Chapter 13 #2
"Neither are you." His gaze held mine, unflinching. "So stop acting like you are. After everything you've survived? Little witch, you're one of the strongest humans I've ever met."
His words settled over me like a blanket, warm and heavy and impossible to shake off. But my bladder had other ideas, and after a moment, I carefully extracted myself from beneath him.
"I need to, um—" I gestured toward the bathroom, heat creeping up my neck.
"Go." He glanced at the brightening sun peeking through the crack in the curtain, the golden light catching on the edge of his profile.
"I'm not going anywhere." He rolled onto his back, one arm casually tucked behind his head, completely unselfconscious in his nakedness.
The movement drew my eyes to the hypnotic play of muscle beneath his olive-toned skin.
The defined ridges of his abdomen, the strong curve of his shoulders, the trail of dark hair leading down from his navel to his sex, half hard against his hip.
My mouth went dry as I traced every inch of him with my gaze, memorizing the perfection that somehow, impossibly, wanted me.
I had to physically force myself to look away, tearing my eyes from the sight before I forgot why I'd gotten up in the first place and crawled right back into bed with him.
Into those arms that seemed made to hold me.
I grabbed my discarded tank top and pajama shorts from the floor, clutching them against my misshapen chest as I crossed the room and tugged the curtains closer together, then headed to the bathroom. Once inside, I leaned against the closed door and let out a shaky breath.
That just happened. All of that just happened.
I used the toilet, expecting more blood than there was, washed my hands, splashed cold water on my face and brushed my teeth.
In the mirror, I barely recognized the woman staring back at me.
My hair was a mess, my lips were swollen from Elias's kisses, and there were faint bruises on my neck from his mouth and hands.
He hadn't bitten me, though. And I wondered why.
I touched one of the marks, and the silver thread between us flared with possessive satisfaction.
His.
The thought should have terrified me. Instead, it sent a thrill down my spine that I didn't want to analyze. Instead, I just enjoyed it.
I pulled on my tank top and shorts, wincing slightly at the ache in my muscles. A good ache. The kind that reminded me exactly what Elias had done to me the night before. What I'd let him do. What I'd wanted him to do.
As I dressed, for the first time in years, I didn't immediately shrink away from my reflection in the mirror. Didn't feel the familiar surge of shame and inadequacy. Instead, I saw what Elias had claimed to see the night before. A woman who survived. Who fought. Who was still fighting.
Strong, he'd called me.
Maybe he was right.
I was reaching for the door when a thought stopped me cold.
Kenya and Alex. Killian and Lizzy. Brogan and Esme. Angel and Jamal. And now me and Elias.
Five mated pairs. Five witches and five vampires who, until a few months ago, barely tolerated each other's existence in the same city. Our covens had coexisted in New Orleans for decades with strict boundaries and stricter rules about fraternization.
And yet in the span of a few months, everything had changed.
Why?
The question lodged in my brain and wouldn't let go.
I gripped the edge of the sink, staring at my reflection without really seeing it as the pieces started shifting around in my mind.
The threads I'd been seeing, the ones that connected all of us.
They weren't random. Nothing about this was random.
Marcus had appeared. And suddenly, the lines our covens drew between vampire and witch began to dissolve.
"Shit," I whispered.
I yanked open the bathroom door. Elias was exactly where I'd left him, sprawled across my bed like he owned it, though he had pulled the sheet across his hips. He looked up when I entered, and whatever he saw on my face made him sit up immediately.
"What's wrong?"
"The mates." I crossed to the bed, my mind racing. "All of this fated mate shit. When did they start happening?"
His brow furrowed. "Killian and Lizzy were first. About four months ago?"
"Right after Kenya got cursed." I paced to the window, then back. "And that curse—it was one of Marcus's, wasn't it? The one Alex had to rip out of her."
"Yes." Elias watched me carefully now, his body tense.
"Then Alex and Kenya. Then Angel and Jamal. Brogan and Esme." I counted them off on my fingers. "And now us. Five mated pairs in a matter of a few months. Why is this just happening now?"
"You think it's connected to Marcus."
It wasn't a question. Of course it wasn't. Elias was too smart not to see where I was going with this.
"I think Marcus planned it." The words tasted like acid on my tongue. "I think he knew exactly what would happen when he cursed Kenya. When he came to New Orleans and started stirring up trouble. He knew it would create bonds between the covens. Force us to work together."
"But why would he want that?" Elias swung his legs over the side of the bed, reaching for his jeans. "Marcus wants to tear us apart, not bring us together."
"Does he?" I stopped pacing, turning to face him. "I don't know. I don't know what this means. Or what he's planning. But I feel like it's important."
Elias pulled on his jeans, his movements sharp and precise. "It makes us vulnerable," Elias said, his voice flat. "Because you can't think straight when your mate is in danger. You'll do anything to protect them. Even if it means walking into a trap."
"Even if it means giving Marcus exactly what he wants."
Silence settled between us, heavy and cold. I could feel Elias's mind working through the implications, same as mine. If we were right, if Marcus had orchestrated all of this, then every step we'd taken had been part of his plan. Every bond we'd formed, every alliance we'd made.
We'd been playing right into his hands.
The implications cascaded through my mind like dominoes. If Marcus could manipulate the mate bonds—if he could use them as weapons instead of weaknesses—then we were already lost. Alice and Dae were the last ones, and we'd all seen how they were looking at each other lately…
Unless.
"I have to go after Alex." I was surprised at how steady my voice was when I said the words aloud. "Tonight. It's the only way."
Elias went very still. "No."
"You know I'm right."
"I know you're not ready." He crossed to me in two strides, his hands gripping my shoulders. "Marcus is waiting for you, Talin. He wants you to come to him. You said it yourself. He smiled when he saw you watching through the threads."
"Maybe." I covered his hands with mine. "But if we don't try, he wins anyway. He'll drain Alex dry, and then he'll come for Alice, and we'll be too busy protecting our mates to stop him."
"There has to be another way."
"There isn't." The certainty settled in my bones, cold and final. "You know there isn't."