Chapter 9 – Rorik #2
“Wait.” Vara gasps. “Certainly, it’s not because of witches?”
I tap my finger to my temple. “See, I knew you’d figure it out.”
“That’s ridiculous," Millie says. “Witches aren’t, and have never been, green.”
“Maybe I just really like the Broadway show Wicked.”
“Or maybe you’re an idiot,” Vara mumbles.
“Okay, that’s enough,” Layla says. “Rorik, explain yourself.”
I huff and cross my arms, taking my time because once it’s out, I can’t take it back.
“I believe Aurora is my mate.”
Millie gasps. “Evangeline called it!”
“Aurora?” Vara asks.
“That’s my name,” Aurora says.
“You believe she’s your mate?” Layla asks me.
“Yes.”
“Wait,” Aurora says. “What do you mean? Like, your soulmate?”
“Yes.”
“It’s literally the best!” Teddy says.
“That still didn’t give you the right to kidnap her,” Thorne states.
“I know, but in my defense—”
“No, nothing you can say will make this right,” Layla growls. “One month! That’s how long we’ve been searching for you.”
Technically, a month and a week, but I refrain from saying that because it won’t do me any favors.
“And ahead of the reveal,” Vara adds.
My shoulders sag. “Then tell me my punishment.”
Layla opens her mouth, then snaps it shut.
I’m not like normal vampires because I can’t be punished like them.
Sentencing me to face the sun or be staked in the heart is useless since I can’t die.
Pulling out my fangs would be painful, but they’ll grow back within days, unlike other vampires, which take years for removed fangs to grow back.
Even draining me of blood would be a waste, as my body will quickly replenish it.
I. Am. Cursed.
“My mate?” Everyone’s heads turn at the squeak of Aurora’s small voice. “What does that mean?”
“It means your soul is bound to his,” Layla answers.
“Do I not get a choice?”
Her face twists in disgust, and I scoff.
Rude.
I’m an absolute catch.
Kidnapping aside.
“You do,” Vara says. “The fated mate connection won’t stick if your mind, body, and soul do not want it.”
“I don’t!” she says, a little too fast.
“Ouch.” I place my hand over my heart.
A flash of regret crosses her face before her scowl returns.
“Rorik, tell us why you think she’s your mate,” Millie says.
My eyes trail back to Aurora, and she leans in, clearly wanting to know as well.
“I told you that I can’t hear her thoughts, right? Well, I can’t glamour her either.”
“Oh!” Teddy says, snapping his fingers, his face lighting up. “That happened with me and Millie.”
“And I have an ache in my chest when we’re not near each other,” I add. Aurora presses her palm over her chest, frowning. Has she felt that ache as well? “And we’re… having shared dreams.”
“What do you mean by shared dreams?” Vara asks, and I narrow my eyes at her. She knows exactly what I mean.
“Sex… dreams,” I say with a sigh.
Aurora’s pale face burns a bright red, and she covers it with her palms.
I have the urge to go over there and pull those hands down. She’s too beautiful to hide that face from everyone. But since she despises me and my touch, I stay put.
“Sex dreams?” Teddy asks, eyes wide. “How can Millie and I have those?”
Millie pats his knee, biting her lip at the idea of having a shared sex dream with her mate.
“It doesn’t happen with all mates,” Thorne explains. “But it can be a sign that their souls are destined to be together. Since they’re not able to communicate through each other’s thoughts like we all can do, I’m assuming the bond does it through dreams.”
“Was it good? The sex in the dreams?” Teddy asks, staring at Aurora, whose face is still a deep red, but at least she’s not hiding anymore.
“Don’t answer that,” Millie says, punching Teddy in the leg.
Aurora’s eyes dart to mine before falling to her intertwined hands in her lap. She squeezes her legs together, and the scent of her arousal hits my nose.
A guttural growl emanates from my chest. A noise I haven’t made since… since Eden and Brynn.
“Overprotectiveness,” Thorne grumbles. “Another sign.”
“Okay,” Layla says, holding up a hand. “I need to think about this.”
She seems to have a silent conversation with her two mates. They nod and grunt responses, stealing glances of me and Aurora.
Finally, Layla sighs and turns her attention to my little lamb.
“What would you like us to do?”
“Um…” Her bottom lip trembles and tears well in her eyes. “I want to leave, but at the same time, I don’t. I can’t explain it.”
Layla nods, waiting for her to say more.
“But I also have nowhere to go. Most of my memories are still gone so if I have a home, I don’t know where it is. Things are coming back to me, but slowly and in fragments. Sometimes I’ll remember something in a… er… dream so…”
“You can stay with one of us,” Millie offers. “Teddy and I have several spare rooms for you to stay in.”
“Same for us,” Thorne says.
Aurora winces, her eyes finding mine again.
“Or you could stay here with Rorik,” Layla offers. “He will no longer keep you captive. You will be free to come and go as you please.”
“He could definitely please and make her come,” Teddy mumbles to Millie, and the two giggle like schoolgirls.
Layla throws them a scowl, and the two straighten in their seats and cover their mouths to stop the amusement.
“I’ll be a good little boy,” I say, smiling and batting my eyes. “I promise.”
Aurora shakes her head. “He kidnapped me. I’ve been trying to escape since he brought me here. I staked him twice—”
“Badass,” Teddy murmurs.
“—I’d be crazy to want to stay.”
I could offer my Upper East Side home or any other apartment in the city I own instead, but a part of me feels like this penthouse is just for us. It’s something we share, even if the past five weeks have been… unfavorable for her.
Aside from the sex dreams. She won’t admit it, but she very much loved those.
“I can have a gargoyle soldier stay here with you. They’ll be on guard at night,” Thorne says.
“And I can ask a shifter or another sun-bearing supe to be here during the day,” Vara adds.
“That’s no fun,” I pout. “Unless…”
“Keep your dick in your pants, Rorik,” Layla growls. “Besides, your punishment will keep you busy.”
I frown, crossing my arms as if that will guard me from whatever sentence she gives me.
“The gargoyles need help tracking down Ciara,” Layla says. “I assume you’ve been following your own leads while hiding from us, but now you need to share what you know.”
Okay. That’s fair. Not a punishment at all.
“And you will donate two million dollars to the Supernatural Liberties Fund.”
“Two million?” I scoff.
“And once the reveal happens, I will require you to teach an educational course on vampire history and safety concerns to humans three times a week at Five Boroughs College.”
“You want me to be around humans?”
My voice raises an octave higher, and I don’t miss the way Aurora smiles at my response to the queen’s nonsense.
“I think you’ve been isolated for far too long. You need to relearn some social skills. It’s well past time.”
Just because I spent a few centuries on my own, hiding in the shadows and speaking to literally no one, doesn’t mean I don’t know how to act around others.
I mean, yeah, sure, I kidnapped someone. But it’s not like I haven’t done that before and…
You know what?
She’s not wrong.
Layla sees the resolve on my face and stands. Her two mates follow.
“You will give Aurora spending money. She’ll need to buy clothes—”
“For what it’s worth, I’ve bought her plenty of clothes already—”
“Clothes she picks out herself and not ones from her captor. She gets to buy her own food and whatever else she’ll need or want while staying here until she remembers where she lives to get her belongings.”
“Of course,” I say, glancing at my mate.
She frowns, as if hating the idea of spending my money. I have plenty, so it’s not an issue.
Aurora stands to follow our intrusive guests into the kitchen. Layla takes my little lamb’s hands in hers. “I’ll have someone bring you a phone tonight. It will have my number stored, as well as my mates’, that way you can call us anytime.”
“Thank you,” she says, blowing out a shaken breath. “For everything.”
Layla nods, then focuses on Thorne. The two have a silent conversation, and once done, he pulls out his phone, firing off a text message.
“A gargoyle by the name of Peyton will be here tonight,” Thorne says to Aurora before turning to me. “She’ll need access to the penthouse.”
I nod and hand over my extra set of keys. The spell I cast on the door to keep Aurora in will be removed by morning. It only locks and unlocks by my touch anyway.
“Millie, Teddy, time to go,” Layla barks at the two childish vampires.
“Why were you two here anyway?” I ask.
Millie stands and shrugs. “We were driving back from having drinks with Layla, Vara, and Thorne a few blocks away when we got word that you and your… mate had emerged. We didn’t want to miss you getting busted.”
Fair. I would have done the same thing. Supernatural beings are nosy. They love to gossip. It’s because we live too long so we have to find something new to entertain ourselves.
Teddy stops in front of me before following Millie. He slaps me on the shoulder. “Congrats, my man. I know you’ve been through a lot. You deserve this.”
The truth is, I don’t deserve another chance at love at all.
I already loved a woman when I was human.
And I never believed I deserved my second and third chance at love with Brynn and Eden because of all the fucked-up shit I’d done after being cursed.
I believe this is just another punishment.
I will fall in love with Aurora, and she will be taken away just like my other mates.
Unless I can find her mother.
If I can end Ciara’s life, there’s a chance my curse will be broken.
Or there’s a chance Ciara could end my life.
Either way, if Aurora refuses to accept our bond, I don’t think I will be able to mentally survive another heartbreak.