"I am," I whispered and fought the urge to rock back and forth. That was the problem with mating — with bonding. Nothing tasted like her, nothing ever would, and typically, having her as my mate gave me full access.
But the more I took…
The stronger the bond.
And the more I wanted…
It was a vicious overwhelming cycle. It would lead me to become emotionally invested while she, as a human, could simply pretend.
It wasn't fair.
Immortals, in essence, were cursed with a deep desire to be like a human — to possess them, to bond with them forever — while humans only felt the same draw to us if they actually loved us.
Ridiculous.
"Oh, there you are." Stephanie pushed Genesis forward and pulled out a chair.
Slowly, Genesis took a seat and glared at each one of us. "Where's Mason?"
It shouldn't have pissed me off.
But it had.
"He's none of your concern," I spat.
"Easy!" Alex chuckled. "Rule number one, don't ask your mate where the other dude is. Just… don't."
Genesis blinked at Alex then back at me. "Because you guys have the capacity for jealousy."
Alex whistled while Stephanie laughed.
Immortals were the most jealous beings on the planet. Had her school taught her nothing?
Was I to be her tutor as well?
"So…" Alex trained his eyes on her, putting her at as much ease as he could without stopping her poor heart. "Now that the mating is complete, you get to learn all about us and service your man here." He slapped my back.
Really. Really. Poor choice of words.
Genesis paled.
I rolled my eyes. "He's kidding."
Alex laughed. "I think it needs to be said that having a human at the house has already helped my mood immensely."
"That makes one of you," Genesis said under her breath.
Alex leaned forward and whispered, "Ethan, try not to be so grouchy. Keep the fangs in and all."
I extended them just to prove a point.
Genesis recoiled.
I instantly felt guilty.
Damn it.
"You won't…" I licked my lips. "You won't have to service me, as Alex so delicately put it."
"Is that what mates do?" Genesis asked, her eyes searching mine. "They…" She lifted her hands into the air and dropped them.
"If that's what you think they do, we have a very big problem." Alex mimicked her movements and winked.
She blushed.
I hissed at him and returned my attention to her. "It's like a human relationship, only stronger. You'll attend functions with me, be by my side, at my beck and call for as long as you live."
I didn't want to say until one day she just didn't wake up. It sounded too cruel.
"And when I'm bored out of my mind… I do what?" She crossed her arms. "I mean, what could you possibly need from me?"
"Adorable." Alex sighed happily. "I'm so glad we kept her."
"Alex…" I was two seconds away from slamming him into the nearest wall. "Make yourself useful and find our human a snack."
"I'm not a pet!" Genesis yelled. "And I'm not your human!"
"You are," I yelled right back, "mine!"
"Kids." Stephanie stepped between us.
I didn't even realize I'd gotten out of the chair and was towering over her, fangs out, hands raised. She'd turned me into a monster. And still, my eyes found her erratic pulse. One more taste…
"Ethan—" Stephanie pushed against my chest. I didn't move. "Ethan!"
"Friend…" Mason walked into the room. "Sit your ass down before she hands it to you."
"Like she could!" I roared.
"Like I have!" Stephanie pushed me again. "Don't tempt me… again."
I sat, while Mason made his way over to Genesis and offered an easy smile. The man had nothing to smile about, yet he was smiling — at my mate.
I growled.
Mason gave me the finger and kept his attention trained on Genesis. "How do you feel?"
"Better." She returned his smile and squeezed his outstretched hand. "Thanks for not… killing me when I asked."
"Damn…" Alex said from the kitchen.
"You were in pain." Mason shrugged. "And I'm glad you're alright."
"She's fine. We're fine. Everything's fine," I said through clenched teeth. "Now it's probably time to give her answers before she thinks she can run off and actually survive in the real world without being hunted by a Dark One, or worse, found by Cassius."
"He isn't all bad," Stephanie said defensively.
We all glared at her.
"What?" She lifted her hands into the air. "I'm just saying he's been trying as hard as we have. So what if he's gotten a bit possessive over the last few numbers that have been called."
Alex slammed his fist onto the table. "He stole Ethan's—"
"Enough." I held up my hand. The pain in my chest grew until it was hard to breathe. I knew what would take that pain away.
Genesis.
But I was too angry to ask for it. Too ashamed to fall to my knees in front of a mere mortal and beg for her to end the pain by allowing me one solitary drop of her blood.
As if on cue, another bag of blood hit me in the head.
Alex must have sensed my mood.
I bit into it and looked away from Genesis's horrified expression.
"Lesson time." Alex placed some fruit and cheese in front of Genesis and clapped his hands. "Who goes first?"
Nobody said anything.
Genesis cleared her throat. "Maybe if you'll start by telling me what our real job is… as human breeders. All my life I've been taught a lie and now… well, now I'd really like to know how this all started and what my place is."
Overwhelming her with information just might kill her. It would be like telling a child that her existence was simply for the pleasure of the parent, that she meant nothing in the grand scheme of things.
"The numbers," Mason cleared his throat, "have been called for centuries. It used to be every year, then it went to every two years, every decade — you know the trend. The last human number called was fifty years ago." His face contorted like he was going to change shape, but he gained control over himself. "Immortals, as we've said before, cannot simply procreate. They need humans in order for the process to be complete. Basically, human men and women help immortals continue to populate the planet. If the balance is somehow… broken, then chaos erupts, thus the need for humans. The balance is very important for both our races."
"Okay." Genesis, nodded her head slowly. "So why wait fifty years?"
You could hear a pin drop in that room.
I didn't want to answer.
Mason kicked me under the table. I glowered in his direction then said as gently as I could, "Because immortals become attached to their humans in a very… possessive way. They mate for life… it's a beautiful thing, but the human always has the choice to reject their mate." Even after they've bonded, but I wasn't going to say that aloud lest she reject me. "If the mating is completed, both parties happy, babies are born into the world, and everyone lives happily ever after — that's fantastic, but recently, humans started… dying."
"That's what we generally do." Genesis's eyes narrowed. "We don't live forever."
"After giving birth to an immortal, you should. You used to." Mason explained. "It's life's final gift… immortality for your sacrifice to us. But somehow, along the way, it stopped working."
"Oh." Genesis glanced at me.
I looked away. Not wanting her to see my pain.
"And how does Cassius fit into all of this?" she asked.
"The Dark Ones don't mate. They don't bond in the way we do. When they infuse a human mate, it's too strong for the humans to handle it, but he was… or we were… for a while, experimenting with the idea. Thinking we were possibly losing our powers. He's been taking humans… to see if he can reverse it, but along the way h
e became…" I sighed. "…addicted."
"What?" Genesis shook her head. "To what exactly?"
"He's part angel… part human," Mason said in a low voice. "His human counterpart wants desperately to join with humanity again — but his angelic essence won't let him. He's stuck in hell. But when a Dark One infuses a human, for those blissful weeks they last, life is perfect. Cassius is convinced if he only found the right human, he could bond eternally."
"And that was me?" Genesis croaked. "Or he thought it was me?"
Because of her marking.
Because of her name.
The beginning. Her name meant the beginning. And our prophecies specifically stated that a woman's number would be called who represented a fresh start.
A new beginning.
Cassius wanted her for his own selfish reasons.
The rest of the immortals wanted her so mates would stop dying, children would no longer be motherless or fatherless.
I kept my groan inside. It was even harder for the men. The minute they bonded with an immortal woman their original chemical makeup ceased to exist, relying solely on their immortal wives for nutrients, their organs simply started shutting down only days after the bond was complete.
I wanted to believe my own reasons weren't selfish.
But with each breath she took, each beat of her heart, I realized I was more selfish than Cassius, because, as of right now, I wouldn't give her up — even if it meant war. Even if it meant the end of my own people — my existence.
For being as old as I was, retraining myself wasn't going to be easy. Keeping emotional barriers between us would be necessary because my body screamed for her.
CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Genesis
WORDS DIDN'T HAVE POWER, RIGHT? THEY were just words, strung together in sentences, big scary sentences that had me shaking. I wondered when or if the fear would ever leave.
I stared at the fruit on the table, not in the least bit hungry.
"I can't just…" I found my voice and glanced up at Ethan. "I can't just sit around trapped in this house away from the world. It would be like prison."
"A beautiful prison." Ethan smiled.
I chose not to smile back. I didn't want to encourage him or encourage my body to lean any closer to his. His body was like a magnet, even if I fought against the pull — I still couldn't help it. I found myself inching my chair closer. When it scraped against the floor, everyone smirked but Ethan.
He seemed angry.
Angry, yet he'd been the one to do that to me.
"I don't care," I said, ignoring the thumping of my heart in my chest and the fact that the closer I got to him the more it raced. "I can't just sit around here being worthless."
"You won't," Stephanie piped up. "Your life will be relatively normal. Ethan can even get you a job if you want… close by… so he can keep an eye on you, of course."
"A job?"
"Work," Ethan said slowly. "Isn't that what humans live for? A divine purpose? Though, if you'd rather stay here and cook and clean, you won't get any complaints."
"A job would be nice." Anything to get me out of the house or compound.
"Fantastic," Ethan said, his teeth snapping together.
I had a sinking feeling it was anything but fantastic, but I wasn't about to bend over backward and let him make yet another decision for me — regardless of how much I wanted to launch myself at him and never let go.
It was the bond.
Nothing more.
And that really sucked if you asked me, because someone like Ethan… well, he was the type of man, person, being that you wanted to want you. Not just because he had no choice, but because he couldn't imagine existing any other way.
Ashamed of my thoughts — or maybe just embarrassed — I returned to my stare-down with the kitchen table.
"Drystan owns a book shop," Stephanie suggested. "When Genesis isn't with us fighting crime, she can go there. God knows she'll need to get away from Ethan in order to have some breathing room."
Ethan rolled his eyes.
"Drystan?" I repeated. "He's immortal too?"
"Ancient." Mason nodded. "Another werewolf obsessed with books. It should be a good arrangement."
"Arrangement," I tested the word. "And when I'm not at the book shop?"
The others fell silent while Ethan reached across the table and grabbed my hand. My skin buzzed to life at his touch. "I teach you everything you need to know about us… about your job, about the humans' place with us… and I take you to your first Gathering."
"Like a party?" I gripped his hand tighter, pulling strength from him that I didn't know I needed but lusted for, nonetheless.
"Yes." He shrugged. "In fact, if you're up to it, we can introduce you this evening."
"Oh." Waves of pleasure washed over me as he released my hand; his fingertips dancing along the pulse in my wrist. "I think I can probably manage that."
"The others will love to meet you," Stephanie encouraged, placing her hands on my shoulders.
"How many others are we talking here?" I squinted. "In my studies it said that the oldest leaders… you guys…"
Alex choked on his laugh.
"…only number in the hundreds."
The laughter died, amusement gone from Alex's eyes.
"Four of us," Ethan answered. "There are four Elders left, and Cassius makes five. The rest are relatively younger, but they number in the thousands."
"For just Seattle?" I squeaked out.
"Of course." Ethan rolled his eyes and released my hand. The temperature in the room dipped. My hand itched to reach back and grasp his. "Immortals are able to live in society, you know. Most of us either have a job in the real world or have had in the past until it began to bore us."
"Weird, I was always told you kept to yourselves."
"We aren't good at keeping to ourselves, just like we aren't good with sharing." Alex grinned. "Isn't that right, Ethan?"
Ethan growled while Alex walked around the table and held out his hand. "Has anyone ever told you how beautiful you truly are? It's extraordinary… the color of your hair, the light of your eyes, the—"
Ethan kicked Alex in the back of the legs, sending him colliding into Stephanie. His laughter was the only thing that made me think that Ethan wasn't going to kill him, since his eyes had gone completely black.
"Need more blood?" Alex asked in a soothing tone. "Don't want you accidentally attacking your mate tonight in front of God and everyone."
My gut clenched. "Do you, um, take my blood?"
"Please." Alex laughed. "Like Ethan would… he's been celibate from blood for over a hundred years."
"Until now," I whispered.
Ethan looked away, his eyes getting blacker, if that was even possible. "Until I tasted you."
A small part of me hoped I tasted good to him.
Oh you do, came Alex's voice in my head. Like pure sin.
I felt my cheeks heat.
Ethan's eyes narrowed. "Stephanie, help Genesis get ready for this evening… keep her occupied while I go meet with Cassius."
"What?" I yelled. "You're going to meet with him? After what happened? After going to all this trouble to protect me?"
"Hear that?" Alex cupped his ear. "Her blood roars for you, Ethan."
Ethan seemed to focus on my mouth as his fangs descended over his bottom lip. Holy crap, was he going to bite me again? My breathing slowed.
His eyes went from black to green then back to black again as he cupped the back of my head and brought me close, his teeth grazing my neck.
With a hiss, he pushed me away, almost hard enough for my chair to topple backward if Stephanie hadn't caught it with her hands.
"Go," he said in a hoarse voice, "before I drain her."
I didn't need to be told twice that it was dangerous just being next to him. I bolted from my seat, ready to protect myself, if need be, when Mason moved to stand in front of me, bumping against Ethan's chest. "Not necessary to sc
are her shitless, vampire."
Ethan looked over Mason's shoulder, his body calling to mine, singing, beckoning, even though he was dangerous, even though he'd just threatened me, I wanted to push Mason out of the way more than I wanted air.
"Take care of her," Ethan barked. "I won't be long."
"Stay alive," Alex said in a cheerful voice. "And do tell Cassius hello."
Stephanie put a protective arm around me and whispered in my ear. "It will get better, you know. He's just angry and confused."
"And I'm not?" I wrapped my arms around myself. "This morning I woke up, and the only thing on my mind was if I wanted eggs for breakfast or a protein shake."
"And now," Alex offered with a slight shrug, "you get to worry about two immortals wanting your blood. No big, right?"
"Is that you trying to make me feel better?"
"No…" He smiled. "But this is." His blue eyes lit up just as Mason shoved him out of the way and Stephanie began tugging me back up the stairs.
"He's insane, but I love him." She shook her head. "Now, let's get you ready for this evening. I think I'll put you in red. Won't that drive Ethan absolutely wild?"
"I'm thinking Ethan needs no encouragement to end me," I grumbled.
Stephanie pushed open the door to another room, one I hadn't seen before. "He doesn't want to end you. He wants to drink from you — so much, in fact, that I'm pretty sure if he doesn't regain some focus, he's going to punch Cassius in the face."
"That can't end well."
"They fight." She shrugged. "Quite often."
"Isn't Cassius your… king?" I was going to try to find a better word, but that was the only one that seemed to fit.
"Somewhat." She looked down at the ground. "Or at least at one point, he was supposed to lead us — but it's hard, for an imperfect being, pulled between two mortal planes, to do that without losing himself in the process."
"What do you mean?"
"He's both human and immortal. He has two different types of chemical makeup fighting for dominance. Sometimes his human side wins. Other times, the angel side. It's frustrating to follow someone who doesn't even know himself."
"Hmm." I thought about that for a while; they'd made me believe Cassius was like Satan himself, but now I was starting to wonder if he was just misunderstood.
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