<h4>Chapter 111: BABYSITTERS</h4>


    <strong>CLARE POV</strong>


    I didn’t realize how tightly I had been holding my breath until I saw the chipped number on my apartment door. My apartment. Safe zone. Familiar.


    The moment ze’s feet touched the concrete just outside my apartment doo, I slid off his back without a word. My limbs were trembling, my throat dry, eyes stinging from crying, from screaming, from that damn nightmare that still clung to me like cobwebs spun in blood. I barely had the strength to stand, and yet every inch of me itched to get inside. To get away. Away from marble corridors and vampire courts and burning flesh and that dining table made of nightmares.


    This was my space. My safe ce. Even if the shadows in my apartment were long and creeping now... at least they were <i>mine</i>.


    But I barely took two steps toward the door when it opened.


    I flinched hard, bracing myself.


    And then I saw him.


    Reed.


    He looked like a storm barely held together by a thin leash. His shoulders were tense, chest heaving, fists already half-shifting — ws trembling just beneath his skin. His wolf was close, <i>too close</i>. His eyes zed golden the moment he saw me.


    "What the fuck—?" Reed’s voice cracked like thunder as he strode forward and caught me by the shoulders before ze could react. "<i>What the fuck happened to her?!</i>"


    Oh no. Not this.


    "I’m right here," I said. Or tried to. My voice came out cracked, like I’d swallowed ash.


    Reed didn’t seem to hear. His hands hovered near me, fists clenched, not sure if he should touch me or murder someone.


    "What the hell did you do?" he barked at ze, voice rising. "She looks like she just came out of a fucking war zone!"


    ze stepped between us, jaw tight, voice steel. "Lower your voice. She just got out of a nightmare. You yelling isn’t helping."


    "I <i>felt</i> her panic, vampire," Reed snapped. "Don’t talk to me about yelling."


    I didn’t even get a word in. ze stepped forward, half in front of me, but Reed’s snarl cut through the air before he could block him fully.


    "<i>She smells like fucking fire and fear and — blood.</i>" His hand rose to cup my cheek, gentle now, as if the anger had been burnt out the moment he saw my face. "Why the hell do you look like you just walked through a battlefield, baby?"


    <i>Baby.</i>


    My throat seized. I could barely breathe through the knot in my chest.


    "Reed," I whispered, the sound so broken I almost didn’t recognize it as mine.


    "You should have brought her back sooner," Reed hissed, ring over my head at ze now.


    Oh gods. They were going to do this now? Chest-thumping? Territory marking?


    I dropped to the ground, sat on the edge of the stoop, and buried my face in my hands. I didn’t have the energy to referee a vampire and a werewolf who thought they were both my bodyguards-sh-stalkers.


    "Please," I whispered, voice cracking. "Not now. Just stop."


    ze growled low and deadly. "And into your territory where your wolves nearly attacked herst time? <i>She needed to be safe</i>—"


    "<i>Safe?!</i> You call what happened to her <i>safe?!</i>"


    "<i>She was targeted inside my fucking room!</i>"


    They were both shouting now — circling like predators ready to tear into each other — but I couldn’t take it. Not another second of loud voices and fighting and—


    "<i>Shut up,</i>" I whispered.


    They didn’t hear.


    "<i>Shut. The fuck. Up!</i>" I snapped louder, pushing past ze’s side, stepping between them. "You two want to measure your fucking ws and fangs, go to a field. Right now? I just want a shower. A nket. And five minutes where I’m not being reminded that everyone around me is something <i>other</i> than human!"


    Reed immediately dropped his hands, guilt flooding his face.


    ze’s jaw clenched, but he stepped back.


    The silence that followed was thick. Ufortable. Almost more suffocating than their yelling.


    ze moved without a word, stepping beside me. He came closer, and for once, the predator wasn’t in his eyes—only something... almost guilty.


    "You’re safe now," he murmured. "They won’t touch you again. I swear it."


    I looked between the two of them. One zing like a furnace, the other trembling with a wolf barely under his skin.


    How had I gone from being alone in this world... to being tangled between two supernatural storms?


    Reed stepped back first, motioning gently toward the door. "Let’s get you inside."


    I didn’t say thank you. Couldn’t. I just walked past him, ze trailing me with careful steps, like I was going to shatter again any second.


    My apartment smelled like me. My shampoo. My books. Myundry detergent. I never thought that scent could make me want to cry, but it did. I let myself sink down on the couch, knees tucked up, arms around them.


    ze hovered near the wall like a shadow made of smoke and heat.


    Reed knelt in front of me, his palm resting on my ankle, thumb stroking small circles.


    "You were shaking in your sleep," ze said softly, finally breaking the silence. "Mumbling about blood. About... your brother."


    Reed’s head snapped to him. "What does her <i>brother</i> have to do with any of this?"


    I looked away, throat locking up.


    "Nothing," I croaked. "It was just a dream."


    That was a lie.


    ze knew it.


    Reed <i>definitely</i> knew it.


    But neither pushed. Not yet.


    "I want to stay here," I finally said after a moment. "I don’t care what kind of magical vampire security your pce has. I can’t stand another minute there. I can’t... sleep in a room that smells like those people. I can’t look at your father."


    "You won’t have to," ze said. He moved closer, knelt next to Reed, his tone quieter. "I’ll post outside if I have to."


    "No need." Reed’s voice was clipped. "She’s in <i>neutral territory</i> now. My wolves won’te near withoutmand. And no vampire’s crossing in the boarding house without a war deration."


    They looked at each other again. A silent, grudging truce.


    My heart ached at the relief... and the shame of needing it.


    I was so damn tired.


    Not the kind of tired that sleep could fix — not after the nightmare I’d had. Not after the mess that was this twisted supernatural reality I’d fallen headfirst into. But the kind of tired that settled in your bones, a weight of fear and grief and questions that never stop wing at you.


    All I wanted was to sit in my own space. Just <i>sit</i>. Breathe. Pretend for five minutes that the world outside my apartment didn’t exist. So I copsed onto the couch, leaning my head against the cushion, exhaling like I’d been holding my breath for days.


    And then I felt it.


    One shift of the cushions on either side.


    I opened my eyes.


    ze on my left. Reed on my right.


    For a second, neither of them spoke. Their proximity alone was suffocating — the heat rolling off ze like a wildfire contained in flesh, and Reed’s presence like a thundercloud before a storm. They didn’t look at me. They just stared across me. At each other.


    Fantastic.


    I was the <i>bone</i> in the middle of two overly possessive supernatural dogs.


    <fn4033> The source of th?s content is fι?dnοvel</fn4033>


    Reed’s jaw tightened first.


    "You should go," he said, eyes locked on ze like he was trying to will him into dust. "She’s back. Safe. I’ll take care of her now."


    ze didn’t blink. "She’s not your responsibility."


    "She’s my <i>mate</i>."


    ze leaned forward, lips twitching into something between a smirk and a snarl. "Yeah? So am I. You going to tell me to go too?"


    Reed’s nostrils red. "Don’t push me, leech."


    "Don’t threaten me, mutt."


    "I <i>felt</i> her panic tonight," Reed said, voice low, deadly. "My bond with her is real. And stronger."


    ze leaned forward slightly, his eyes glowing faintly. "And yet, you weren’t there."


    "Oh, fuck off. I would’ve been if you weren’t ying kidnap with her in your cursed hell pce—"


    "I saved her!"


    "You <i>endangered</i> her!"


    <i>For fuck’s sake.</i>


    I stood up abruptly. "<i>I’m making coffee,</i>" I snapped, cutting them both off before they could start throwing furniture. "Neither of you breathe near me until you remember I’m not a chew toy you get to argue over."


    They both shut up. Instantly.


    Gods, it was like being babysat by two apex predators who thought I was their emotional support bunny. I stormed into the kitchen, yanked open the cab, and started preparing the coffee with maybe a little more force than necessary.


    I could feel their eyes on me. Not just watching — <i>tracking</i>. Like I’d vanish orbust or crumble into ash if they looked away. Honestly, I wouldn’t have med them. I felt like a wire stretched too thin — humming with every snap of tension.


    Behind me, I heard ze murmur something low under his breath.


    Reed growled. "<i>What was that?</i>"


    I mmed the mug on the counter. "Do I need to get a damn squirt bottle? Because I will treat you like the feral cats you’re acting like."


    Silence.


    Sweet, stunned silence.


    The coffee machine gurgled.


    And finally... Reed sighed. "You okay, though?" His voice was softer. Almost uncertain. "I mean, really?"


    I paused, staring into the ck swirl filling my mug. My reflection looked like someone else — pale, shaken, shadows under my eyes deep as ink.


    "No," I whispered. "But I will be."


    And maybe, just maybe... I could believe that. If I survived another night. If no more monsters came knocking. If no more dreams brought rk back only to rip him away again.


    I turned with the mug in hand. Both of them were still on the couch — brooding, tense, barely restrained — but quiet now.


    And for once... that was enough.


    I trudged toward the kitchte like a sleep-deprived gremlin.


    It was a mess. I hadn’t exactly had time to clean before being whisked away to vampire traumand. I shoved aside a stack of utensils, flicked on the kettle, and rummaged for instant coffee like it was a lifeline.


    Behind me, their bickering picked up again. Lower this time. Heated whispers.


    "She doesn’t need you breathing down her neck."


    "She’s my mate—"


    "She’s mine too, unless you forgot."


    I mmed the mug on the counter harder than necessary.


    "Do I get a say in this ’mate’ tug-of-war?" I called over my shoulder.


    Dead silence.


    Then Reed coughed awkwardly. ze muttered something under his breath.


    "That’s what I thought," I snapped, pouring hot water into the mug.


    It was the worst coffee I’d ever made. Too bitter. Too hot. Too fucking real.


    I brought it back with shaking hands, sat on the single armchair like it was a throne of solitude, and curled my legs up.


    Neither of them moved.


    Neither of them left.


    They were watching me. Like I’d crack open again.


    And maybe I would.


    But right now, all I wanted was ten minutes of peace. Ten minutes without fire or blood or dreams where my twin—


    No. Don’t go there.


    I took a sip and burned my tongue. Deserved it.


    Reed finally spoke, softer this time. "use... we need to talk."


    ze’s jaw twitched, but he said nothing.


    I stared at both of them. Two monsters. Two protectors. Two walking disasters.


    And I was in the middle.


    "Yeah," I said slowly, swallowing hard. "We really do."