Tony crumpled in a heap on the ground as he held his entrails inside himself with hands bloody from his wounds.
“Don't kill him,” Jacqueline murmured into the silence of the forest, every person held still by the raw violence of the space of seconds becoming minutes.
“No,” Reagan said in slow grudging agreement, sparing her not a glance. “But I will make him wish for death.” She moved forward and fell on Tony, her claws put away for the moment, meaty sounds of her small but effective fists pummeling flesh that gave way... bones which broke.
A life which hung by a thread.
When Tony lay broken and bleeding at her feet, when bubbles of blood burst from the nose she had broken, she stood. Gore rose like reverse water to her elbows and Reagan spoke in a whisper that trembled with her rage, “No one will hurt those I love. No one,” she repeated.
Julia looked at Reagan, no less regal covered in blood, then her gaze shifted to who had been a part to bring her into the world and hated what she represented. Violence. But Reagan was necessary, a part of some whole that Julia swam in. Her eyes swept over Jacqueline, a quiet and angry presence. Finally, her gaze fell to Tony.
The most evil of males, who even now healed the injuries vested upon him by a daughter beget of violence. They were not Julia's words but those of William, she realized. Julia could almost hear them in her head and she looked at the vampire and saw his eyes were all for her.
Reagan was violence personified. A different brand than her father, but still dangerous.
Julia watched Reagan step over Tony's healing body and turned to her. “Let me clean the stink of him off me and then we talk.”
Julia could only nod. If there were three that would oversee the supernaturals, if she was the light... then Reagan was the dark. The moon when it was new and unseen.
Who would be the third?
CHAPTER ELEVEN
Scott
Scott took Julia by the elbow, his eyes daring William and Jason to interfere. He could feel her bone tiredness like it was his own as well as the emptiness of her belly. Instead of going to meet Reagan he steered her straight to the kitchen. She needed to be away from a torn and bleeding Tony. He wasn't too won over by Reagan either. He loved that she'd kicked Tony's ass but he could feel how sick Julia was over the violence.
“Where are we going?” she asked.
“You're eating, I can feel you starving when I touch you,” Scott said and wrapped the hand that had been on her elbow around her nape.
“Okay,” Julia said but she added, “I can't say I have a great appetite right now. I mean... Reagan.” Scott nodded in understanding. They moved through the house silently; most of the other Singers were in the yard in various stages of assessing Tony.
“Did you know about Reagan?” Julia asked him as he settled her onto a stool. He'd been prepared to answer when William and Jason entered the kitchen like a pair of shadows that needed no sun, because Julia was there. Scott felt his shoulders tense as he searched the fridge for food. Smelling a container of leftover chicken with mashed potatoes he slid the whole glass dish into the microwave and hit the timer.
“No,” Scott finally replied.
“I know of the writings,” William supplied and Scott glared at him. The vampire pissed him off. Well... Jason pissed him off too. Couldn't make up his mind which one pissed him off more. Scott guessed it was whoever was closest. Or spoke.
Or existed.
Which, right now, was the both of them in the kitchen, staring at Julia. The timer beeped and he set the food down in front of Julia, who began shifting the steaming pile around with a fork.
Her hunger beat along the inside of his skull. “Please, Julia, you're killing me, eat.”
Julia smiled at him. “You can feel I'm hungry?” Her eyebrows arched, a fork full halfway to her mouth, frozen.
“Yeah, it's driving me crazy, now shovel.”
“She was always a shitty eater,” Jason commented and Scott felt his face go hard.
Jason studied Scott, sensing and seeing his irritation. “Y'know, you're gonna have to simmer down, Singer. We were married... we were close.”
Julia took a cautious bite of food, studiously avoiding memories of Tony’s beating so she could keep food down while ignoring the rising testosterone. Easier thought than done. Scott set a glass of milk in front of her and after a long moment of staring at it she took a sip as her eyes went from a glaring Scott to a satisfied Jason.
“You were married but a day or two,” William stated.
“Don't discount me knowing her,” Jason said, turning on the vampire while Scott began to grin. Wasn't this entertaining as hell.
“I know her as well, you dolt. She was the one who cried and bled for two years without you. Who ran to escape the many who would claim her against her will.”
Julia felt the food she'd eaten slide down in a solid lump to a stomach that had begun churning. She pushed her plate away.
“Can we talk about Reagan?” she asked as the vampire and her... husband argued about who was the most intimate with her.
William stood seething at Jason for a moment, then like melting ice, his former irritation slid off his face and it was the one she knew so well: controlled, hard, and worthy. Fierce intelligence lay in the deep gray of his gaze as he peered out at them.
“The Singers have their ancient text: the Book of Singers.” His eyes touched on Jason, “yours is Luna... and for Vampire, it is Blood.” He said that last as if it was the most elemental of comments. “The deepest magic of all that will come to pass is doing so in this moment. We are but witnesses to history being made, in this time...” he swept his palms together, clasping his hands in a clap that caused Julia to flinch. His eyes went to Julia and they gentled from the flinty steel he gave the other men. “To answer your query: I do not know who the vampire female will be, or when it shall come to pass. Reagan seems to authenticate the prophesies of all three text. However,” his eyes grew solemn, “you may reign with help but your life is still bound by the rules that you choose in the next three days. You must bind yourself to the three of us or be faced with a life of constant guard. And certain mortality is the reality for your future.”
Scott stood behind Julia, his hands on her shoulders.
William's eyes held compassion and Jason's customary anger swam in his gaze. “I'll do it for her. Because it's the only way to release the Combatant and the constant guard, because she'll be safe and live forever, apparently. But don't expect me to live with her, love her. I'll do whatever...” Julia watched his hand rake through his sandy longish hair, his hazel eyes blazing out of his face like chipped ice. “I might have to seal the deal, but I'm not going to be her husband after—afterward.”
William turned to look at him. “So you would punish her because of circumstance beyond her control. Because you could not live the life you envisioned for the two of you?”
“You make me sound like an ass when you say it like that,” Jason said and Scott barked out a laugh. Jason glared at him, carefully avoiding eye contact with Julia. “You stay out of it.”
“No,” Scott said in a clipped word. “I'm so far in I don't have a choice. Does the words soul meld mean anything? Even if I wanted to chuck her nine miles away from me I'd die first. Hell, I manifested the crazed form when she was in danger and the vamps showed up. My ship is sunk, pal. So deal.”
Julia let the tears fall. She felt like she'd been crying for over two years. She was tired of being sad. Of disappointment and disappointing. “Does anyone want to be with me just because?” she asked to the room at large.
Everyone was quiet.
She stood. “Yeah, thanks for the grub, soulmate,” Julia said and Scott came forward.
“I'm sorry, Julia... you know I love you.”
“'Cuz you have to.” Julia nodded at him and moved away, her body growing colder without his beside her. Julia's mind swam with her destiny in a swamp of sadness, the sludge of her thoughts leaving a tra
il of murk that could never be erased, cleansed- eased.
Her eyes found Jason's and she saw the spark of who she'd known before he covered his expression with indifference. He didn't try to touch her.
That was probably for the best.
William laid his hands on both of hers. His were like softened ice that melted against the heat of her touch. He laid his cool lips against her forehead. “I care... most ardently.”
“I believe you, William,” she whispered against his face, feeling like she didn't have an advocate in the world.
He released her just when he should have and Julia left the house.
They let her go. So many words left unsaid.
So many still lingering in the air, the wounds of them laid open for all.
*
William
“Fools,” William hissed in displeasure as soon as Julia was out of hearing range.
Jason scoffed, “I only have to play nice to get the deed done then I can escape this bullshit and do what I want with who I want.”
Scott's fists clenched and he moved forward. “You talk about her like she is a chore, a duty. If it is so bad, then let another of the Were take your place so that he can love her. You're too full of your own crap to see you're taking chunks out of her.”
“She is fragile, Jason. Everyone empathizes with your turning. It was not ethical; should not have been done. A Were or Vampire should be born of that blood union, not forced. Yet, it is done.” William gave a sudden smile and the two men gave him puzzled expressions back. “Did I tell you it was two years before Julia kissed me... willingly?”
Jason was at his throat even as William held him off. “Did you force yourself on her?” Jason asked, talons at William's neck.
“I am not interested in such things, Were,” William answered as if five would-be knives were not pressed against his throat. If he could have, William would have smiled; Jason's self-denial was painfully obvious to anyone who looked.
“Then what do you mean?” Scott asked as he moved closer.
Jason dropped his hand from William's throat as he laid fingers on the tender skin. “You do not behave as if you do not care...”
Jason made a dismissive noise. “Explain,” he barked.
William stepped back from the advancing pair. “Do not unleash your anger at circumstances on me. You both need me for Julia, so listen with your minds instead of your raging testosterone.”
“You're a guy, even though you're a vampire...” Jason said.
William smirked. “I am male, but the burden of that part of humanity is easily contained.”
“Right,” Scott said like he didn't believe it.
William leveled a look at the Singer then began, “Julia came to me so wounded, so grief-stricken she would not take nourishment. We had to force feed her, revive her. She buried herself in memories that were what she lived for, lived amongst. We feared for her life. I had to give her blood- twice.”
“I bet that sucked for you, being a vampire and all,” Jason said, sarcasm dripping from every syllable, but his face was troubled by the revelation.
William scowled, swiping at him with a palm. “Silence.”
“Let the vamp finish,” Scott said.
“Yeah, because what he's saying is so riveting,” Jason said.
They stared at him.
“Fine,” Jason replied.
“In any event, but a night before she was taken by the Were she came to me of her own volition and that was when I knew.”
“Knew what?” Scott asked, planting his fists on his hips, bracing himself for words he hoped would not come. Knowing they would anyway.
“That I loved her. That I love her like the moon loves the stars... with a jealous persistence that borders on obsession. So if it be that you do not, I have enough love for Julia for the two of you as well.”
“You just can't wait to be with her,” Jason grated out.
William shook his head. “You are pathetic. If you think sharing sex with Julia is all that I wish, then you know nothing, have been listening... to nothing.”
Scott looked from one to the other of them. “I want the whole package. I'm not trying here, I have no choice, I'm wired to love her. Of course... I do want her that way, I'm a guy... but I'm not going to put her mind at risk. As a Combatant her emotional protection is just as worthy as the physical.”
William gave him a nod of agreement. “After all,” he spread his palms away from his body, “an emotionally compromised person can't rule anything, for their feelings rule them.”
Jason’s breath exploded in an exhaustive exhale. “You guys are just so goddamned reasonable.” He folded his arms across his chest, trying to engage in the conversation, obviously not wanting to be there- talking to them.
“How will it help Julia if we are not?” William countered, his eyes nailing Jason, cornering him with logic.
Jason stared at him then heaved another sigh of disgust, his eyes drilling the Singer and vampire. “I don't want to share her.”
“You don't even want to be with her. You just got done telling us you want to just do the initial ceremony and be done with it.” Scott shoved his hands in his pockets, brows raised, leaning forward as his gaze locked with Jason's. He was shelving his anger and his natural possessiveness for the sake of argument, and her future safety.
“Yes, extolling your feelings on the subject is not something you shy from,” William added.
“Don't you understand?” Jason asked, his anger flaring as he flung his hands away from his body, “that if I have her, as a man has his wife... even once... I won't be able to live with her like we were supposed to?”
“Can't live with her...” Scott began, loving that his turmoil wasn't exclusive to him.
“And you cannot live without her,” William finished.
“Finally... fuck,” Jason said, plowing his fingers through his hair in irritation, “... you two brainiacs have figured it out.”
“What could she have seen in you?” William asked. For as far as he was concerned, Jason of the Were was as loud-mouthed, profane, and insensitive man as they came. Putting Julia with him made William's head hurt and his teeth ache. It was like placing fine china in front of a raging bull.
Jason laughed low and without humor. “I think the Were could let you in on the why of what I am now. But let's put it this way: I was a Singer that wasn't supposed to be turned. I did. I survived and I'm a “red” which is doubly shit... and now the girl I married, protected... and yeah, drinker, loved—is some Queen of the freaks I didn't know about and ready to enter a marriage with two other guys instead of just me. So I'm. Kinda. Pissed. Off. Right. Now,” he said in slow enunciated anger.
“Okay,” Scott said, raking his fingers through his short black hair in a direct mimic to Jason's irritation moments before. “I feel your pain...”
Jason opened his mouth and Scott held a palm up. “Let me finish. I didn't even like Julia when I met her.”
Jason's face showed surprise.
“Truly?” William asked, searching his face for deceit and Scott gave an uneasy chuckle at his expression.
“Yeah, I thought Julia was some prima donna thrust on us by the Book. That as the Rare One she'd have all the power without being raised in the Regions. She just fell into it. Julia shows up looking all fragile and...” He met their eyes, “beautiful. And I'm pissed,” he banged his own chest with his fist. “Because goddammit, every male instinct I had wanted was to protect her, and I was attracted to her...”
“So you fought this?” William asked.
Scott just nodded.
“What happened?” Jason asked, despite himself.
“We accidentally touched and... well, the meld happened and changed everything. My body already knew, it was that one touch... and it was over.”
“Her blood chose you,” William murmured.
Scott gave a single stiff miserable nod.
“So you didn't want her either?” Jason aske
d, incredulous.
“No, I did... but somehow, I feel like my choice has been stolen. Then you mix in you two.” He made a stirring motion with his finger and shrugged. “It kinda sucks.”
Jason smiled and it never reached his eyes. “I guess we're in the same boat.”
Scott's serious face swung to his. “Not even close.”
Jason's smile vanished like it had never been, his hands dropping to his sides. “How do ya mean?”
“I mean, I love her. I can't be poetic about it like... William,” Scott said, naming him reluctantly. “But I do. And I don't know if she'll want to do it if you just... use her.”
Jason got a sick look on his face. “I'd never do that. I'm not some dick nozzle.”
William smiled, the tip of his fangs showing. Or maybe they'd gotten longer as he smelled the discord and his vampire nature responded to it like a match struck. “She is untried, Jason. Surely you, of all people, are aware.”
Jason gave him a dark look, full of warning. “Careful what you say next, vamp.”
William inclined his head in acknowledgment. “You cannot deflower a woman you have made human vows with, then leave her because you cannot stand what your new life has become, might become. Julia does not carry a casual spirit. She's a woman whose heart will follow once she gives her body. In fact, despite your accidental violence, she remains in love with you. If you cannot respect her vulnerability and trust, then you should bow out and let another take your stead. So that Julia may have opportunity for that husband to genuinely love her.”
Jason was still and silent for so long that Scott and William thought he'd leave without speaking. He began to walk away but turned at the last moment. His eyes took in the two males, both black haired, one with pale skin and gray eyes, the other with eyes so black they were like stamps of coal in his face. Scott looked brutal as a constant, only tender when Jules was near.
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