"I was hot!" I yelled, happy that my voice was back but still shaking from the pain. It was still there — the searing heat — but it was bearable.
"I had it under control," a voice said from the corner.
I pulled the blankets and covered myself as Mason stepped out of the shadows, now looking like his normal self.
"You didn't need to interfere, Ethan."
"She's. Not. Yours." Ethan hissed.
"Now you claim me," I mumbled.
His jaw popped, as if he'd been trying to clench his teeth but had overdone it and nearly dislocated his entire face. "If you would have given in right away, your clothing wouldn't have been an issue!"
"So it's my fault." My lower lip trembled. "Is that what you're saying?"
"Damn it, Ethan." Mason made his way to the bed and threw another blanket over my body. I'd completely forgotten I was still naked — and arguing — probably because I was still so hot. "Just leave."
"She's my mate." Ethan released me but didn't leave his position next to me on the bed.
Mason hung his head. Dark circles framed his eyes. "Then do what's best for her. Just leave her be."
"If I leave, the marking won't be complete."
"She's been through enough this evening. Let her rest before the final stage. I think it's the least you can do… considering."
Ethan hung his head and whispered, "For my sacrifice… I'm the bad one in this scenario?"
"You became the bad one in this scenario the minute you heard your mate's screams and didn't come running. Now get out." Mason growled the last part so loud my ears started to ring.
Ethan cursed and stomped toward the door, leaving me.
I learned something in that instant.
He was a jerk.
No, he was a selfish ass.
But I missed him.
And I hated both him and myself because he'd turned away, and I needed him to be close.
My body yearned for him.
And the heat returned full force; I threw off the blanket then panicked and grabbed it again.
"I'm not going to seduce another immortal's mate." Mason rolled his eyes, "Just… try to stay still."
"If I close my eyes," I whispered. "Will I keep dreaming… things?"
Mason nodded slowly. "It's part of the process. The pain will come and go three times in the next twelve hours. You survived the first. Now you have two more."
"And Ethan?" My body shook with fear.
"Is an ass." Mason shrugged. "But I'll be here. I've seen worse, believe me. When my…" His voice died, and with it, his eyes closed. "Never mind. Just know, it will pass, and when you open your eyes, I'll be here. With water."
"And a margarita," I added, thinking that next to Ethan it sounded like the best thing in the world.
Mason burst out laughing. "I'll see what I can do." His eyes flickered to the clock by the bed. "You have five more minutes."
"You'll be here?" I asked in a weak voice.
He studied me, frowning before giving a firm nod. "I swear it."
"Thank you." I closed my eyes and lay back against the pillows, waiting for the next wave.
I expected Mason to stay put.
Instead, he lay down next to me and grabbed my hand. "You won't break me."
The last thing he whispered, "Sweet dreams," was funny because I knew that the next few hours would be nothing but nightmares and wanting something I knew I could never have.
Ethan
The pain was unbearable — because it was a reminder of why I hated my entire existence — why I had a reason to hate.
Cassius.
Didn't it always come back to him? After all, it had started with him. Or maybe it had just started with Ara.
Another shudder wracked my body. Bones felt like they were twisting around one another before suddenly resetting themselves over and over again.
I felt her pain.
Because she was a part of me now.
So her pain was my pain.
Only for me, it was worse.
Because it was the second time in my existence I'd experienced it — when it was only supposed to be experienced once. Immortals mated for life. That was, unless someone or something intervened.
Hands shaking, I took another drink of blood. It did nothing, or maybe it did, and I was just too bitter to allow it to heal me.
She'd been naked, inconsolable, and I'd left her.
With Mason, of all creatures. My best friend, the only being other than Alex that I trusted.
My body convulsed. Falling to my knees in front of the fireplace in my room, I lifted my head to the ceiling and listened for her cries.
It was going to be a long evening.
Made longer because I'd refused to give her what she needed to make it better. I'd thought I could do it when I walked out of that room, smug as shit. I had thought I could do it.
But the pain had been too much.
The reminder.
And then the visions I'd shared with her — too personal. She'd seen Ara. She knew the shame that consumed me — or would soon know. There would be no secrets between us, and in order for the mating to continue, I had to make sure that I completely marked her, possessed her, made her mine.
It was the last thing I'd expected this morning when the number had been called.
It had been a normal day.
As normal as my life had been for the past century.
And then Cassius had breathed her name… Genesis. And my world stopped.
His eyes had gone completely white, and then the bastard had smirked at me, like he knew the future before the present had even happened.
It was impossible to describe the need I'd felt when I walked into that throne room. I'd heard her heartbeat on the other side of the door and had given a shaky nod to Alex, who'd seemed more amused than upset at our new circumstances.
Let Cassius have another one — and fail.
Or steal her.
Fifty years ago, I had given up my request for a breeder, as had Mason. The bond hadn't lasted like it was supposed to, and even though the bliss we'd felt at the hands of the humans we bonded with was incomparable, they'd always died.
Every. Single. Time.
And we'd been the ones left to bury them.
I could bite her and hope that she'd be the one human to finally change things.
The last one had lived past one hundred and fifty — Mason's mate. We'd thought it had worked — had thanked God.
Until he'd awoken with a corpse.
I'd already lived through enough death and betrayal, and now it seemed my existence was on repeat.
"Damn it, Ethan!" Alex stomped into the room. "Could you at least hold her hand?"
"And what? Squeeze it so hard I break every fragile bone in her pathetic body?" I hissed. "Is that what you want?"
He hung his head. "She's stronger than that."
"Is she?" I snorted out a laugh. "That's what we said about the last one."
"Who lived longer than the rest," Alex pointed out. "Look, all I'm saying is there's something very wrong about having Mason up there consoling the human when she's not even his mate, when… he may have to kill her before it's complete. I can't watch him go through loss again. He's known her for less than a day, and already he's like a kicked puppy."