Chapter 58 #2
Fear pierces through me, cutting deeper than any blade. I’m under the water in an instant, ready to drag her up – until I see them – trails of blue energy, coiled around her wrist, extending into the depths.
Leon. She’s finally found him, and she’s his Keeper.
Something stabs at my gut, but I ignore it.
Fated or not, that asshole is going to kill her if he keeps dragging her down.
Briefly, I consider ending his immortal life while he’s vulnerable. Then, I could keep her.
Fuck. No. Can’t kill her fated. She’s not mine.
Instead, I cut the threads, just in time for her friend to drag her to the surface.
She’s shivering on the beach, and I use some of my power to make her towel warmer. A rock lodges in my chest as I watch her giggle with her friends. This is one of the last moments they’ll have with her, before she’s torn away from us them.
Morgana needs to know about the Keeper bond. My instincts are screaming at me to stay and keep her safe. But that isn’t my job anymore – it’s his. The thought goes down with an acrid burn, and I apparate back to the Shadow Realm.
The mortal hasn’t freed Leon yet, so technically, she still isn’t safe. That’s the excuse I give myself when I’m back in her apartment less than a day later. I’ll have to erase all traces of my scent to ensure Leon never knows I was here.
Rage wells up inside me at the thought of him being inside her safe place. He’d better bring her fucking books to the Otherworld.
The mortal’s friends are here, and she’s managed to open a portal, allowing Need to make contact.
Clever girl.
When the others leave, the loud boy stays behind and finally makes his move.
I’m torn between amusement and molten anger as I watch him ask her out. Amusement, because my little mortal isn’t even remotely interested. But watching him try sends possessive fury surging through me.
Mine! Fucking mine! The words are snarled by a dark and dangerous voice inside me.
I wait until she’s reading in bed, then trail after the boy. I won’t hurt him. I just want to pay a visit to his nightmares. Then, I’ll double back and make sure my little mortal remembered to blow out her candles.
She’s so fucking cute when she’s trying to be sneaky.
I watch, shaking with laughter, as she tries to steal a surfboard. I’ve already disarmed the alarms for her, but she’s still struggling.
Her frustrated mutters might be one of my favorite sounds in the universe. It’s one of the only times she lets herself feel angry, rather than swallowing the emotion back down.
I avert my eyes as she starts to strip, but look back just in time to catch the sway of her ass as she wades into the water.
Fuuuuuck. My cock jumps to attention.
I could jump into the ocean to cool off. But then I’d be in the water with her, while she’s almost naked…
I grab my dagger and stab myself in the thigh.
It’s still not fucking enough.
She’s far into the water now, and the tides are rising. Her clothes are about to be drenched, and I pick them up to move them a little further up the beach.
Do not be a creep. You already know her scent. Don’t–
I should stab myself again.
She smells like honeysuckle blooming on a moonless night. Fucking sweet and dark, all at once.
I want to drown in her.
Drowning – fuck!
I turn just in time to see Leon apparate them onto the beach.
Something’s wrong. She’s not fucking breathing, and that idiot is pressing on her collarbones instead of her fucking lungs!
Fuck the rules. My power lights up inside her lungs, erasing the water and forcing her to cough up whatever was stuck in her throat.
White-hot rage sears through me as I watch him check her out instead of getting her warm.
Every time I’m around the mortal, the dark, violent urges inside my mind grow louder. Usually, I can ignore them, but right now, they sound very rational.
She’s huddled in a sweater now, and I spot Leon’s hard-on tenting against her pants.
Fuck it, I’m killing him.
She’s fucking mine.
But just as he apparates them away, I manage to grasp a final rational thought, and apparate to the Shadow Realm instead.
“Put. It. On.” I barely manage the words.
Morgana looks resigned as she fastens my collar.
The thing fucking itches.
She stares at me, and I avoid meeting her eyes. But it’s too late. She’s already seen it.
“You got attached.” She says it without judgment, watching me curiously.
I don’t bother responding. I know I’ve been acting strangely. I’ve fucked plenty of women over the centuries, but they’ve never been more than a physical release.
The mortal is different.
Another wave of possessive fury crashes through me, demanding I go back for her.
“You know, we always just assumed the prophecy meant Leon…” Morgana starts.
My eyes snap to hers. “Don’t,” I growl.
The Fates only give nice things to pretty, entitled pricks like Leon.
What could I even give her?
All I have are blood and death.
The dark voice inside me all but purrs, wondering if my little mortal might crave those things too.
Wrong. I was so fucking wrong. I never should have gone back for her.
My body refuses to move, frozen in place outside her classroom. Her scent creeps under the door, thick with arousal, branding itself into my fucking psyche.
Leon’s voice carries through the thin walls.
She’s aroused for him.
Bile rises in my throat. This can’t be happening.
But then I hear it – her soft moan, and the wet, squelching sound as he plunges inside of her.
Violence consumes me, and I reach for the door.
She’s a Council whore. It’s the only explanation that makes sense.
Yet even now, hours after I carried her into the castle, the warmth in my chest refuses to dissipate. It’s been there since she curled up in my arms like a kitten.
Because it’s where she fucking belongs.
No, fuck.
Spy.
Whore.
Not mine.
I’ve seen it too often, found too many strangers sneaking into my bed and trying to touch me. Every time, they’re pretty little things, desperate to elevate their status, and willing to do whatever the Council asks to make it happen.
The mortal is no different. The moment she learned who Leon was, she spread her legs and invited him inside her. She’s just another perfect little Council fuck-puppet.
But then why did she fight him? Why did she look relieved to be here? The dark voice inside me won’t shut up, knowing I don’t have answers.
I think back to the bruises that litter her skin, and shudder as I try to keep the fury at bay.
We always planned to work with Leon and the mortal to take down Need. It’s the most peaceful route.
But now…
Red light pulses over my skin, and I take another deep breath.
Fuck peace. Leon started the war the moment he laid a hand on her. Even if she’s a Council spy, I’m never giving her back.
Having her here is already driving me crazy. I’m itching to go back to her room. Finally having her eyes on me, even when they’re shining with promises of violence, stirs something in me.
But it wasn’t just anger in her gaze. I think my little mortal is attracted…
No – it’s just an act.
She’ll do whatever it takes to get close to my family, only to sell our secrets back to the Council.
Something uncomfortable twists in my gut. It’s been over an hour since I left her curled up on the floor and crying.
Surely, she’s okay now.
But what if she isn’t?
Sighing, I shove away from the dining table.
Her room is directly across from mine, in case she has any bright ideas about trying to hurt my family.
I ignore the way my chest relaxes, knowing that she’s close.
She ignores my knocking, and I’m about to leave, until I smell blood. I’m inside in an instant, spotting the open window and blood-stained mattress.
She wouldn’t…
I apparate outside, and my hands are shaking so badly that I’m barely able to pick up the tattered remains of her blankets.
She made a rope – a rope that didn’t hold.
SHE FUCKING FELL?
More panic floods me, the surge only slowing when I spot her, casually walking back to the castle with Rosie, like she didn’t almost die.
I’m torn between needing to hold her and wanting to shake some fucking sense into her.
I settle on intimidating her, instead.
Except my kitten is a fucking hellcat, and she isn’t having it. Anger radiates from her as she steps closer, glaring at me.
Her dark honeysuckle scent washes over me, and my brain immediately short-circuits. All I can picture are those eyes glaring at me while I fuck that smart mouth.
Fuck, I need to get away from her, or this is going to end very badly.
Morgana is staying away. She’s still livid that the mortal hurt me and isn’t sure she can play nice.
I haven’t seen her since the night she sent the Forsaken after my mortal.
The moment I found out, I demanded she remove my collar. If they had hurt a hair on my mortal’s head…
I shudder.
I should be keeping my distance, too. Except I keep picturing her falling out of her fucking window again, and I’m two minutes from having a Fates-damned nervous breakdown.
So here I am, only hours after leaving, invisible in my own fucking home, trailing after her like a lovesick puppy.
At least this way, I’m less tempted to touch her.
The lie doesn’t sound nearly as convincing as I need it to be.
My resolve to stay away almost shatters when she enters my room. I don’t follow her inside, knowing that if I do, I might not be able to let her leave.
A perverse sense of satisfaction washes over me as I watch her slip away with my blanket. She’ll be wrapped up in my scent all night, exactly the way she should be.
I’ve been hanging on by a fucking thread, trying to keep my distance.
But then Damien touched her.
I know they were training, but she didn’t see the way his fucking cock twitched when she broke out of his hold and looked up at him from between his legs.
My hand clasps around her neck. I’m just going to warn her away and then go back to keeping my distance.
But then I see it, the way her skin flushes and her eyes heat, even as she furiously tries to stop reacting to my touch.