Genesis's heart thumped wildly, so loudly I had to concentrate on what her mother was saying in order to hear the words above the beating.
"I made her strong." Her mother's eyes met mine. "Better she hate her own reflection than fall prey to it."
"How tragic," I whispered, "that you felt the need to shame a little girl for having golden hair and pretty eyes."
"It worked!" her mother screamed. "Look! Mated to an Elder! A vampire, no less!"
"It worked," I repeated, "because her blood is pure… because her soul is pure." Anger crashed over me at her mother's proud expression. In a flash, I moved behind her, biting a small mark on her shoulder and whispered, "For the rest of your days you, will see nothing but Ara's reflection when you look in the mirror. You will hate, and it will drive you mad. That is the gift I leave with you for bestowing such kindness upon the woman I love."
Her mother swayed and then fell to her knees. A tear fell down her cheek. "No, please no. Don't do this."
"It's done." I gripped Genesis hand. "We'll bother you no more."
Genesis didn't want to follow me; her feet dug into the ground, so I tossed her over my shoulder and carried her out of the house.
When she still didn't make a noise, I buckled her seatbelt and peeled out of the parking spot, driving like hell back toward our home — toward safety.
Ready to lose my mind, I opened my mouth to apologize when she blurted, "You love me."
"If that's what you wish to discuss…" I reached for her hand.
She squeezed mine. The heat from my blood took over, making her skin hot to the touch.
"And you won't leave me? Ever?"
"No," I vowed. "I don't think I'm capable of surviving such a loss."
She nodded, wiping a tear from her cheek. "Cassius visited today."
"I know."
She sighed. "He told me things… about you. About Ara."
"Did he touch you?"
"No," Genesis whispered. "But one day soon, he will. He touches all the human mates."
I scowled. "So he told you…"
"To test them."
"Yes."
"I'm going to pass."
"Alright."
"You don't believe me?" She pulled her hand away.
I sighed and focused on the road ahead of me. "I have no reason not to believe you."
Genesis let out a loud sigh. "Do you think the only reason you love me is because I'm related to Ara?"
"No." The entire idea was ridiculous. "Not only was she horribly selfish — something I've finally come to terms with — but you're nothing like her. Besides, you don't stop and stare at yourself every time you see your own damn reflection."
"Thanks to my mother," Genesis mumbled.
"That's it." I pulled the car over, forced it into park, and reached for Genesis. With a growl, I tugged her body across the console and into my lap. "She did you no favors. That woman was no mother to you. A weaker female would have crippled beneath that type of emotional scarring. I should have killed her for what she put you through."
Genesis's eyes pooled with tears.
I cupped her chin. "Beautiful inside and out — the last thing you need to be is afraid of your own beauty. Embrace it, but don't let it overtake all sense of reality. You are beautiful. You are strong. You are pure. Those are simple facts. Outside of that, nothing else matters other than the way I feel about you."
"If being beautiful means I turn into Ara, I'd rather be ugly."
"You could never turn into her." I pressed an urgent kiss to her mouth. "You're… you."
Genesis returned my kiss, biting down on my lips.
I flicked her tongue with mine then deepened the kiss. "Home."
"Bed."
"Yes," I growled, rubbing my body against her. "Now."
She let out a little gasp.
"Or here." I tugged her shirt over her shoulder, kissing the bare skin. "Vampires can be very… creative."
"Show me." Her eyes burned bright green.
I ripped the rest of her T-shirt with my teeth. "Never… challenge me."
Frenzied hands reached for my jeans while I reached for hers, both of us colliding with one another as we tried to peel clothing away.
Layer after layer went flying.
And then she was naked, straddling me.
"Mmm…" I took her fingers between my teeth. "…I've never tasted anything so incredible."
"My hands?"
"Your skin." I chuckled then placed myself near her entrance. "You know… we could always wait until we get home and—"
She welcomed me into her body.
But didn't move.
I let out a frustrated growl and gripped her hips. "You think to tease me?"
"I was told never to tease a vampire."
A mixture of laughter and ecstasy left my lips as our bodies began to move.
"No bite this time?" she asked.
"Sometimes," I growled, thrusting hard, then pulling out, "faster is better."
CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
Genesis
WE MADE IT HOME.
But I was without shirt, considering Ethan had ripped mine to shreds. So he handed me his while he walked into the house sporting a pair of jeans and a really big smile.
"Ethan." Alex was in the kitchen drinking wine and reading. "Is today no-shirt day? Should I remove mine as well?"
He reached for the edges of it but earned a growl from Ethan.
Mason was sitting in front of a bowl of berries; his hand paused midair as he looked between the two of us. "Damn, Ethan, at least feed her every once in a while."
"He's very concerned with food, always concerned with food." Alex nodded. "Hurry up, Mason, your berries are drying out."
A berry went flying by Alex's head.
I didn't notice Stephanie in the corner; she wasn't normally so quiet. When her eyes met mine, they lit up. "Hey, how about shopping tomorrow? Before your fun little human job?"
She looked like she'd been crying. "Are you okay?"
"She's fine," Alex snapped, his good humor completely gone. The room turned tense in an instant. He cleared his throat and forced a smile. "Sirens, very emotional."
Stephanie smiled. "Very."
"Ethan, a word?" Alex stood.
"Sure." Ethan kissed the top of my head and left the room while Mason started rummaging around the kitchen; pots and pans clanged together, and then he pulled out a giant piece of steak.
"I hope that's not for me." I pointed.
"Protein…" He threw the steak into the pan. "…feeds the blood, which feeds the mate, which, in turn, feeds you."
"You gonna start singing Circle of Life?" I joked.
"Circle of life?" he repeated.
"Lion King?"
"Cassius is king."
I looked helplessly to Stephanie, who was trying to hide her smile behind her hand.
"Have you seriously never watched Lion King?"
"Werewolves are scared of TV," Stephanie said with a soft laugh.
"And sirens are afraid of the dark," he fired back, while she shuddered. "I'm not afraid of the TV. I just don't see the point in sitting in front of a flat box and watching people make fools of themselves."
"He'd rather be the fool." Stephanie nodded and winked in my direction.
"Mason…" I walked over to him and put my head on his shoulder. "How about I eat the steak and we watch Lion King?"
"No."
"Dances with Wolves?"
Stephanie snickered loudly behind her hand.
"Wolves do not dance," Mason growled.
"Oh, we know." Stephanie nodded. "I've seen it once. Don't care to see it again."
"Too much whiskey." Mason kissed the top of my head. "Eat the whole steak, and then we'll talk about King Lion."
"Lion King."
"Same thing."
I sighed helplessly and went to sit at the table while Mason cooked.
Stephanie gave me a side hug. "Eight tomorrow morning, a
lright?"
"Great."
"Bed." She shrugged. "It's been a long night." Her eyes misted again.
"Are you sure you're okay?"
"Yeah." Her voice cracked. "Like Alex said, we get emotional. Can't help it."
It felt like she was lying, but I was human, how would I know? I nodded and turned my attention back to Mason, who'd started searing the steak.
"So you cook meat but refuse to eat it?"
"I'm a vegetarian." He smiled. I'd never realized how pointy his teeth were on the sides. Maybe that's how he'd been able to bite into me before Ethan had mated with me.
"Your teeth say otherwise." I pointed. "Flat means vegetarian. Pointy means carnivore."
Mason rolled his eyes. "I didn't say it was natural for me to be a vegetarian."
"Okay… so why?"
He let out a heavy sigh. "Meat made my mate sick… for one reason or another. It gave her headaches. She only ate fruits, vegetables, nuts." He flipped the steak. "So I learned to like other foods."
"And now?"
He went very quiet, his eyes focusing in on the steak. "Now…" His voice was hoarse. "I honor her with my every meal."
My throat clogged with emotion.
The fact that he honored her at all — but with every single meal — killed me. How did he survive that? How did he live every day having known true love? And know he may never experience it again — living forever?
"Don't pity me." Mason let out a gruff growl. "It makes it harder."
"Sorry," I whispered. "So pinecones, huh?"
He laughed. "Yes, well, it's an acquired taste."
"I bet."
My heart picked up speed, and then I smelled him. Ethan entered the room, briskly walking by me, kissing my head. "Steak almost done?"
"I'm a perfectionist." Mason held up his hands. "Let the juices seal."
Ethan scrunched up his nose. "Her blood tastes better than that steak."
"Yes, well, her blood tastes good because she's living. She's living because I feed her."
"Werewolf has a point," I teased. "Besides, if I eat my whole steak, we're going to watch Lion King!"
"Whose king?" Ethan tilted his head. "What lion? Mason's a wolf."
And that's how I ended up spending my evening between a vampire and a werewolf, eating steak and watching a Disney movie while they argued over the animal kingdom, not to mention the lion's choice in song.
It felt right.
Like I'd finally found my place.
My home.
I had no idea that the security I felt was about to get ripped from me, from the very people I'd put my trust in.
CHAPTER THIRTY
Ethan
I TRIED TO WATCH THE CHILDISH movie. I even engaged Mason in an argument over the silly cartoon, but my thoughts were elsewhere.
On Alex and Stephanie.
On what he'd just revealed to me, betraying his own sister's confidence because he was so damn worried about what she would do — what she was capable of.
"She thinks she loves him," Alex muttered sourly. "Yet she doesn't wear his mark. It's as if he's refused to mark her, but she still… craves him."
"Sirens crave sex," I mumbled. "You know this."
"This is much different." Alex shook his head. "Something's shifted, I don't know what… but…"
I pinched the bridge of my nose. "He wouldn't dare mark her for death. Immortals don't mate with each other — not in that way. It's not natural."
"That's what I said."
"We can talk later." I sighed. "I'll try talking to her."
"Thank you." Alex's body slumped against the chair. "I worry more than I should."
But really, his worrying was merited because Stephanie wanted what was forbidden for her to want.
A Dark One.
Our king.
To want him was to invite death.
And I wasn't so sure she would listen to any of us, regardless of how wise our words, our warnings. The heart, I'd learned in all my years of living, wants what it wants, and damn the rest of the world for trying to tell it otherwise.
Genesis fell asleep in my lap. I carried her to bed then hovered protectively over her, instinct kicking in. I would die for that girl. I would do anything for her.
I wasn't sure she felt the same.
I doubted myself and hated that I doubted myself.
She stretched her arms above her head. She looked like a cat, all seductive and curvy. "Ethan?"
"Yes?"
"Why are you watching me sleep?"
"Because you fascinate me when you dream."
"I don't want to dream of him." She reached for my body, tugging me against her. "How do I keep him from getting in?"
"You don't." I sighed helplessly. "Just know you're safe in my arms. You'll always be safe."
"But in my dreams I'm in danger?"
"Remember what I said about good and bad… the same goes with danger. When all else fails, Genesis, you follow your heart."
"The heart can be evil."
"Not yours." I shook my head. "Never yours."
"I'm going shopping tomorrow."
"I know." I chuckled. She was so tired she wasn't making much sense. "Stephanie will charge whatever you want to my card."
"Too much money."
"I'm rich."
"Because of the fish."
I laughed. "Yes, the fish. They make me rich. Sleep, little human." I kissed her nose as she wrapped her body around mine and fell into a deeper slumber.
I waited, unable to sleep until I felt the cold seep from her body into mine.
Her breath staggered.
And then her skin went from hot to cold.
"Cassius," I whispered, "you take her from me, and I'll rip your heart from your chest."
"Trust her," he said back to me.
Agony washed over me as I waited for Genesis to return. Every second that went by was torture because I knew it was another second he was tempting her with forbidden fruit.
Just like he'd tempted Ara.
Only Ara had bitten.
And with that one bite, destroyed a part of myself I'd never been able to get back.
Until now.
CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
Genesis
"IT'S SNOWING." I HELD MY HAND out and caught a few snowflakes. "No lake today?"
Cassius shrugged. His mood was different, darker. "I wanted the comfort cold brings me."
"Normally it's heat."
"I'm the opposite of warmth." His eyes turned white. "Therefore, it's cold that comforts. It's my fire."
I pulled the fur blanket around me. We were sitting outside a cabin in front of a roaring fire. It was beautiful; snow-blanketed the forest, making it seem enchanted.
"More questions…" Cassius sighed. "I sense them."
I stared into the fire. "What was Ethan's daughter?"
"Different question," Cassius snapped.
"Can you mate?"
Cassius let out a slew of curses. "Our punishment or maybe our prize? Women die at our hands. Human women." He shrugged. "Vampire blood and human blood co-exist. Angel blood and human blood are an abomination."
My throat went completely dry. "So it can't mix."
"It can… for a time, and then the angel blood overwhelms what weakness the human has. It makes them evil, destroys them from the inside out."
"So you can't mate."
"We don't mate," Cassius snapped, "because there is no point, Genesis."
"That's lonely."
His eyes closed. "You have no idea."
"What about other immortals. Can you mate with them?"
"Why risk more lives?" Cassius threw a piece of wood into the fire. His eyes still hadn't returned to a normal color — they were void of color, void of emotion. "Is that it for this evening?"
"One more…" I held my hands out to the fire.
He nodded.
"Is there a way to test the prophecy? To make sure it works?"
"There is always a way," Cassius sneered, "but I highly doubt it is a road you want to travel — or one your mate would let you even step foot on."
"So I wait to live or die?"
"You pass all tests, you live — and hopefully restore balance. The prophecy says a human will mate with an immortal. It will be the new beginning, and they'll have a child."
I shuddered. "I don't want to die."
Cassius's eyes met mine. "Then don't."
"Wha—" He disappeared in front of my very eyes.
And then I jolted awake, shivering in Ethan's arms.
"What did he do? Meet you in a freezer?" Ethan swore, gathering me against him, wrapping blankets tightly around my body.
"S-sorry." I shivered. "I didn't realize how cold I was."
"He thrives on the cold." Ethan rubbed my shoulders. "And clearly forgets himself if he put you in the middle of a blizzard."
"It was a snowstorm… I think… but pretty."
"Oh well, as long as it was pretty," Ethan hissed.
I tucked my head against his chest, focusing on his warmth. "We need to have a child."
Ethan's hands stopped moving. "Cassius told you that?"
"It's part of the prophecy, right?"
"Yes, but—"
"So that will make it come true, right?"
"No," he said, sadness evident in his tone. "I wish that were true, but no, Genesis, we won't know until…"
"I no longer exist." I trembled. "He said there's another way—"
"No!" Ethan yelled. He gulped in a breath released it then said more softly, "No, it isn't an option."
"Maybe if you told me."
"It's forbidden."
I pretended to be satisfied with that — but I wasn't. If there was a way to fix the balance of things, I was going to find it. Not just for me, but for Ethan — for Mason, who'd lost the love of his life — for Cassius, who seemed lonelier than Death.
If I could save them—
I had to try.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Genesis
"READY?" STEPHANIE POPPED HER GUM AND hooked her arm in mine. "Ethan gave me his credit card with no limit, meaning we have damage to do."
I nodded, forcing myself to smile. Something felt… wrong. I'd spent the night in Ethan's arms, yet I felt like my balance was off, like I was straddling a line and was about to get pulled over to the wrong side.
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