by Tessa Bailey
“Oh, Ginny. Love, no tears. Please, please.” He kissed her mouth hard, followed by her cheeks, forehead and nose. Rough touches of his mouth that made her cry all the harder for some reason. “You just made my heart start beating again, baby, now you’re tearing it out.”
“H-h-how did I get there? I just…and then…I thought I was going to—”
He stopped her with another rough kiss, his unsteady hands stroking her wet hair. “I woke up with silver across my chest and you were halfway out the window. Fucking gone and I couldn’t move. I couldn’t move.”
“How did you get it off?”
“I don’t know. I didn’t know it was possible, but you were moving out of my reach and I just…I broke out. It had no hold over me.”
Involuntarily, her hand touched his chest, as if to strip away the metal after the fact. She found a deep trench of red, angry branded skin, instead. “Jonas. Why isn’t it healing faster?”
“You worry over a flesh wound when you just fell of a bridge?” he gritted out, squeezing her shoulders. “Jesus Christ, I have to get you out of here. I have to get you somewhere safe.”
Ginny was too drained to protest when Jonas tossed her onto his back and started swimming. Her head lolled on his shoulder and she watched the water fly past at a rapid pace.
“Talk to me, love,” he whispered morosely. “I keep seeing you fall.”
Talk? She could barely keep her eyes open. Apparently her brain was handling the stress of falling to her death by calling it a day. “I dreamed of you,” she murmured, dazed. “I was dreaming of you this whole time.”
“Dreaming of me?”
She hummed, rubbing her face on his wet shoulder. “Outside the fair. You were waiting for me underneath the tree in your hat and suspenders.” Absently, she noticed Jonas’s back muscles bunching, the rhythm of his strokes faltering. “I tried to come to you, but the person in the red hood ruined everything.”
“Ginny,” he rasped, lifting her out of the water onto a dock and climbing out beside her. She started to lie down on the wooden planks, but he caught her in his arms, lifting her to his chest. “Stay awake.” He shook her lightly. “Finish the rest.”
“You told me to go back, but I didn’t listen. I needed you.” She tucked her head under his chin and let the drowsiness close in. “We needed each other.”
The last thing she remembered before sleep claimed her was Jonas staring down at her in shock. And oddly…recognition.
CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Ginny woke up on soft, heavenly bed sheets to a trio of angry male voices.
She cracked an eyelid open, expecting to find Jonas, Tucker and Elias in the same room with her, but she was greeted by nothing but darkness. Cautiously, she walked her fingers across a fluffy pillow and found something hard. A side table? She scooted over a few more inches, levered up and switched on a lamp, finding herself somewhere unfamiliar.
A hotel room?
Memories forged through her foggy mind. Her entire body jerked when her fall from the Verrazano returned to her in full force, putting her back in the center of her freefall. She heaved a breath and sucked in more oxygen, ironically wishing she had some water.
Jonas burst into the room through an adjoining door wearing nothing but black sweatpants. His hair was still wet, which meant he’d either taken a shower or it was still damp from their impromptu swim. She hoped it was the latter because it would mean she hadn’t been out long.
“You’re awake,” Jonas sat down on the side of the bed, his weight on the mattress causing her to roll toward him. Automatically, his finger threaded into her hair, his thumb massaging circles into her temple. “How are you feeling?”
She laid her head on his thigh. “I’m fine.”
He watched her in silence, brows knit together.
“I’m glad the wound on your chest is fading. I didn’t like thinking of how much it must have hurt.”
“Hmmm.”
Was it her imagination or was he acting odd? “What’s wrong?”
“Nothing,” he said quietly. “Everything.”
“Oh is that all?”
Not a hint of a smile from Jonas.
“What were you arguing about?”
“Now, we weren’t arguing,” Tucker said, clomping into the room with a pinched grin on his face. “Your mommies and daddy were just having a discussion.”
Ginny sat up all the way with her back against the headboard, realizing too late she was wearing an unbelted white hotel robe. Thankfully, Jonas yanked the sides shut and secured the belt around her waist before she could flash Tucker. She glanced at the adjoining door, waiting for Elias to join them in the room, but the entrance remained empty. “How long was I asleep?”
“Two hours,” Jonas answered. “We’re at a Hilton in Staten Island. It was the closest place I could find.”
Tucker cracked a laugh. “Listen to the disgust in his voice over the three-star rating.”
Jonas was still staring at her strangely. “It’ll do for the night, but you should always expect better.”
“What’s going on with you?” she whispered, reaching up to scratch his chin. “You’re looking at me like I grew a unicorn horn.” Her eyes widened in mock concern. “Oh my God. Did I?”
“No.” His smile was lopsided, eyes intense. “You’re as perfect as ever.”
She must have left her shame floating in New York Harbor, because even with Tucker in the room, her nipples turned to sensitive peaks inside her robe and she contemplated pulling Jonas down on top of her in the bed. Just to remind herself of the delicious press of his weight. Oh wow. How she missed his weight.
“My God. That racing pulse of yours…” His gaze fell to her mouth and sparked. “Stay calm for me, love.” Ginny reined in her galloping libido with two hands. Or tried to, anyway. Jonas ruined her progress by leaning down and speaking right on top of her ear. “Do you remember what you told me before you fell asleep?”
Ginny clawed through her memory, but couldn’t remember a thing after climbing onto Jonas’s back in the water. “No.”
“Mmmm.”
“What does mmmm mean?”
“Elias,” Tucker called to the other room. “They’re ignoring me.”
Cheeks heating, Ginny shied back from Jonas. “Sorry.” It was hard to concentrate when Jonas refused to stop regarding her like some kind of riddle he was attempting to decipher. “Um. What are we arguing about?”
“You’re not arguing about anything,” Jonas stressed. “You’re resting.”
Elias strode into the room, hoodie up, once again shielding his face from view. “She has the right to know you’re leaving,” he said, voice casual.
Jonas closed his eyes. “Fuck you, Elias.”
“I’ve heard that plenty.” The room’s newcomer sprawled out on a couch in an unlit corner of the room. “Doesn’t change the facts.”
Ginny felt as though she were standing back up on the ledge of the Verrazano. Winded, unbalanced and preparing to tumble end over end. “What does he mean you’re leaving?” Her mouth was dry as dust. “Where are you going?”
“I was going to tell you once you’d slept a while more.” A line flexed in his cheek. “I’m going to approach the High Order. About you. About us.”
Her blood chilled. “No. Why?”
Silence ticked by. “How long have you been having the dreams, Ginny?”
It came back to her then. Clinging to Jonas’s back while he sliced through the water and telling him about the man under the tree. Him. “Since I met you.”
“Met me.” His laughter was flat. “You’ve known me a lot longer than you think.” There was so much weight in his eyes as he studied her, she could only exist in their line of fire. “Or maybe not. We didn’t speak the first time. Not really.”
“What are you talking about, prince?” Tucker asked slowly.
“That’s what I’d like to know,” Elias added.
His voice scratched when he spoke. “My m
ate. She vanished without a trace and I could never find her again. I saw her the first time outside a school dance. She was only eighteen—and human. I stayed away. I tried to stay away, just watching over her, until the night at the fair.”
Ginny’s heart rapped against her eardrums. She could taste the roasted nuts in the air, smell the spun sugar, hear the tinkling notes of the rides. Most of all, she could sense Jonas beneath the tree. The atmospheric click of being right where she was supposed to be, with him, the hand of fate sweeping her closer.
“I swear she knew me,” Jonas rasped now. “I swear…you knew me.”
“I did. I’d been waiting.”
Emotion swarmed his face. “I didn’t have two mates. I simply found you again.” His voice shook as he caressed her cheek. “Where did you go?”
Icy wind from the past cooled her skin. “Off a cliff,” she whispered, numbly.
Heavy moments passed while they stared at one another.
Slowly, Jonas rose from the bed, fists pressed to his temples. He walked in one direction, switched and stopped, doubling over and letting out a deafening roar. Ginny rushed to cover her ears with both hands, ducking toward the comforter as sparks flew from every light source and outlet in the hotel room, singeing the carpet with little hisses.
“Is it my sire who does this?” He pulled at his hair. “Would my sire try and take you from me twice?”
“Of course he would,” muttered Elias. “He’s a ruthless bastard,”
“I don’t understand,” Ginny said, transferring a look between the men.
Jonas paused, staring into space. “He’s the common denominator. When I found you the first time, I was freshly Silenced. No one else knew about me. I’d assumed no responsibilities yet under his command, so no one would have struck out at me to spite him. And it’s the same pattern. Putting you in danger with just enough room to fail on your own.” He raked a hand down his face. “A cliff. A bridge. My God, he’s behind this, isn’t he?”
“He’s sure as shit powerful enough,” Tucker said.
Ginny blinked. “He wants me dead so you won’t break the rules and have a relationship with a human?”
“He controls everyone around him, like puppets on strings. Finding my mate would bring my devotion elsewhere.” Jonas cursed. “But why come after you again now when I’ve made it clear I’ll have nothing to do with him, anyway? And how did he find you the second time before we’d even met?”
“You can’t just march in there and demand answers to your questions,” she said, her voice thick. “Right? It’s too dangerous.”
Please don’t go.
As if she’d spoken out loud, his eyes plead for her understanding. “He wants the oath of fealty I refused to give to him. Giving this oath would mean I could never challenge his seat, something only I can do. I’m going to offer the oath now in exchange for leniency. And above all, your safety.”
Ginny reached for her closing throat. “What if he says no?”
“I can’t live forever in fear of you being taken from me. If he seeks to get me back in line by hurting you, I can’t ignore the problem. I have to face this head on. Please understand.”
“He could put you to death for breaking the rules,” she said brokenly, standing and pulling him close by the front of his shirt. “Don’t. Please don’t.”
“Ginny…” he said miserably against her forehead.
A realization occurred and she clung to it like a life preserver. “How are you going to survive? If you go, you have to take me with you.”
“Never.” Never was a firmer word spoken. His glittering eyes accompanied it in a plume of green sparks. “You will stay here with Elias and Tucker. I will do everything in my power to come back to you.” He paused, looking away. “And if I can’t, your life will be much safer. Trust me on that, love.”
“So much for compromise,” she gasped, fleeing to the bathroom and locking the door behind her. Nothing was within her control.
Nothing.
After experiencing the sensation of free falling that night, she desperately needed the opposite. Firm ground. A clear plan. Waiting and hoping things worked out might be the way she’d operated in the past, but not now. This was her future on the line and she didn’t want to wait and be guided down a predetermined path by the hand of fate, she wanted to carve the damn path herself. The fragile human had to remain behind and…
Fragile human.
She’d just sat down on the lip of the bathtub when someone rapped on the bathroom door three times. Her mind was still spinning with possibilities—was she really considering this?—so she ignored the knocking and continued to think.
The metal doorknob lock popped open and Jonas took a brisk step inside, closing the door behind him. “I can’t leave with you angry at me.”
She swiped a tear away before it could fall. “Maybe I’ll stay angry forever so you have to stay.”
“Ah, Ginny. Don’t break my heart.”
“Don’t break mine,” she whispered. “I’m in love with you. And you could go tonight and never come back. Because of me.”
Clearly ignoring every word out of her mouth, he came toward her as she spoke and knelt at her feet, gathering her resistant body and drawing her close, despite her protests. “Don’t you dare tell me you love me and push me away.”
“You can’t compromise only when it’s convenient, Jonas.” She twisted in his arms and he purposely lost balance. Ginny ending up on the floor in his lap, his arms around her like steel bands. “That’s not how it works.”
“I’m in love with you, too,” he said gruffly into her hair. “And now I know why it overwhelms me at every turn, this love I have for you. It’s been fucking doubled. I’ve been struck down twice by the same beautiful soul.”
“Is it my soul you love most?”
He took her chin, lifting it so they made eye contact. “It’s all of you,” he answered, almost angrily. “Your soul, your heart, your body. I said everything.”
“Will those things change if I become like you?”
Jonas reared back like he’d been struck. “What did you say?”
She said nothing for a moment, simply letting him see she was serious. It took an effort to struggle free of his arms, but she managed it and gained her feet. “My lifetime is going to pass in the blink of an eye for you. And every single second of it, we’ll be worrying about it being cut short too soon.”
“Ginny, stop this,” he breathed, standing. “Turn around and look at the mirror.”
With a heavy swallow, she glanced back over her shoulder, finding herself alone in the bathroom, even though she knew she wasn’t. Could never mistake being alone with standing beside the magnetic life force that was Jonas. “If your argument is I won’t be able to look at myself in the mirror, you’re going to have to do better.”
He seized her shoulders. “I will worship you no matter what form you’re in, but you could hate yourself like I did. I won’t be responsible for extinguishing your humanity. For making you dependent on blood. I won’t.”
“You will. Because I won’t live without you. And changing me will protect you against the High Order. Don’t leave me behind with the knowledge that I’m the reason you were put to death.”
“If the choice is between me dying and you dying, there is no choice.”
“You think I’ll be better off, don’t you?” Ginny said slowly. “You’re still chained in that room, sentencing yourself to death so I won’t have to spend my life keeping you alive.” His flexing jaw told her she was at least partially correct. “Dammit, Jonas. I made that decision myself and you’re not respecting it. You’re not respecting me.”
Appearing agonized, he turned Ginny and pressed her against the door, planting a fist hard above her head. “I revere you,” he said, mouth against her ear. “But I will not do it. Not when there’s a chance I could save us with my vow of fealty and leave you human.”
His firmness told Ginny she’d been defeated. And th
at defeat allowed the imminent fear of losing him to penetrate. It shook the ground beneath her feet and made her ache. If this was the last time she saw Jonas, she wouldn’t waste a single second. Lifting her chin a notch, she reached between them and untied her robe, shifting her shoulders until it fell from her body and pooled on the ground. “If that’s your decision, then make love to me like it’s the last time. It might be.”
Jonas stiffened against her, his hands dropping to her hips, hesitating before cradling them. “Is it your intention to shatter me?”
“No, it’s my intention to make us feel whole,” she managed, her bones already liquefying from one simple touch. “Give me something to remember you by.”
“Ginny.”
Before he could say more, she pulled his face toward hers for a kiss. His lips were stiff at first, but she made an entreating sound in her throat and he shuddered in response, flattening her body between him and the door, his mouth slanting over hers with a jagged groan. His surrender paired with Ginny’s desperation was a match being thrown on a powder keg. They exploded into movement, his fingers twisting in the sides of her panties, yanking and shoving them down. They slipped down her ankles and she kicked them off, never breaking the kiss.
She couldn’t.
He was consuming, and he consumed. Stealing her breath and storing it inside his body greedily, keeping her alive with strokes of his tongue and massaging hands that seemed to land everywhere. Her hips, her waist, her bare breasts.
When his thumbs smoothed over her erect nipples, she broke away with a whimper, only given a split second to suck down oxygen before he was kissing her furiously again. “This is not calm,” he growled, pressing their foreheads together. “I am not calm.”
“If I was like you,” she whispered against his mouth, “you could take me as hard as you wanted—”
Eyes flaring like burnished jewels, he cut her off with his mouth, sweeping his tongue inside her mouth as if memorizing every corner. Flames kissed every sensitive spot on her body, nerve endings sizzling. Even with her eyes closed, she could sense the lights in the bathroom dimming and brightening and the proof of Jonas being affected heightened her need. Made it wild.