Chapter 18 #2
“From where I’m standing, you’re the one who started this conversation, Kara. Is something going on between you and Marcus? Do you think it’s…” She pinches her lips together, glancing at Rowan. “Are you experiencing symptoms?”
“Symptoms,” I spit out. “Appropriate word.” Because that’s what this feels like. A disease. One that makes me giddy and disoriented. One that makes me hot all over and gives me shivers…when he’s around.
One I didn’t ask for.
“Signs, then,” Mia corrects. “Have you noticed any signs that might show you’re a match for Marcus?”
I think about the way he’s been in my head. How I can feel his thoughts. Even now, I could be reading his mind if I wasn’t trying desperately to block him out.
“Kara?” Rowan presses. “Have you felt something? A connection?” They’re both watching me intently.
“I…” I rub my eyes. “It’s not real. Some kind of glitch. It’s not the same as what’s happened to you.”
Mia’s eyes are huge. “You can read his thoughts, can’t you.”
I shake my head wildly.
“You can!” Rowan claps her hands together. “You’re mind-bonded!”
“It’s different.” I refuse to concede. “With all that’s been going on lately, the magic…the energies are off kilter.”
Mia touches my arm. “Believe that if you want. But if you’re a blood match—”
“He hasn’t drunk my blood,” I say abruptly.
They share another look. I hate how they keep doing that. Like they know something I don’t. Which I guess they do.
“He doesn’t have to,” says Rowan. “Although, once he does, you’ll be hooked. Bonded till death.”
“That’s exactly what I’m worried about!” My voice rises sharply.
“Oh, so something has happened.” Mia looks smug.
“I knew it.” Rowan grins.
I pull away from them and stalk across the deck, finding a lounger and slumping into it.
“So maybe something happened, but that’s not the point. It meant nothing. A mistake in a moment of weakness, and I’ll probably regret it forever because—”
Footsteps interrupt me.
I snap my mouth shut as Marcus, Darick, and Soren approach. Marcus’s eyes lock with mine, and my stomach does a traitorous flip. Of course he heard what I just said. Vampire hearing. And our…connection.
I lock the mental walls back into place and force myself to look away, but my body betrays me. Heat crawls up my neck as memories of the bathroom flood back – steam on skin, his hands in my hair, that first explosive kiss. The way his fangs grazed my neck…
Stop it! This is exactly what you were just ranting about.
“Ladies,” Darick says smoothly, moving to Rowan’s side. “Beautiful night for a moonlit stroll.”
The irony of his comment doesn’t escape me. It’s not a beautiful night for anything aside from saving our people.
Soren wraps an arm around Mia, who melts into him like they weren’t mortal enemies a few months ago. It makes my skin itch, this easy acceptance of what we’re becoming. What I’m fighting so hard against.
I feel Marcus’s presence like a physical weight, though he hasn’t moved closer. His thoughts brush against mine – concern, hurt, confusion. I focus harder on keeping him out, refusing to let him in.
“We should go inside,” I announce, standing abruptly. “It’s getting cold.”
It’s not. The night is perfectly warm, and everyone knows it. But I need to escape before I do something stupid like apologize. Or worse, kiss him again.
“Kara.” Marcus’s voice is low, meant just for me.
I shake my head, keeping my eyes fixed on the deck. “Don’t.”
The surge of emotion I feel from him – frustration tinged with something deeper, something that makes my chest ache – nearly breaks my resolve. But I can’t let this happen. I won’t become dependent on a vampire, no matter how good it feels when he’s near.
Even if my magic sings at his proximity. Even if my body remembers every touch like it was branded into my skin.
Even if my heart—
No.
I straighten my spine and walk past him, ignoring the electricity that sparks between us when our shoulders brush.
The deck falls silent as Darick’s phone rings. He glances at the screen, then at Rowan before answering.
“Lake?” His voice is tense. I watch his expression darken as he listens, his jaw tightening. “When?” Another pause. “Understood. We’ll handle it.”
My stomach drops at his tone. Whatever Dad’s telling him, it’s not good.
“What is it?” Rowan asks as he ends the call.
Darick’s eyes sweep over all of us, landing finally on Marcus. “Lucien’s just held his first Blood Assembly as Grand Elder.”
“That was fast,” Marcus mutters, stepping closer to me despite my earlier rejection. I hate that his presence steadies my nerves.
“He’s wasting no time consolidating power,” Darick continues. “He’s already imposed new vampire laws.” His gaze shifts to me, then my sisters. “Including officially sanctioning the hunting of witches.”
“What?” The word bursts from me. “He can’t do that!”
It’s not unexpected.
“He can now,” Soren says grimly. “As Grand Elder, his word is law among vampires.”
“How many will actually follow him?” Mia asks, her hand clutching Soren’s.
“Too many,” Marcus answers. “Some out of fear, others because they’ve wanted this for centuries. The old guard especially – they’ve never accepted peace with witches.”
I feel sick. This is exactly what I’ve been afraid of – vampires showing their true colors. But when I look at Marcus, the anguish in his eyes makes me doubt my own certainty.
“Lake says Lucien’s already dispatched hunting parties,” Darick adds. “They’re targeting known witch locations first.”
My heart pounds. Our home. Our business. All our sacred places. “We have to do something!”
“The covens are already moving to safe locations,” Darick assures us. “Your father’s coordinating with Morgan and the others. But the priority is to get the High Priestess and Evelyn away from wherever he’s holding them.”
I nod slowly, trying to convince myself that things are going to work out. It’s hard to stay focused, though. Because all I can think about is Gran, trapped somewhere with that monster who’s now officially declared war on our kind.