Chapter 24
Twenty-Four
ANSEL
Aknot forms in my throat as I watch Izzy reunite with Grayson and Ethan. Her…boyfriends.
Her laughter drifts towards me, light and full of warmth—the sound that’s haunted me for months now. It’s a strange kind of torture, watching her like this, with them, and knowing I can never join in.
Grayson, the vampire, stands a little too close to her, his eyes flashing with something ancient and unspoken. He’s got a predatory edge to him that would make anyone instinctively take a step back.
Ethan, on the other hand, is warm and grounded, the kind of presence that fills the space without even trying. His energy hums with rawness—a reckless type of savagery—that I can almost taste from here.
And Izzy… She’s the center of it all. The center of them all. It’s like watching a star surrounded by its planets, and for a moment, I can’t look away.
I’ve always felt like a third wheel—errr, fifth wheel?
Sixth wheel?—when I’m with her and the others.
I know she cares about me, can feel it in the small touches she gives me and the way her smile lights up when I’m in the room.
But I can’t shake the feeling that it’s not the same.
I’m not sure if it’s because she doesn’t see me that way, or if I’m too afraid to let myself believe it.
I’ve seen the way her face lit up when she was talking about Grayson, the twins, Reid, and even Mr. Montgomery. She told me all about them during the time we’ve been here, and though she hasn’t said the dreaded M-word, I know that’s who they are to her.
Her…mates.
Her fucking mates.
How can I compete with that?
Grayson catches my eye for a brief second, but I quickly look away, my stomach tight.
I’ve never met the vampire before—have only been told about him—but I wonder if he knows the truth.
If he can see it written all across my face.
There’s certainly no way Ethan missed the longing glances I cast her way at school when I thought she wasn’t looking.
I’m fucking pathetic.
I take a single step away, but I don’t leave. I can’t. Not when Izzy’s here, so close, so real. Not when every part of me is screaming at me to remain beside her, now and forever.
The ache inside of me grows stronger. I want to be with her so badly, it’s like a physical pain. I need to be with her.
But what if I tell her and she doesn’t feel the same way? Am I willing to risk our friendship? Sometimes, I think she wants more too, but I could be misreading the situation.
I turn and begin to walk down the hallway, back in the direction we came from.
“Are you leaving?” Soraya asks, a frown twisting her lips.
I glance back towards Izzy, Ethan, and Grayson. She hasn’t even noticed I moved yet.
The sword in my chest twists.
“I don’t think I’m needed here,” I say stiffly.
Soraya’s expression fills with sympathy, but she doesn’t say anything else. There’s nothing left to say.
Without a word, I hurry down the hallway. I don’t know where I’m going, but anywhere is better than there.
Watching the woman I love wrapped in the arms of two other men…
Knowing that it’ll never be me…
I don’t know how much more of it I can take.
Soraya, surprisingly, catches up to me before I reach the cafeteria. I didn’t have a destination in mind until my feet led me to the cavernous room. But now that I’m here, I realize there’s nothing more appealing than eating my feelings away.
“You ran out of there like your ass was on fire,” Soraya says when she reaches me, laughter dancing in her eyes.
“Yeah, well…” I shrug awkwardly and move towards a table.
The cafeteria is practically empty, and I realize it’s because classes have resumed. Good. The fewer people around me, the better.
“You know, I’ve read this story time and time again. Guy in love with girl. Girl in love with guy. Both of them unaware that the other pines for them.” Soraya moves to sit across from me, folding her hands together on the table. “Sound familiar?”
Heat enters my cheeks instantly. “Izzy isn’t in love with me.”
Though I wish she were.
I wish for it so desperately that I’m sometimes terrified of what I’d do to make it happen, what I’d be willing to give up. I want nothing more than to be the one she smiles at. Hugs. Kisses. Confides in.
“Have you learned about mates yet?” Soraya cocks her head to the side, a strand of red hair catching in the candlelight like molten garnet.
“I know that shifters and vampires have mates.” I stare intently at my hand on the table. It’s better than meeting Soraya’s penetrating, all-knowing stare. “And I think Grayson and Ethan are hers.”
As well as Emery, Reid, Mr. Montgomery, and even that fucking asshole Ashton, who definitely does not deserve her.
“The supernatural community believes that every person has a soulmate out there, and that you’re not whole until you find yours.” Soraya pauses, allowing her words to sink in, before adding, “Warlocks and witches also have a soulmate. We call them a Blood Companion.”
I glance up at her. “A Blood Companion? I’ve never heard of that before.”
“You wouldn’t have,” Soraya confesses. “Blood Companions are rare, and finding yours can be immensely dangerous.”
“Dangerous?”
“We believe that a Blood Companion holds the other half of a person’s magic,” Soraya explains, and her sullen tone causes a shiver to ripple down my spine.
“Isn’t that a good thing?”
Soraya licks her lips. “It would be…if the majority of witches and warlocks didn’t kill their Blood Companion as soon as they meet.”
I stare at her in shock, certain I heard her wrong. “I don’t understand.”
“A lot of witches and warlocks believe that by killing their Blood Companion, they'll be able to reclaim the other half of their magic and be all-powerful.”
A viscous sensation swamps my stomach. How could someone do that to their soulmate? To the person they’re supposed to love and protect?
“Discovering someone is your Blood Companion isn’t as easy as it is for a shifter or a vampire.
You can’t just inherently tell by looking at someone,” Soraya says, her eyes searching mine.
“Usually, it’s a…feeling. Like, a need to constantly be around this person.
To see him or her smile. To hear his or her laugh.
Before soul magic was banned, those who possessed it could tell just by looking at their auras.
They would be…blended together, so to speak, until it’s impossible to differentiate one from the other. ”
She seems to be telling me something, but I don’t want to get my hopes up.
Is she suggesting…?
No, she can’t be, can she?
My heart pounds even faster in my chest.
“The way to tell for sure is by manifesting the bond—or at least, attempting to.” Soraya levels me with an indecipherable stare.
“H-how do you do that?”
I can’t breathe past the tightening in my throat. Can’t think. All I can hear is the sluicing of blood between my ears and a high-pitched, keening noise, like the whistle of a train.
Soraya’s lips twitch. “It’s simple, actually. You just…kiss.”
“Kiss?”
“Kiss,” she confirms with a nod. “That would reveal if there’s a bond or not. Then you can partake in an official ceremony to complete it.”
Kiss.
I just need to kiss Izzy.
“W-why are you helping me? Helping us?” I ask Soraya.
She gave Izzy that book. Told me about Blood Companions. Allowed Izzy to meet with Grayson and Ethan.
What’s in it for her?
Soraya reaches across the table and places her hand over mine. I instantly go still as a horrible thought occurs to me.
What if she brought up Blood Companions because she thought that I was hers? Soraya’s beautiful, of course, but I’m not attracted to her at all. I’m not attracted to anyone but Izzy, and I can’t see that ever changing.
“Would you believe me if I said I’m doing it for you?” Soraya asks, frowning.
My heart sinks, and I withdraw my hand from underneath hers. “I’m sorry if I gave you the wrong impression, Soraya, but I’m in love with Izzy.”
It’s the first time I’ve said those words out loud, and the rightness of that statement settles deep in the marrow of my bones.
I’m in love with Izzy.
I’m in love with Izzy.
I’m in fucking love with Izzy.
Soraya stares at me in confusion…and then horror. She pulls her hand back immediately and gawks at me.
“Oh no. Nooo.” She begins to shake her head adamantly. “You definitely misunderstand me.” A shudder works its way through her. “No offense, but yuck.”
“Ummm…none taken?”
Soraya’s eyes soften, and she reaches for me once more. “There’s actually something I’ve been meaning to talk to you about—”
“Soraya!”
The raspy voice has Soraya jerking upright in her chair. She turns towards the doorway of the cafeteria, where the Crone stands, leaning heavily on a cane.
The haggard old bat turns a piercing glare onto me, and she curls her lip in a snarl. “We have a meeting, or did you forget?”
“Of course not, Crone,” Soraya says formally, moving to her feet. She smooths a hand down her sweater, straightening out imaginary wrinkles. “I’ll be right there.”
She slides her gaze in my direction, her expression once again impassive, before lifting her chin in the air and moving in the direction of the Crone.
I watch her go, an indefinable feeling arrowing through my chest.
What had she been about to tell me?
And what does it have to do with Izzy and why she’s been helping us?
But all thoughts of Soraya quickly dissipate as I replay our conversation over and over again.
Kiss Izzy.
All I have to do is kiss Izzy, and I’ll know for sure whether or not she’s…mine. I’m already hers, after all.
Even if she doesn’t know it yet.