She’d understand, he assured himself. She had to. It might take years, but once she knew why, she’d get it.
Rori shifted in the back of the town car at the thought. He had years to wait for her, but she was mortal, practically human. She didn’t. But every time he’d tried to get her to understand something, he went and fucked it up. Maybe he needed to sit back and wait for her this time.
Bringing his fingers to his temples, Rori groaned. Witches and their fragile life cycles. Why hadn’t one of them perfected an immortality spell by now? Surely one witch out there had to desire it.
Glancing out of the tinted window, Rori watched the bland landscape pass. The road between New Orleans and the nowhere town Divina was hiding in held nothing remarkable. Billboards and telephone poles dotted the drive. Beyond that, the sky lightened. Dawn approached.
Pulling his phone from his vest, Rori checked it. He had sent Divina a message to say he was done as late as possible. He’d had to be sure Ted was dead. After that, he and Jonas cleared any sign of Divina’s presence and their own. Jonas had been a huge help there. If Rori had been left to do it on his own, it would have taken twice as long. Who knew where he would have wound up sleeping it if weren’t for Jonas? Maybe the knight on wolf blood could be useful. Only, of course, if he could keep his mouth shut. Which Rori was pretty sure he wouldn’t.
The following evening found Rori unwilling to get out of bed. He had to face Divina, he was sure of it. Whether it be by phone or face-to-face, he had to explain his actions and answer for what he had done.
The sound of the shower turned off, and a jaunty humming came from the bathroom. Rori glanced in that direction. Jonas was apparently pleasant in the early evening. Rori rolled over and covered his head with a pillow.
“The clothing you ordered has arrived. It’s been laundered and properly pressed. I hung it in the closet,” Jonas announced from the bathroom doorway.
Rori peeked out from under the pillow to see Jonas wrapped in a white towel, a stark contrast to his chestnut skin. Water droplets trailed down his muscled chest, beads clinging to his short-cropped hair. With his tight athletic build, square jaw, and high cheekbones, Jonas was very attractive.
“I figured you’d want to change after last night.” He folded his arms over his chest.
Rori grunted.
“You don’t have a progeny.”
Rori sat up and swung his feet to the floor. “I don’t.”
“I could have helped with last night.” Jonas sauntered across the room, tracked by Rori’s gaze.
“I think I handled it just fine.”
Jonas pulled some clothing out of a duffel and shrugged. “You played it smart but messy. A small town like that will definitely take notice.”
Of course Rori knew it would be big news for the little town. He’d had no other choice in his mind. He’d found out about the witch too late and didn’t exactly have a lot of time to plan. Divina hadn’t given him all the information. He’d simply worked with what he had.
Rori watched Jonas intently. From within a case in the duffel, Jonas withdrew a small vial. Rori’s brow rose as the knight brought the vial to his lips. The deep maroon liquid flowed into his mouth.
“Wolf blood?” Rori asked, having made the assumption days ago.
Smacking his lips together, Jonas tossed the empty vial into the trash. “A requirement for all court knights,” he said. “So, are you going to tell me why you orchestrated the death of a witch and a human?” Jonas raised himself to his full height and dropped the towel. He was a splendid specimen of masculinity. Rori couldn’t help but look him over as Jonas reached for a pair of faded jeans, his eyes dancing along the tight muscles of the knight’s broad chest. They followed the sparse dark curls in an inverted triangle that started over his pectorals and went down to a line past his navel. As Jonas stepped into the jeans, Rori only got a glimpse of his soft member before it disappeared within. Jonas was a delight to behold, but not now. Another time. Another year. Hell, another century. But not now.
Rori snapped his eyes back up to Jonas’s to answer. “It was a favor.”
Jonas arched an eyebrow and came around his unmade bed. Sitting across from Rori, he tilted his head with a look of assessment on his face. “Have anything to do with Divina?”
Rori attempted to keep his calm and cool composure. The fact that Jonas named her had his jaw clenching. The sound of her name on his lips stirred distrust. With Rori’s lack of response, Jonas continued. “Is Divina your witch?”
Rori kept his face blank and didn’t respond. Instead, he trained his gaze on the vampire knight, expecting him to fill the silence and share what he knew.
A grin spread across Jonas’s lips, and he continued getting dressed. “I figured the only person you would do that for would be the one who made your heart beat.”
“Divina is of no concern to the vampire court,” Rori said sternly.
Jonas nodded. “I agree.” He planted both feet on the floor. “Those other idiots paraded their trophies trying provide proof.” He scoffed. “They had no business at court. It doesn’t pertain to them. I don’t know why the advisors allowed it.”
With narrowed eyes, Rori pondered the same thing. “Now you want me to be emperor?” he asked skeptically.
Jonas chuckled. “Decisions of that magnitude are not mine to be made.” His face relaxed and then took a hard edge. He locked eyes with Rori and leaned closer. “You’re the one who told me you didn’t want to be emperor. Why would it matter if I did?”
Rori swallowed. His need for the knight’s approval seemed absurd. No one’s belief about whether or not he could be emperor should matter. It only mattered what he felt about it, if he believed he could handle it. But he wasn’t sure.
Turning away from the conversation, and his doubts, Rori spotted his phone peeking out from beneath his pillow. In an attempt to avoid the question, he took his phone out and saw it light up with a message from Divina. She was back in New Orleans and wanted to meet. He frowned. She wanted to discuss the deaths. She wanted him to explain.
Rori took a deep breath and closed his eyes, scrubbing his face with both hands. He wasn’t sure he could handle that tonight. He hadn’t yet worked out what he wanted to say.
The things I do for love.
CHAPTER 31
Watching the sky turn from pink and purple to a deep shade of blue should have been romantic. The first few twinkling stars reflected on the water as they stood on the stone bridge. That should have had her swooning. The fact that it was the site of their first kiss, which seemed ages ago, should have further triggered nostalgia and desire.
Instead, Divina stood staring out at the creek with a gorgeous man at her side and nothing but tension radiating from her. Glancing at Aric, at his chiseled features, filled her with conflict. She felt his anxiety and frustration through their immature bond. There was an urge, a pull she could not explain, to soothe him. She wanted to make it better somehow. If only she could make it all go away and start over. Longing for a reset button, she let out a long breath. If only they had met under better circumstances, she was sure they would’ve had the type of love affair romance novels touted.
A chill ran through her as the temperature dropped with the sun. Aric’s arm came around her and pulled her to him. His heat warmed her body as the night settled in. It wouldn’t be long before Rori showed up. He wasn’t one to dawdle.
Aric stepped around her, and the warmth of his body was at her back. His arms remained around her, never letting her go. She closed her eyes when his lips came down on the crown of her head and he squeezed her gently. “It’s almost over,” he whispered to her. “We’ll get your answers, and then we can move on. Together.”
She nodded along with his statement. They would move on together. That was how it was meant to be—them, together. But the thought of a life without Rori caused a knot to form in her stomach. Indecision reared its head again and soured her gut. The idea that she’d still want h
im after all he’d done was absurd on the face of it. But he had redeeming qualities; to disregard those seemed unfair. Then again, she had a man who said he was willing to do anything for her—even go against his nature, suffer for her—and still she wanted to keep Rori.
She pushed back against Aric, as though she needed to remind herself of him, that he existed, that he was real. Guilt flourished in her chest. She was a serious level of screwed up to be thinking about the men in her life in the wake of the deaths of Sonia and Ted.
Holding her tightly, Aric buried his nose in her hair. He inhaled as if he were huffing her scent. She took a deep breath as well. She wished for a simpler life, for everything to be different, except Aric. That damn reset button would really come in handy now.
“Must you flaunt it?” Rori groaned as he approached the bridge, illuminated by the lamppost.
Aric’s body went rigid, and his grip tightened around her. The growl came from somewhere deep in his chest. As Divina turned toward the approaching vampire, her stomach flopped with nerves, and her face pulled down in a frown. She tried to wriggle from Aric’s arms, but it didn’t work. He wouldn’t let her go, but she needed space. “Please,” she whispered.
He hesitated before he loosened his grip, his displeasure very clear through their mating bond.
Rori remained at a distance, his expression unusually cold. She drew her eyebrows together in response. The cool air sent a chill through her; she wrapped her arms around herself for both warmth and a false sense of protection. Despite being between the two men who had vowed to keep her safe, she felt anything but, and oddly alone. She stepped in Rori’s direction with Aric at her back. The growling continued, but Divina tried to ignore it. She was angry, too. He had killed her mentor, her friend.
“Why?” was all she could say.
Rori’s Adam’s apple bobbed as he swallowed, and the muscles in his face tightened briefly. His hands were in the pockets of his dark jeans. While this was a common stance for him, the tightness in his arms and his shifting from foot to foot indicated that his calm expression wasn’t accurate. “Another knew,” he finally said. “It was a lot more complicated than you let on.”
Eyeing him skeptically, she thought he couldn’t be serious. Rori couldn’t blame her. “You are hundreds of years old—”
“I did what you asked,” he interrupted impatiently. “I wiped his memory, but there was more to it. I needed to clean up the mess. I did as I promised. You didn’t tell me about the witch. You didn’t tell me about the wards. I had to keep you safe. I couldn’t allow the council to find out about this. I can’t erase a witch’s mind.”
“There had to be some other way,” Divina insisted.
“There wasn’t,” Rori assured her with sympathy in his voice. “I have to protect you.”
“No, you don’t,” Aric roared from behind Divina. He stepped beside her, bringing his large arm across her front and pushing her back. “That’s for me to do.”
Rori’s eyes narrowed. “Well, you’ve done a fucking shitty job.”
The force that threw Divina back was unexpected. She stumbled and tried to keep her balance. With the breath knocked from her lungs, she staggered back and held onto the rail of the bridge to keep herself from falling over it. Struggling to pull in air, she couldn’t do more than watch the two men.
It was only a second or two. She never realized how fast a wolf-man could move when motivated. Apparently neither did Rori, the limited color in his face draining when Aric grabbed him.
Rori’s eyes widened and locked on Divina when the thick-muscled bar of Aric’s forearm came across Rori’s throat from behind. The other hooked overtop to keep his head locked in a hold. Rori clawed at Aric’s arms, to no avail.
“I did what my mate asked of me. I followed her wishes. I would have hidden her if you failed,” Aric growled. His normally hazel eyes blazed gold. “You think killing the human wasn’t my first instinct?” he snarled. “I honored my mate.”
Divina blinked in shock as she noted the dark hair sprouting from Aric’s arms. The thick jugular vein in his neck protruded, and drool dripped from the corners of his mouth. She gasped and covered her mouth when she saw his teeth were thicker and longer than a human’s. They had become almost like fangs. Stunned into inaction, she just stood there.
“I didn’t fail,” Rori choked out, trying to get Aric off him.
“I should bite you and end all of this,” Aric seethed.
“No!” Divina found her voice and stepped forward with a hand out. “Don’t!”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.” A man’s calm voice came out from the shadows of the park’s trees. He was dressed in black cargo pants, boots, and a tight T-shirt as he regarded them all. His dark hair was cropped tight to his head, almost in a military cut. Divina couldn’t see him too well, as he remained in the darkness of the night.
Aric whirled around, bringing Rori stumbling with him. Aric’s chest heaved, and Divina could feel his internal conflict as he fought something within himself. Their bond was too weak for her to know more than that he was agitated.
“If you were to bite the future emperor of the vampires, I assure you, it would not end well for you.” Confidence radiated off the stranger as he stood in the edge of the light from another lamppost.
Divina’s head spun. Future emperor? Didn’t Rori say he had renounced that title?
“That prophecy is fucking bullshit.” Aric’s deep voice was distorted, almost unrecognizable, with a hint of animalism to it. Divina kept back.
Shrugging, the man seemed unfazed by Aric and his current state. “To you, maybe. From what I can tell, there isn’t much about you in it. However, it has a lot to do with your mate and with the man you’re threatening. You end the prophecy, you allow the wrong vampire to be emperor, and we all go down.” The man sneered.
“I don’t want to be emperor,” Rori choked out.
Divina shook her head. “Aric, let him go. It’s done.”
Nothing happened.
The man opposite Aric stared him down. Aric’s arms, from Divina’s view, tightened around Rori’s neck. His choking sounds turned her stomach.
She approached Aric’s back and placed a hand on his shoulder blade. “Please,” she said. “Let him go. It’s done. I can’t trust him.”
Aric turned slowly, putting his back to the unknown man. “It’s done?” he asked.
Divina nodded.
“I did this all for you.” Rori wheezed, his now bloodshot eyes on Divina. “I renounced the throne. I cleaned up your mess for your safety. I want you. I love you. I have always loved—”
A crack sounded, and his words were cut off as Aric squeezed him harder.
“Stop!” Divina placed her hand on Aric’s arm over Rori’s windpipe.
“If I bite him, he’ll die, and he won’t hurt you anymore,” Aric explained.
Divina shook her head. “No,” she said, looking into his golden eyes. “He can’t hurt me anymore. What we had is over. I…I don’t feel the same way for him as he does for me. I can’t.”
She shifted her attention to Rori. The hurt in his eyes nearly broke Divina, but she needed to tell him. She needed to explain why it didn’t matter anymore. She had moved on.
She ran her hand down Rori’s pale cheek. “You ended us years ago. You only came back to tell me the throne meant more to you, and to get me to find him. I’m sorry you changed your mind.” She lowered her head so her forehead touched his.
Jerking Rori back, Aric growled. It was a gesture he shared with her. She tried to drown him out as well as the emotions flooding through their bond.
With both hands on Rori’s face, Divina closed her eyes. “Our chance has passed, Rori. You have to let me go. You have to go on without me.”
“I will give it all up for you,” Rori whispered.
“Don’t,” Divina said, and kissed his forehead. “You do what you have to do.” She stepped back from him. Her eyes went to Aric’s, the golden rag
e clear in them. “I’m moving on. You need to as well.” She took a deep breath. “I’m accepting my fate.” She inhaled. “I’m following my instincts.”
CHAPTER 32
Struggling to breathe, sure his windpipe was crushed, Rori felt his heart shred at Divina’s words. He wanted death. He wanted the wolf to bite him. He couldn’t do this anymore. He couldn’t exist without her.
In a sign of true contempt, the wolf dropped him to the ground. Rori was unable to hold himself up and crumpled. Wheezing, he watched the wolf step over him and embrace Divina—Rori’s Divina. He felt a part of him die inside as she wrapped her arms around the thick trunk of the wolf. He couldn’t see her anymore, his vision limited to the broad back of the wolf. Rori lowered his head. He’d lost her, truly lost her this time.
Jonas’s hand on his back did nothing to ease his grief; his voice urging Rori to get to his feet was muffled. Rori couldn’t concentrate on anything but the pain of loss.
Lifting his eyes, he watched the couple walk away and choked back his emotions. He watched Divina—her arm around the wolf’s waist, her body pressed against his—walk away. She didn’t even look back.
She had made her choice.
Jonas yanked Rori to his feet. He lacked the will to stand, or to move at all.
Red-hot rage flourished in Rori. The Ember Witches. This was their fault. They convinced him to abandon Divina, that they would know what was best for her. They manipulated him. They would pay for the loss of his love. And the wolf. The bloody wolf who stole his love from him. The wolf would also pay. Rori would not be rebuffed so easily. He had waited this long to announce his intentions to Divina. He just had to prove himself.
The Wolf of the Prophecy Page 20