~ NYSSA

Rowan left for work early.

He was gone before I even woke and the only reason I knew was because he’d left a note by the pillow letting me know there was some shit he had to take care of.

Rather than spend my entire day at home doing nothing, I decided to head to work. The least I could do during this whole shit was try to be useful.

I freshened up and changed into something nice only to get to the kitchen and find another sticky note on the counter. There were two words on it but I couldn’t help my smile; breakfast, microwave.

I pulled open the microwave and found blueberry muffins arranged neatly on a plate. I grabbed one and bit into it, moaning softly when I found it still warm.

"I hope you left some for me," a voice drawled behind me. "It’s the least I deserve after you almost gave me a concussion."

The muffin nearly fell from my hands as I turned to find Eric standing in the doorway, his hands folded over his chest.

I was running across the room in a second, my arms wrapping around his mid-section. I did not realize just how worried I was until I laid eyes on him. Rowan had assured me numerous times that he was fine, but nothing would ever beat actually seeing him.

"I’m so sorry," I whispered as I pulled back from him. "I didn’t know that she was going to do that."

He smiled softly. "I know, trust me. It hurt like a mother fucker, but I’m fine. Did you at least find out anything at the meetup you crashed?"

I shook my head. "I think I have more questions than answers."

"Well then," he murmured, making his way over to the microwave to grab the rest of the muffins. "You can tell me all about it on the drive out. I take it you’re going to work."

I nodded.

"We better get going then."

The other guards followed in a car behind us and despite how annoyed I was at the lack of privacy, I knew better than to complain. With everything going on, I needed those guards now more than ever.

I told Eric everything while he drove, and by the time I was done, he let out a low whistle. "I don’t even know what to say to that."

"Neither do I," I admitted as he turned off the car in the parking lot.

I hopped out, brushing muffin crumbs on my jeans as I tried to ignore the looks I got from the people in the driveway. Their expressions ranged from curious to wary to uneasy.

"The dream thing is so fucking creepy," he murmured as we walked into the building. "Does this mean that every single time you fall asleep he’s going to be there?"

I shrugged. "I hope not, I’d hate for—"

Someone cleared their throat in front of us and I looked ahead to find the secretary standing in front of me, her hands folded neatly behind her back.

"You’re not dressed appropriately for work."

I dragged my eyes over her jeans and tank top. "Neither are you."

She shrugged. "It’s a new rule that Aria implemented, and it only affects the higher ups. She also has a rule that you can’t bring plus ones into the building, and that includes guards. They’ll have to wait outside."

I turned to Eric in surprise only to find him already glancing down at me with furrowed eyebrows. I had no idea why Aria would implement such a rule knowing everything going on, and why she wouldn’t at least confer with me first.

"If Aria has a problem with my guards or my dressing, she can take it up with me or my mate," I said coldly. "Now get out of my way."

Her cheeks burned bright. "These are the rules—"

"Would you like to discuss them with Rowan?" I asked, head cocked to the side. "I’m sure he would love to hear all about it."

She muttered something incoherent under her voice before dashing back to her corner, shooting daggers at Eric and I as we walked past her.

"That was weird," he mumbled as we got into the elevator. "Did you and Aria have some kind of falling out?"

I shook my head. "I think Rowan offloaded on her yesterday though. He was pissed about how things went down. Maybe I should go check on her."

"That sounds like a good idea," he nodded. "Would you like me to go with you?"

I thought about it for a moment before shaking my head. "I think I need to do this on my own."

He stopped on my floor while I went a floor higher to Aria’s office.

Her door was ajar when I got there and I pushed it open to find her seated behind her desk, a bunch of papers open in front of her. She glanced up at me then turned away without saying a word.

"Hello to you too," I drawled. "Is something wrong?"

She didn’t respond, she just continued flipping through pages.

"I don’t know why you’re upset with me when just yesterday we seemed to be fine—"

"Look," she cut me off. "I don’t want any problems with Rowan. He was very clear about us keeping our distance so go back to your office and we won’t have a problem."

I blinked twice. "Excuse me?"

She sighed, slamming the document in front of her shut. "Since you got here, it has been nothing but trouble for everyone involved."

I opened my mouth to speak but she held up a hand to stop me and stood slowly.

"We had problems with Henry because of you. The vampires are here because of you. I’ve never had issues with my brother until you. The common denominator is you. Everything around you seems to suffer."

Her words were like a slap to my face.

My cheeks burned and my chest felt like someone was squeezing a noose around it.

"I think it would be in everyone’s best interests if you stayed away," she said firmly.

"From you or from here?"

"You’re the Luna," she spat the word with disdain. "I can’t make you leave anywhere, but I think you know the answer to that."