya took a seat next to him. Ignoring him, I sat down on Vanya’s other side and sighed.
There were a lot more people here than there should be. My guess was that it had something to do with us. Mayor Reeves definitely had something to do with it. Maybe telling him a little about our plan hadn’t been such a good idea. Instead of allowing us to just blend in, he had gone out of his way to make us stand out.
It made my suspicion towards him increase.
What if our plan failed because of him?
Commotion at the door caught my attention. I leaned back in my chair and watched a Reeves and Joy entered. The humans clapped and cheered as he made his way through the tables.
I tracked his movement as he walked. He paused here and there to greet someone before moving on. The moment he reached the table, he frowned. Reeves was expecting Vanya to be sitting there—the centre of attention and in plain sight of the killer.
“How long will this thing last?” Obsidian asked.
Reeves glanced around the room, his frown deepening when he didn’t spot us. I smirked and focused on what Vanya was saying.
“It goes on for hours. They’re going to ask him to say a few words which he will but it won’t be a few.” She raised her head and looked around the room. “Usually the school kids will perform a special Christmas concert. I don’t know if that still happens.”
I reached out and placed my hand on hers. Something told me that she was remembering happier times.
“I stopped coming here when Joy took over,” she muttered.
I nodded and gave her hand a squeeze. “Your mother did things differently, yes.”
Vanya’s head snapped up so fast that I heard the snap before she felt it. She winced and reached up to press a hand against the side of her neck.
“You knew my mother?”
I hesitated and then nodded. “We escaped from the facility—”
“That can’t be right,” she interrupted. “The newspaper clippings in Obsidian’s room said differently.”
My eyes darted over her head to him. He had clippings, why? How had he gotten them?
Obsidian shrugged when our eyes locked. “Let’s not talk here.”
I nodded, looking back at Vanya. “I had. . .we had met your mother a few times before she died.”