Chapter 40
Rachel
A s the small ferry departed the Piraeus Port and cut through the dark waters of the Myrtoan Sea, I found myself glancing at Jase more often than I expected.
The tables have turned. Now it’s me who’s the staring weirdo.
After last night in Athens, his demeanor had shifted; he was no longer broody and pretending not to give a shit about me. Instead, he smiled back whenever he caught me looking at him.
Since it was daylight, the four of us stayed below deck together this time. While Tony and Lucy lounged in the cafe and bar, Jase and I remained in bed, doing very little talking—or sleeping.
When night fell, Jase kissed me, slipped out of the room, and headed to the deck to gaze at the water. After we parted ways, I bought a much-needed snack and joined Lucy and Tony on the other side of the deck.
Tony leaned back against the bench and turned to me. “I’m glad the bastard finally came clean,” he said quietly, trying not to speak too loud. “I’m sorry we didn’t tell you, but he said the ‘fated’ stuff needed to come from him.”
I smiled at Tony and shrugged my shoulders. “Naw, I get it. It’s still hard to make sense of everything, but I’m just fucking relieved you two don’t have to be weird about it anymore.”
“So, what does that mean for you and him?” Lucy asked, apprehension in her tone. “You’re just going to accept it?”
My eyes went soft. “I’m not dismissing every fucked up thing he’s done, including what he did to you. Right now, we’re learning about each other, and once this nightmare is over, we can go from there.” I pulled the Book of Shadows out of my tote bag and laid it on my lap. We’d shelve the relationship talk for the time being. We only had a few hours before we dock—
“Maybe you shouldn’t have that out in the open, angel,” Jase said while walking over, his voice carried by the wind and waves. I gripped the book between my fingers. The power within those pages was fucking wild, but the more I held it, the more it felt like it was a part of my essence. Maybe the parts I still wasn’t sure how to use. But it sure spoke to me.
“If this is going to work, we all need to keep a level head when we enter that cave,” I said, tapping my index finger on the cover. “All we know is what the Black Onyx told Andrei; those instructions were their agenda, not ours. It wouldn’t hurt to snoop around these pages before we get there. I mean, we are conjuring a spell in a dark, spooky cave tied to Heaven and Hell.”
Jase sauntered over to the bench. His lips pulled into a smile, but I saw the worry in those eyes. It was clear he wasn’t sure how we could pull this off either, but he was trying not to show it.
When he reached the bench, Tony stood, and Jase switched places with him, sitting beside me. Tony and Lucy headed below deck, leaving us alone. I slipped my hand into his and squeezed gently. Although it was a daring move, by then, I believed we had overcome the initial awkwardness and uncertainty about what we wanted. Did he still get under my skin? Sure. But I think the little matching symbols on our stomachs were telling us to let all that shit go and finally trust each other.
“All we have to do is destroy the obelisk so that Andrei and the witches can’t use it,” Jase said. “I think the three of us with superhuman strength are more than enough to smash some rocks.”
Right then, the boat lurched upward, and I pulled my hand free of his and grabbed my stomach. Nausea roiled in my gut, and my legs instantly turned to jelly.
“Why, of all the human traits to inherit from my dad, did I get seasickness?” I groaned.
I put my head in my hands and tried some breathing techniques to ease the nausea. The world was trying to throw me off with how tumultuous I felt. Suddenly, the soft touch of his arm wrapped around my hunched shoulders, and icy fingers brushed against my skin. The smell of his cologne filled my senses, and my stomach settled a little.
“When I was a boy, I’d get sick on my papá’s fishing boat all the time,” Jase said softly. “He wasn’t cruel about it, but I could sense his disappointment every time I threw up. Mamá would craft potions from her garden, trying to help. Most of the time, they worked. But there were still bad days.” He smiled. “I guess there are perks now to being a ruthless vampire who doesn’t get green in the gills, even temporarily.”
I looked up at him. While his smile was cocky, his eyes softened at the memory of his mother.
“She was a Fire witch, wasn’t she?” I asked. “Just like you and your brother?”
“Both my parents were, but she used magic to create potions for illnesses and to heal wounds. Unlike the raging wildfire my brother and I inherited from our father, it was a comforting hearth fire on a chilly night.”
“That’s why she had the garden,” I affirmed, straightening and shifting in his embrace. It felt good to be held by him. Jase nodded. “This sentimental side of you is new. You’re usually a cold, mean bastard.”
Jase turned his head slightly toward me and smirked. “Yeah, well, don’t get used to it.”
I laughed softly then, and confessed. “I kind of like it. You were lucky to have a mother like her. I can’t say the same. Obviously, I didn’t know much about Valentina before now, but over the last four months since she awakened, I’ve seen a mother I want nothing to do with, especially after she broke her promise and tried to get me to remove the ring. I hoped we would somehow become a family after we left the States.… Jase, even if she were to catch up with us and we were to start over, I don’t want to.”
“And you’re not obligated to,” he said. “Just because you share the same blood doesn’t mean Valentina is automatically your mother.”
I nodded. “I guess when you’ve destroyed countless lives, more than what you were even capable of …” Jase raised a brow. “It changes too much of you. Maybe I was being really fucking na?ve, but I hoped for her to be more like a mom. I hoped for something . But it’s ridiculous for me to hold on to that belief. Her selfish darkness will rule over her heart for eternity. As much as she loved Cyrus and me, ambitions ultimately win.”
Jase squeezed his arms around my shoulders, holding me tighter. “Maybe someday she’ll see you for more than this weapon she thought she’d create. If not, then she doesn’t deserve your love or respect.”
Jase’s expression was solemn before I asked. “What about you? Are you okay? Fiskardo opened a lot of wounds for you, especially seeing your old home turned into a memorial for your family.”
I felt his lips press into my hair, and he inhaled my scent.
God, I can’t believe I wanted to kill him just days ago.
Having someone who once caused me fear and now offered comfort was so strange.
“I mean, yeah, it was hard. Seeing the garden and the home we lived in where Andrei killed my parents. I wanted to burn it all down, but it would be a disservice to Mamá’s memory. She loved us dearly. Although, I’m not sure she would be happy to see her sons become such monsters.”
“You’re not that much of a monster. I wouldn’t be spreading my legs for you if I thought there was no hope of saving you from the demons that pull you to darkness.” He smiled at that remark and I gave him a playful wink. “If this fated bond is real, which I think we both know by now it is, I have to believe there is hope for us … hope for you .”
He raised a brow and reached up, tucking my hair behind my ear. “I guess if the heavens believe I’m worthy of someone like you, maybe you’re right.”
Smiling shyly, I tried to look away, but his fingers tightened around my chin, holding me in place. “I don’t feel bad for watching you all those years. I don’t regret a damn thing. But you should want to kill me for it.”
I nodded. “I did … but oddly enough, there’s a weird thrill behind it, too.” Jase bit his bottom lip at those words, and my stomach flipped.
When I looked back at the book, Jase scooted closer. “Okay, let’s read it,” he said.
Anxiety gripped my stomach. We still hadn’t looked through the pages yet.
Opening the Book of Shadows, I noted each page was thick and worn, some letters barely legible.
Jase reached over and began flipping through the pages until we stumbled upon a colored drawing that caught my breath. An angel with medium-brown skin, long, thick hair, and stunning gold wings stared back at us.
“‘This is the story of Ezrylos and Zahar,’” I read, my eyes straining slightly to read the text. Although the archaic script flowed through the pages, the text ran up and down, not left to right.
This could take me a minute.
“‘In the days of dark, when the realms were young, there lived an angel named Ezrylos, chosen by the heavens and tasked with guarding the gates that lead to the Underworld. He bore a sword of celestial fire, engraved with the runes to the sole weapon forged to vanquish the dark betrayer.’”
Jase leaned closer, his curiosity as piqued as mine.
I glanced at him briefly to meet his eyes before returning to the text.
“‘Yet his heart belonged with that of Zahar, a being of light whose love knew no bounds. The fates conspired against them, for the decree demanded one’s demise to seal the other within the cave.’”
I stopped reading as the realization hit me. God, that’s sad. His mate sacrificed himself so that his love could live.
“‘To seal Ezrylos in the cave, Zahar shed his sacred angel blood, which closed the gates and condemned him to eternal silence. That act was a last testament of love—a sacrifice of life. At the moment of his death, Zahar placed a key on his wings; it served as the last remnant of their bond and the power to unleash the ancient weapon.’”
I looked up. “Not the Fire key, right?”
Jase shook his head. “I don’t think so. It would still be inside the cave.”
My eyes dropped back to the pages as I flipped to the next one. The aged paper showed a sketched pentagram with a stone at its center, but the surrounding words were severely worn. “I think this might be the spell, but it’s hard to read.”
“The story is kind of romantic, you know? Tragic … but romantic,” Jase interjected, causing me to look back into his eyes. “To love someone so much, you’d sacrifice yourself so they could live. Love that powerful but at such a cost …”
I nodded slowly.
“It’s a reminder of the lengths we’ll go for those we love, even if it means losing ourselves,” he added.
I flipped through more pages, searching for anything else that could help.
“Let’s get some rest for this last stretch before we get there,” Jase said, shutting the book for me, but I gripped it at the spine and tucked it under my armpit.
“Alright.”
His cool fingers touched mine as he helped me stand and escorted me off the deck and downstairs to our cabin.
Before we entered our room, Jase’s hand grabbed the back of my neck, yanking me back toward him. He then spun me around, moving his hands around my upper arms. Once through the threshold, I tossed the book on my opened duffle bag before he slammed the door shut and pinned me against the wall, his lips crashing onto mine. We didn’t even bother to lock the door. Though the window to the cabin was slightly ajar, I could still hear the sea and the ferry engine echoing in the night air. I felt his arm tighten briefly before his hand gripped my jaw, moving my chin up so I could look into his intense eyes. Those eyes that once harbored so much anger and hatred were now filled with desire and need.
My breath was rapid as Jase’s cool breath skated over my face.
The silence between us spoke of everything we needed to know right before he kissed me. I welcomed the feeling with a soft moan before I opened my mouth to taste him.
Jase guided us back to the small twin-sized mattress, where he sat down and positioned me between his open thighs. He pulled my body closer and gently glided his hand from my back to my chest. My lips parted as he cupped my left breast and ran his thumb over my peaked nipple. I gasped against his mouth, arching my back at the intense sensation. That simple touch was enough to send a wave of shudders through my body.
My hands grabbed his jeans, and I quickly unbuttoned them, pulling his cock free. I gripped his length, relishing in the throbbing need there. Jase grunted at the sudden motion, his body tensing against mine. Without a word, I broke the kiss and quickly slid my pants down. With a swift motion, I straddled him, digging my fingers into the muscles of his shoulders. One of his hands drifted to my panties, pushing the thin lace of my underwear to the side.
“God, I’ll never get enough of you,” he groaned as I eased myself onto the tip of his cock. I was already throbbing around him, aching to have him inside me as I slid lower down his shaft. My legs shook, a small moan leaving my lips. Finally, I leaned down and kissed him again. “I need you. Fuck, I need you now.”
Jase grabbed my hips and, with a thrust, seated himself deep in my pussy. Hard and fast. Claiming every fucking inch of me. His free hand found the back of my head, forcing me into a kiss that stifled the scream burning in my throat.
The pleasure was mind-numbing. It felt so right, so perfect. It was like his cock was made to be inside me.
“Just like that,” he praised me, and the words swirled inside my head. “Look at you, so desperate to take my cock.”
I began to move my hips up and down, my wetness coating him and my inner thighs. Finally, his head pulled back from mine, tipping backward as pleasure flooded his face. The ferry rocking gave me extra momentum to take him even deeper.
“Four years, angel,” Jase said. “God, the images of you touching yourself. I pictured myself there every time, wishing it was me fucking you. I watched others touch what was mine, even if, in those moments, I didn’t know it yet. Now I get to have you just like this, with my cock buried inside you, claiming you as mine.” He bit his bottom lip. “All fucking mine.”
I bounced on his lap, my whole body begging me not to pull back. I felt his hands eagerly trail over my body again, as if he wanted to memorize every curve, every line. It was a heavy contrast to the way we fucked as I breathed heavily, struggling to stay silent. That had never been my forte.
My head fell back as Jase leaned to lick the column of my throat. His fangs scraped over my skin, leaving goosebumps in their wake. A part of me wanted his sharp teeth to tear through my flesh, to lace this pleasure with pain, but he refrained. Instead, his left hand focused on moving my hips against him. A pulsing wave hit me deep in my core as we moved together, threatening to explode at any point now that I could barely hold back, especially with the way he continued to breathe heavily against my throat.
“Rachel, I’m close. Ride me harder, angel. Fuck,” Jase panted. It was as if I was under his command—right away, my movements grew faster, harder, more needy. His thick cock stretched my walls to the point of delicious pain. I’d feel it once we finished and before my body would heal.
I knew it would be only a few thrusts away before we both reached our climax.
“Oh, God. Jase,” I cried out as an orgasm rippled through me, causing me to shake in his arms. A tremor ran through me, mixing with pleasure as I struggled to breathe. Jase grunted as his release chased after mine, filling me up. Deep purple mists spilled from my body as my pussy clenched on Jase’s cock, cloaking us in shadows.
Holy shit.
I opened my eyes and let out a sharp laugh when I saw the magic covering the sheets and walls around us, lighting up the space in purple hues.
I’ve never had it do that before.
Jase looked around with me and threw back his head, rich laughter echoing in the room. The sound was so carefree and… happy. I looked down at him and wrinkled my nose. “What’s so funny?”
“Just observing how shit is changing. You suck me off and I burn a small plant in my mother’s garden. When you ride my cock, your magic comes rushing out like that.” I gave him a little smack on his chest. “We probably should be careful before we destroy shit, angel.”
“You might be right,” I replied, and then met his eyes. “You know, I’ve never seen you laugh like that or genuinely smile, for that matter.”
Jase pressed his lips together, as if stubbornly trying not to show emotion again. Instead, he leaned forward and gently kissed me on my swollen lips. “I’ve never had a reason to until now.”