A Guardian for Christmas

I didn’t know who she was when she asked me for a tattoo, but she marked my soul forever.

Sagan

Esme floated into my life like a bird. Just as quickly, she flew away, leaving me intrigued, infatuated, and undone. She left me wanting more. I know what everyone thinks of my obsession. A guy like me has no business pursuing a relationship with an heiress of her renown. What would we talk about? What would her friends and family think of me?

All those questions are meaningless, however, when I receive information about Esme’s current condition. Something is terribly wrong, and she desperately needs a friend. As soon as I step in to help, it feels like I’ve found my true calling in life. Being with her is as vital as breathing.

Esme

I don’t understand why it’s happening again. After Briar completed her internship and went back to school, I felt so much better. But now, a year later, the voices have returned. The whispers. The bumps in the night. On top of that, my family’s estate is crumbling around me, and pressure is mounting to make decisions about the future. All I want to do is lie in bed until the holiday season is over.

When that tattoo artist, Sagan, finds me languishing behind lock and key, I barely have it in me to ask what the hell he’s doing here. I don’t know why he thinks he can help me when no doctors or practitioners have been able to ease my troubles. Still, something about the rough-and-tumble tattoo artist makes me feel safer than I’ve felt in a long time. But I know what happens when I get attached.

Sagan will have to leave eventually, and the torment will begin again.