Page 6 of Charisma
“Fuck.” Quickly standing with her still in my arms, I start moving and am soon running through the trails that’ll lead me to our friends.
When I break through the final set of trees and see Maverick and Paxton sparring, I rush in their direction, hollering, “Help me. She was injured in the woods. I gave her some of my blood then she passed out!”
Maverick bellows, “Esmerelda!”
A flurry of activity soon commences, and she’s taken from me then placed on the bed in her bungalow. Esmerelda’s hands are moving as she murmurs incantations which have Charisma cleaned and clothed in a nightgown. “What can I do?” I ask, feeling helpless.
“Go get me some hot water, some clean washcloths, and a bottle of wine,” Esmerelda replies, never glancing in my direction.
While I ponder the reason for what she asked for, I hurry around Charisma’s space and quickly gather the items. “What’s the wine for?” I probe once I’m back in the room. I watch as Esmerelda drops something from one of her many pockets into the hot water, then she adds a bit of wine, before conjuring up a soup spoon and ladling some of the broth she just made and dripping it into Charisma’s mouth. After a few spoonfuls, she uses the cloths to wipe Charisma’s face clean from the droplets. Then I watch in utter astonishment as she tilts the wine bottle to her mouth and downs what was left inside of the bottle.
“It has restorative properties.” Glancing at me, she adds, “You had a hard time giving her blood.”
“Because it binds her to me, Esmerelda. I did my research on how Vampires bond. She wasn’t ready and hadn’t come to the realization she’s my mate yet. I just hope I didn’t fuck it all up,” I quietly reply.
“She wouldn’t have realized it until she ingested some of your blood, Baldwin. Surely, you were aware of that fact?”
I nod because I did know. “Yeah, but still, what if it’s not what she wanted? At least not yet?” I can’t help but be curious if she had a clue but was unwilling to chance being mated to me. We are complete opposites of one another that it’s comical that we are destined to one another.
“I saw the aura spheres surrounding the two of you. The ties were already forming. What you did merely shortened the courting period by a few weeks, if not less.” Esmerelda’s words shock me to my core.
“Really?” I question. Because I hadn’t gotten that impression from my interactions with Charisma but I’m no witch and don’t have the abilities Esmerelda has. I wasn’t aware Esme had the ability to see the mating orbs, that’s a rare, uncommon trait. There’s a reason it’s been kept hush-hush on her part. If other covens find out she has this skill, they could use it to cause irreparable damage to the mating process. Mating would become chaotic, and the men would lose their minds after searching for their other half and go rogue when they don’t find them.
“Yes, really. Now, go take a shower and for goddesses' sake, get some damn clothes on! I don’t need to see my brother-in-law’s junk playing helicopter-helicopter in my face!”
Laughing, I head toward the bathroom off Charisma’s bedroom. Might as well make myself at home. “Have Beast bring me some clothes, will you?” I call out before closing the door. “Helicopter,” I mutter, that woman’s vocabulary lights up any dire situation.
“The hell with that, I’ve got it,” she grumbles. While I let the water heat, I see a stack of neatly folded clothes miraculously appear on the bathroom counter.
“Thanks, Esme.”
“Hurry up, I need to get back to my sweet girl,” she demands, which causes me to laugh long and hard as I step beneath the pounding spray. As if I can’t shower and dress on my own without needing a caretaker.
CHARISMA
My eyes aregritty as they flutter and open. It feels as if someone has rubbed them raw with sandpaper. Visions of flying tree branches rushing toward me have me sitting up with a panic-stricken gasp. Immediately, I start patting my side, looking for evidence of my deep-rooted wound—no pun intended.
“Take it easy, Risma.” I hear Esme state through gritted teeth. “You may be immortal, but you're not infallible.”
“Hush,” I snap, scanning my surroundings. Searching the room, looking for the others who I know aren’t far away. Especially, since I could’ve sworn, I heard Baldwin as I was rousing. Funny how earlier I was running away from him, yet now, I’m searching him out. The word mate floats through my mind, and I internally kick myself in the ass. How could I have not known? I’m centuries older than most of my friends, you’d think I’d have some sort of intuition when my mate came along.
“Don’t hush me, hussy,” Esmerelda hisses, giving me her motherly‘behave’glare.
“Don’t hussy me, wench.” I snarl, curling my lip. Our usual banter not skipping a beat regardless of the current predicament.
“Why must you two always pester each other?” Beast asks as he enters the room with my goddaughter strapped in a sling to his chest. “For best friends y’all are a conundrum. I expected to hear songs of glory when I entered, not you two nagging at each other.”
“Really, sugar bear? Songs of glory? It’s disgraceful,” Esme snarks, shaking her head in dismayed embarrassment. “We need to work on your barbs.”
“It’s obnoxiously abhorrent. You’ve been around us long enough that your insults should be more effective and impactful,” I remark, getting a dig in at him.
“Since when did y’all’s tirade get shifted my way?” He sniffs, dumbfounded at becoming our newest target. “You two should be kept in separate corners. The world would be a safer place.”
“It’s just too easy to get you riled up,” I snicker.
“He is an easy mark, isn’t he?” Esmerelda asks me, her lips tilted upward in a smirk.
“Alright you two, break it up,” Maverick orders, walking into the room and scanning me over from head to toe. “Feeling better?”