Chapter 6 #2
“Dante,” I warned. I wouldn’t have him stabbing the poor incubus to death, no matter his claims.
“I’m just doing what we came in here to do,” my Hunter said, glancing down at the crystal, which had gone quiet.
It released a soft vibration, seemingly happy as it drank in Asher’s pain.
“And I don’t think I care for this liar’s pretty words, trying to seduce you.
” He growled in Asher’s ear. “You want to taste that pretty pussy of hers? You think you can lie about being her Virtue and some made-up shit about her having a past life where you happened to be the star of the show?” He shoved the blade in farther.
Asher’s eyes flashed with metallic gold, revealing there was more to him than met the eye. I stared as he gripped the Hunter by the wrist, then forced him to withdraw the blade. Blood rushed out and spilled onto the floor. “I’m not lying. Don’t insult me.”
Reacting on instinct, I reached out to put pressure on Asher’s wound, but I realized a little too late that I’d used the wrong hand.
Dante grabbed my wrist, holding up the palm with the brand on it. “What the hell is this?”
I winced. “It appeared after Seth bound my soul. I think it links me to the crystal.”
Dante dropped my hand and put himself between me and Asher.
He stabbed a finger into the male’s chest while he gripped his bloodied dagger until his knuckles turned white.
“Is that why you volunteered to feed the crystal first? Are you making some sort of fake Virtue connection with her? Come on. Tell the truth, incubus—or whatever the fuck you are.”
I blinked at the scars along Dante’s back that had begun to bleed.
“Dante,” I warned.
Voices sounded on the other side of the door, asking if everything was all right. The doorknob jiggled, but of course, I’d asked Dante to seal it.
No one was getting in, or out.
Now I wasn’t so sure that had been a good idea.
Asher didn’t back down from Dante’s threats or accusations. “I’m her Virtue, Hunter. You don’t have to like it, but that’s the truth. She was a goddess a long time ago and I fell in love with her. I worshipped her, and when she died, I mourned her.”
The crystal sputtered as if there had been a rush of pain for it to feast on, but Dante wasn’t even touching Asher now.
“Dante,” I said, this time more urgently.
He glanced back over his shoulder and narrowed his gaze at the crystal.
“It’s feeding on his pain,” I said under my breath.
Everything Asher was telling us was the truth. He still mourned me.
Whereas I’d lost a life I couldn’t even remember.
Asher collapsed onto the edge of the bed and hung his head.
“I don’t let myself think about it. She’s still dead; she’s still gone.
” He glanced up. “You’re a new soul now, Lily.
One I’m still connected to.” He chewed his lip.
“When you… when you were gone, I never let my incubus feed again. I thought it had withered up and died. Derek hadn’t been very happy with me, but I’m almost as old as he is.
I don’t give a fuck what he thinks. I served under Ares for a while, acted as his liaison until…
Until I learned what Derek had done. He still wouldn’t let me anywhere near you, and you were basically a child, so I kept my distance.
I didn’t want to hurt you or confuse you.
You deserved to discover who you were without my influence.
” His eyes shifted with golden energy, the gray having vanished as an inner light seemed to take over.
It reminded me of Orion and how his inner magic behaved.
What is he?
“You’re only part incubus,” Dante concluded.
Asher nodded.
“Who was your father?” I asked. He had told me his mother had been a succubus, leaving it open-ended as to who his father might be.
“Ares,” he said, making the hairs on my arms stand on end. “And now that my uncle, Apollo, is dead, I think the universe is trying to fill in the gap… with me.”
I didn’t know much about the lore of male muses. Dante did, though, and I was glad when he spoke his thoughts aloud.
“I’m a Hunter. I know a creature when I see one,” he said with a growl. “And there’s something not right about you. Muses aren’t made; they’re born. Were you born this way, creature?”
Asher gave the Hunter a steady, knowing glare. “Yes. But I didn’t start showing powers of my other side until Apollo was killed.”
“Because Apollo’s death rocked the foundation of everything the Academy thought it knew about supernaturals,” Dante said, acknowledging Asher’s words with a nod.
He glanced at me, stretching the bleeding scar along his neck as he strained.
“Did you perhaps pay attention in Supernatural Studies, babe?”
I worked a swallow down my throat. “My professor attributed Calamity to be the reason Apollo was killed, but the other male muses were left alive.”
“And why is that?” Dante pressed, making me wince.
I hadn’t paid attention that well.
“Male muses are supposed to be brothers,” he supplied. “Fate chooses when it’s time to pass the torch. But”—he turned his haunting gaze back to Asher—“it seems that destiny didn’t want to wait around for that to happen when Calamity was still on the playing field.”
“What does that mean?” I asked, my eyes going wide as Asher looked at me. There was a deep pain in his eyes that glittered, making the crystal sputter again as it tried to drink up his pain.
“It means that destiny chose me as your final Virtue, love, because I’m the only one who knew you before Calamity was unleashed.
” He reached around Dante, ignoring the fact that the Hunter was wedged between us as he dug his fingers into my hip.
My body surged with electricity and fire at his touch, making my breath catch as he continued.
“I’m the only one who can awaken a part of you that is still asleep.
And I’m going to do that for you, even if it breaks my heart all over again. ”