Elf.
Of course.
It made sense that she would be drawn to life — because a small part of her was always consciously aware that her one and only job was to produce life — and then die.
What a miserable existence.
A weak existence.
I had at least another ten hours before I needed her again.
Wanting her? That was an entirely different story. My body shook with want like I was a drug addict, my mind told me that one taste was all I needed and the burn would stop. But I knew the truth.
The burning hadn’t stopped since I’d turned fifteen.
The burning would not stop.
Until my death.
A loud knock on my door jarred my thoughts.
The door opened.
Of course it did because privacy wasn’t exactly something that was freely given at Ethan’s. But I was too much of a menace to society to live out on my own. Cassius had created a nice little protective barrier around my room making it so that the trees didn’t try to uproot themselves in an effort to fly through my window and fall prey to my seduction. In all my years living it had only happened once, and it was awkward as hell getting pinned to my own bed by a freaking branch.
“What?” I barked.
“You’re a giant asshole.” Mason seethed and then shook his head like he was trying to clear his thoughts. “Damn it, turn it off!”
“Like I can!” I yelled back at him. “You think I want you to—” I made a face. “Mason, that’s a physical impossibility and you know it.”
“OUT OF MY HEAD!”
“You need to get laid.” I smirked. “If I wasn’t mated I would do you a solid and—”
“Finish that sentence and I’m killing you. To hell with what Cassius says.” Mason growled. “I’m perfectly fine, you’ve just been… running too hot lately.”
“You’re telling me,” I whispered under my breath as a flicker of power burned beneath my skin. I thought I could hide it. But in the last few hours it had gotten worse, the need, the want, the desire to explode everything around me into tiny little fragments for my own pleasure. “Now what’s this asshole business about?”
“She fell down the stairs.” Mason lifted his chin in defiance and then smiled wickedly. “But don’t worry, Siren, I licked her wounds.”
Color exploded in my line of vision. “I’m sorry, you did what?” I rasped.
“Licked.” He took a step toward me and crossed his arms. “She tastes good, no?”
“Son of a bitch!” I charged at him slamming his body against the nearest wall as cement crumbled to the floor. “You touched mine?”
“And…” Mason wasn’t deterred. If anything, he looked downright cheerful. “I liked it.”
My fist came down on his face so hard that blood spewed from my knuckles and caked his cheek.
“That tickled.” Mason laughed through a mouthful of silver blood.
I was pulled away from him by both Ethan and Cassius.
Genesis and Stephanie came running into the room just in time to see the show.
“He licked her!” I accused.
“So?” Genesis shrugged. “Ethan bit her.”
“HE WHAT?” I roared as the room shook beneath my feet.
“If he turns into a rainbow you owe me ten dollars.” Stephanie elbowed Genesis, who nodded her head in agreement.
I couldn’t control the colors.
Pinks. Reds. Blues. Purples. They all flashed as a buzzing built in my body, my blood roared to life.
“He looks like a unicorn.” Genesis said in awe.
“Quick, a saddle!” Mason snapped his fingers at Cassius.
Vision blurring, I fell to my knees, in a desperate attempt to control my emotions. I didn’t want to kill my friends.
But it felt like a good idea.
It felt necessary.
Yes. Necessary.
Reach your full potential! A voice screamed in my head.
End them all! Just as I taught you! The pain only goes away when you lose control, Alex.
“No.” Cassius pulled the word into existence and then placed a hand on my head. “Alex you must learn to control yourself.”
“Don’t. Want. To.” I snarled. “Let me kill them!”
“They healed her when you did not.” Cassius leaned down to my eye level; his irises were a bright white. “Is that not friendship?”
“I didn’t know.”
“Bullshit,” came Mason’s reply.
“Downstairs,” Cassius whispered. “All of you.”
For once, nobody argued.
And I was left alone with the stupid angel.
The last person I wanted to be left with. Cassius saw too much. Because he saw everything, and thanks to his good ol’ angelic dad — the blood that ran through his veins was so pure it was a miracle he was able to even exist on the human plane without destroying everything in his path.
“You withhold yourself from her.” Cassius tilted his head. “Why?”
“Elf,” I managed to get out. “She is an elf.”
Cassius was quiet and then stood. “I see.”
“No, you don’t.”
“I do.” His tone was damned irritating, so calm, so rational. All of the things I wasn’t and would never be.
“I am her death.”
“No.” Cassius shuddered as he lifted his eyes heavenward, an icy mist began to fall from the ceiling. “I cannot see the future, you know this, only possibilities.”
“Mine is death.”
“You’re wrong.” Cassius’s eyes flashed white before the mist fell to the ground coating my room like an ice skating rink. “I see… Hope.”
Hope
DIRT CAKED MY fingernails as I dug into the new flowerbed and planted more of the purple tulips that the immortals found spellbinding.
Sweat poured down my back, creating a really nice stream as it made its way down my legs and into my flip-flops.
And technically — my shift ended hours ago.
But I wasn’t sure where to go.
Home?
To my apartment?
To Ethan’s house?
Where was home anyway?
Home.
Home.
Home.
I mulled the word around and was met with a solid wall of steel in my brain, like a door I couldn’t break through.
What the heck was wrong with me lately?
To make matters worse, just as promised, the numbing effects of whatever Ethan had done, had worn off hours ago, leaving me in a state of constant pain every time I tried to breathe like a normal human being.
Add that to the fact that it was already viciously hot in the compound, and I was a pile of gross.
A small part of me cheered at the thought of going back to Ethan’s, running up the stairs, and rubbing my sweaty body all over Alex’s pristine sheets.
But the smile only lasted for so long, because that certain daydream almost always ended up with me naked.
And him licking.
Always licking.
Like I was his personal lollipop.
I shuddered and walked down the dark empty hallway, my footsteps echoing squeaks across the marble floor.
I was about ten feet away from the main entrance when the door opened and clicked shut.
It was too dark to see.
Then again, I didn’t need my eyes to know who was standing mere feet from me in all his godlike glory.
“Is our time up?” I asked, hating that my hands shook at my sides waiting for his answer.
“No.” His voice was so soft, it was like he’d reached out and caressed my cheek with his words. “I was worried.”
I laughed.
He didn’t.
“I’ve been on my own a long time.” It wasn’t technically a lie since I couldn’t remember, right? “I promise, you have nothing to worry about. It’s not like anything’s going to happen to me.”
“Humans aren’t known
for their intellect,” he said with an air of condescension.
“You need to work on your compliments.”
“You smell.”
I rolled my eyes. Seriously? This guy? Was I getting punished? “Alex.” I was exhausted. Gross. And feeling pretty rejected. The last thing I needed was the most beautiful man in the world telling me I smelled. “Can you please just tell me what you need so I can go? I’m not in the mood for you right now.”
That was a lie. I was always in the mood for him since he had first touched me, claimed me. At least physically.
Mentally and emotionally, he exhausted every last nerve.
“You didn’t let me finish,” he whispered. Was he closer? I couldn’t tell. My feet were basically nailed to the ground. And then he inched out of the shadows. His purple and black hair danced with every movement. Did he just snap his fingers and change colors? His amber eyes danced with lust and with a blink turned an icy purple as he inhaled. “You smell like air.”
I was having a hard time breathing. “Good air or bad air?”
“Isn’t all air good?” His sculpted face twisted into a frown. “It keeps you alive, right?”
“So I’m good air.” I nodded, worried that if I stopped watching him, he’d suddenly appear right in front of my face and pounce. “Thanks?”
“The air tastes like your arousal. Even when you hate me, you want me… how’s that for injustice?”
“Pretty annoying, actually,” I snapped. “Thanks for asking.”
Another foot closer. Moonlight streamed in through the windows to my right. His smile was deadly, the tilt of his head so sexual that I had a hard time not leaping into his arms.
“You smell. You’re dirty.” His nostrils flared as a grimace formed. “You’re weak.”
Tears burned my eyes as my lower lip quivered, reminding me that I was seconds away from bursting into tears.
“And yet, I’ve never wanted anything more… than I want you… right now. Just…” He grabbed my dirty hand. “As…” He brought my fingers to his mouth and sucked as an explosion of red haze filled his eyes. “You are.”
My knees threatened to buckle. I hated my own weakness at his words.
“Never let Mason lick you again.” The red haze darkened. ”And if Ethan offers to bite you, you cut off a limb, understand?”
“Oh.” I gulped and stepped away. “So that’s what this is about? Possession?”
His smile illuminated the entire room. “If it was a simple possession I’d have you and go. No, this goes much deeper.” His lush lips parted as he sucked the air between us drawing me to him.
My mouth was inches from his.
My body strained toward him.
And then something slammed into me from behind.
“NO!” Alex shouted as I fell to the ground in a heap. A searing pain exploded from my head.
“So we meet again.” A gruff voice echoed through the hall, my vision blurred as two boots stepped by my head. “You know, I think that’s the first time I’ve ever been able to sneak up on you. A bit distracted, are we, Alex?”
“Go to Hell!”
“Tsk, tsk, I already live there.” The man’s accent was slight, the smell of charred wood filled the air burning my nostrils. “What have we here?”
A face filled my line of vision.
It was too handsome to be human.
His eyes were too crazed to be sane.
“You have done a poor job of covering her scent, Siren.” The man stood once more and then shrugged. “This is your warning. He’s coming. His power grows. The ten are nearly drained, but the minute he tries to drink their blood and consume their power — it dries up in his throat.”
Alex was silent for a few heartbeats.
I wanted to ask so many questions, but my head hurt so bad it felt like I couldn’t think straight, like I didn’t know how to speak.
I moaned.
Alex was at my side instantly. “You didn’t have to stun her.”
“I was curious.” The man chuckled. “At any rate, the clock is ticking. I can only hold him off for so long before he suspects me of treachery.”
“He’s an idiot if he thinks demons don’t play both sides.”
“Ah, well…” The man sighed. “He’s been a bit consumed with himself lately. He doesn’t know that he needs a bonding agent to complete the process. Once he discovers a way to do that…”
“Yeah.” Alex swore. “The end.”
“Sadly, no happily ever after. Tell me, how is Mason these days? Still eating pinecones and wishing for a mate?”
“Maybe if you visited during the day you’d find out… rather than creeping along the shadows like a freak.”
“Ah, but I am a freak.” The man sounded upset about this. “A freak during the day and the night, no matter what humans may see… I am not good. Remember that, Alex, and tell your human to pay more attention to detail. I could have killed her at least a dozen times this evening.” He bent down again and sniffed my hair. I tried to jerk away, but my arms wouldn’t cooperate. “Pretty though, very pretty.” His eyes narrowed and then went completely black, but not before I saw a flash of blue fire — it matched the fire I saw on my wrist. “What is she?”
“None of your damn business.”
Red eyes flashed and then a hiss escaped from his mouth before fangs shot out from both the top and bottom row of his teeth. “Well, well, well… This is interesting.”
Alex glared at him. “Are you finished?”
The man slammed his hand against my arm and then bit down on the spot he’d touched.
My body erupted with pain.
“You can thank me later,” he said.
And then his voice sounded in my head. “Stay safe, my Hope.”
“TIMBER!” Alex shouted.
But the man was gone.
And so was my sanity, because when I looked down at my arm, it was covered in a tattoo of fire with a gold T inscription.
I opened my mouth to ask what it was as darkness closed in on me, and I lost all consciousness.
Alex
“TRY HARDER!” I screamed until I was hoarse, but it was no use.
Cassius hung his head. “What’s done is done.”
I was seconds away from pulling my own hair out while Cassius once again placed his hand on her skin only to come back as if he’d been burned.
“You’re an archangel and still you can’t undo this?” I cried. “What good are you?”
Stephanie, my sister, glared at me. “Watch yourself, Alex.”
I ignored her and pounded my hands against the wall causing a picture to slam against the ground. “He marked her!”
“There go the family pictures.” Mason sighed.
Hope let out a little moan. My heart lurched in my chest as she blinked open her eyes and stared up at all of us hovering over her. “My head hurts.”
No shit.
She was going to be in a lot more pain if something wasn’t done. What the hell had Timber been thinking?
You know, a voice whispered.
Exactly what I’d been thinking.
Even now power surged within me, danced along my arms.
Demons sensed darkness.
And I had to wonder — if Timber knew mine.
Why was it, that I was suddenly getting the feeling that I was the only one incapable of protecting my own mate?
Mason could lick her wounds — wolf bastard.
Ethan could infuse her blood.
And I could screw her into oblivion.
Wow, good one, Alex. So useful.
As if reading my tumultuous thoughts, Cassius placed a hand on her temple and said, “I’ll take care of that.”
His statement hung in the air, thickening the tension to a choking degree while I watched her visibly relax and then stare up at me with fear-stricken eyes.
“The man at the compound,” she whispered in a small voice. “He—he did something—”
There was no time to
prepare her.
I would have done anything in my power to protect her.
But that was just it, wasn’t it? She had the most important part of a siren. My body.
I had nothing else to offer her.
I hadn’t been given the same gifts as everyone else.
And the gravity of the situation killed me.
Would she always need someone like Mason watching over her? Since I refused to tap into the rest of my power?
If he was the better mate, then what the hell was I doing?
You cannot break the bond, Cassius mind-whispered into my brain like the annoying angel he was.
I gulped and gave a stiff nod in his direction.
Once mated — breaking the bond had the potential to kill one or both partners.
My death I could handle. Hers?
We all have our parts, Cassius mind-whispered again in his creepy, holier-than-though voice.
I shoved his presence out of my brain and focused in on Hope. Color was returning to her face, but the tattoo grew. It wrapped its black tendrils up her arm, slowly creeping across her skin until it slid around her neck like a necklace fit for a queen. The symbol of a crow would appear between her breasts. I’d seen it before, and then a smaller version would kiss the back of her neck.
She was marked.
Her arms were shaking as she scratched at the black inky movements of the tattoo.
“Don’t.” I placed my hand on hers, enjoying the buzz that still hummed beneath the surface of her skin. “Touching it will only make it worse.”
Tears streamed down her cheek. “Worse? How the heck can this get any worse!” She shook her arm as her breathing turned ragged, her heart rate soared, fluttering like a million butterflies trying to break out of her body, I could feel her every fear, and I blamed myself for them.
I closed my eyes and focused on her breathing and inhaled.
She followed.
Again. I whispered in her mind.
Finally, her breathing slowed to a normal, healthy rhythm. “Demons feed off emotions just like sirens, only where we share power and grow — they drain.” I sighed, while Mason shuffled on his feet.
I didn’t want to have to say it.