Vulnerable: Book 1 of the Magic Mutations Series | ✓

56: These Violent Delights

"Ouch!" I hissed as the needle pierced through my arm.

"Sorry, Lukas is normally better at this," Ben mumbled, holding it steady as he fixed the barrel onto the end of the syringe. "Don't suppose I can try once more to beg you to stay here?"

"You know I'm going. If anything goes wrong, I want to be there. I know how to defend myself now so we will be fine."

"I don't know though, Olivia. What if⁠—"

"Ben. Please believe in me."

His eyes met mine for a moment before he gave a brief nod and changed over the vial.

"I hate watching this," I mumbled, averting my gaze. Despite the horrors I had witnessed yesterday, seeing a needle in my arm and blood pouring out was still just as grotesque.

"Shall I distract you?"

"Please."

"Well, there is one question I've been meaning to ask you."

"What's that?"

When he didn't respond, I looked back at him. A shy smile flashing on his face, cheeks tinting pink.

"What?" I pressed.

"Do you... do you want kids one day?"

It was certainly a distraction. As I bit my lip, I tried to read his face for the response he wanted from me, but it was no luck. "Do you?"

"I asked you first."

Chuckling, I turned my head away once more. "Yes, I suppose I do."

"I think I do too," he whispered.

"Think?"

"I never thought I would find anyone to be honest, so it was never in my plan. But even in the chance I did, I always thought no one would stick around long enough for that to be a reality. Plus I don't think I'd be a great father..."

Glancing his way once more, I realised he was studying my face.

"But knowing you, I think you'd make an exceptional mother. So you'd balance me out. And having a family with you seems like a dream." He shook his head and looked down, overcome by embarrassment again. "I feel silly and greedy... but I want it all now because I have you. I have the girl, I want the home, I want the marriage, I want the kids... I want to grow old with you."

"Benjamin," I whispered tentatively, but his gaze remained fixated on the vial, changing it over one last time.

"This isn't a proposal, by the way," he mumbled. "I'll be smoother than that."

Extending my free arm, I brushed my fingers through his curls until he finally met my gaze once more. Then I leaned upwards and kissed him.

· · ───── ∘☽༓☾∘ ───── · ·

We didn't want to spend more time than necessary in Windeck, so to ease the nerves, the three of us set off around Cologne, visiting all the tourist attractions for my amusement.

"This is spectacular," I breathed as I craned my head up, taking in the towering cathedral in front of me. Overloaded with gothic arches and a myriad of flying buttresses and pinnacles, the twin spires on the Kölner Dom stood high in the air, demanding to be seen and recognised. The sandstone had turned a dark grey, almost black, as a result of pollution, rain, and decay wearing down the old church. "You wouldn't believe this was bombed in the second world war," I whispered.

"Well it was," Lukas replied, the first thing he had said to me today. "I remember looking at it not long after it happened."

"You saw it?"