“Oh.”
“The problem is we don’t know,” he went on. “There could be a cure and all you have to do is swallow a pill and the Magic is gone and you’re free to go back to whatever life you lived before this nightmare started. In that case, you have my full support. Or there might not be one and taking your Magic from you would be the equivalent of killing you. If that’s true, then I won’t let that happen to you. No matter how hard you fight me. I will not watch you kill yourself to get rid of this Magic. Besides, it’s not as bad as you think it is. I mean, it can be. But it can also be… good. And you can still live a full life despite it. You could still finish school, still spend time with your family. It’s not the end of the world, alright? I won’t let you believe that it is.”
“I don’t believe it’s the end of the world,” I told him quickly. “It’s not the life I wanted to live, but I can see that it’s not the worst thing that could happen to me. You know, now that I’ve adjusted somewhat.”
His grim face broke out into a breathtaking smile and he kissed me chastely on the cheek. His warm, surprisingly soft lips lingered against my skin before he forced himself to pull away. My heart beat wildly in my chest and my Magic seemed to flare around me. It took everything in me not to turn into him, not to meet his lips and let our bodies, and our Magics, lead us to forbidden places.
He seemed to read my thoughts and pulled away. Putting distance between us on the couch, he slid to the opposite side while I pulled my knees to my chest. He ran a rough hand through his hair and apologized, “I’m sorry about that. I guess Sebastian was right to some degree.” His bright eyes flashed to mine, more mossy green than any other color. His hand rubbed at the back of his neck and he looked very uncomfortable, “I didn’t know… I mean, I hope you believe me when I say that… that I didn’t know I would affect you like that. There was no way for me to know that we would connect strong enough to change you.”
“So this hasn’t happened to you before?” I gestured at the unseen Magic floating around us, already wrapped up in each other without either of us giving them conscious permission.
“Er, no.” He tugged on his collar and I fought the urge to smile. It wasn’t playing fair if he was going to be all adorable. “Not for lack of trying, though.”
“Will you tell me?”
With a sidelong glance and twitching fingers he gave me a slow, reluctant nod. “I know you heard in the car, earlier with Sebastian, Eden and I used to date. She’s the Queen now but back then we were just these kids trying to figure out life. Before she was Queen, Kiran’s dad was in charge. And Kiran’s family had been in charge for millennia, since the beginning. Our race was dying and Lucan was more of a tyrant than any of the other kings. Our Kingdom was suffering and until Eden and her brother Avalon, there hadn’t been a solution. They’re twins. That’s important to us.”
“I remember,” I told him.
He looked at me then, drinking me in with his intensity. “I forget how quickly you catch on.” Clearing his throat he continued, “Anyway, because Eden and Avalon were in so much danger from the moment they were born, their grandfather separated them at birth.”
“Where were their parents?” I asked out of sheer curiosity.
He waved off the question. “This is a really complicated story; we don’t even have time to get into that.” He shook his head and then with a rushed breath he said, “Kiran’s dad was in love with Eden’s mom and Eden’s dad happened to be Lucan’s closest friend and bodyguard. Eden’s mom and dad ran away and eloped in order to be together and lived on the run for the rest of their lives. When Delia gave birth to Eden and Avalon, she dropped them off at Amory’s house- her dad and the rightful King- and let him protect them. Amory split them up so they wouldn’t be found out.”
I sucked in a deep breath at the same time Jericho did. “You were not kidding. That is the definition of complicated.”
My head was spinning but Jericho went on with his story, a little bit slower this time. “Anyway, Amory didn’t have that many people in his life that he trusted. So, Avalon went to live with one of Amory’s oldest friends, an Immortal. You met her at the castle, her name’s Angelica. And Eden went to live with a human he knew, the doctor at the Citadel, Sylvia. Amory kept Eden in the same city where he lived so he could watch over her, since she wasn’t in the protection of an Immortal, but Eden mostly grew up human. She had no idea about Magic or her powers or the Rebellion or Monarchy. She knew nothing until she was sixteen. Her powers kept manifesting in these insane ways and so Amory was forced to enroll her at Kingsley. That’s uh, that’s a school for people like us.”
“Sure,” I said evenly. They had their own community and Kingdom; it only made sense that they had their own schools. “Is that in Romania, too?”
“No,” Jericho said with a faint smile. “Omaha, Nebraska.”
“Naturally,” I deadpanned.
With a bigger smile, he went on, “Anyway, by sheer coincidence, Eden started school at the same time Kiran moved to Omaha due to an arranged marriage. He was the Crown Prince at the time. Omaha was a safe enough place for him and his dad wanted him to get acquainted with his future bride.”
“Seraphina,” I put in. I’d learned that much before.
“Right, okay.” Jericho seemed a little put off that I already knew that piece of gossip but he continued, “Well, Kiran and Eden ran into each other and kept running into each other. They immediately developed a very strong connection but it was more than just physical attraction. Slowly, they grew into this relationship that kind of defied everything either one of them was supposed to be doing. Kiran, son of the King, Crown Prince and future Monarch was supposed to marry a politician’s daughter and rule the Kingdom in the same fashion as his father. He was supposed to perpetuate the prejudice and racism we’d lived with for centuries, continue to hunt and murder Shifters and above all keep the Magic separate. Eden on the other hand, was supposed to join the Resistance like her grandfather and brother and bring down the Monarchy. Amory moved Avalon and me to Omaha in order to kill Kiran. But then Eden and Kiran fell impossibly in love and everything changed.”
“So where do you come into play?” This was a long story and he hadn’t even dated Eden yet.
“I had a, uh, a thing for Eden. I mean, it was definitely mutual… but I was kind of the losing side of the love triangle. She was attracted to me. She was in love with Kiran. In reality, I didn’t stand a chance. And if I’d been any smarter I would have seen that from the beginning. But I was nineteen and full of myself. And I knew that Kiran was the bad guy. Like at his core, at that time, he was a bad guy. Just like his father and on his way to ruling just like his father. Eden saw something that honestly nobody else saw, something I was convinced she’d imagined. So while the two of them got closer, I sat back and fell for Eden all by myself. Somehow I convinced myself all I had to do was wait. Kiran would reveal his true stripes in a matter of time and then she would see. Besides, he was engaged to another girl and it was common knowledge that if Kiran’s dad found out who Eden was, he would kill her. Like I said, all I had to do was wait.”
I waved him on with my hand, impatient for the rest of this story. His eyes focused on something across the small cabin and I realized I’d lost him to the memories of his past. “So what happened? Obviously she’s with Kiran now, so did she never figure it out?”
“Oh no, the opposite. Like I knew would happen, Kiran revealed his true self. He managed to get her grandfather murdered and her brother, along with most of the Resistance, captured and thrown into the Monarchy’s prison. Kiran sold her out to his dad. In his mind, he did the right thing. Or he thought so at the time. His dad knew who Eden was from minute one and Kiran bargained for her life by handing over Avalon and Amory. Lucan immediately destroyed Amory as soon as he had him and there was proof of Amory’s plan to overthrow the Throne. And then Lucan took Avalon in hopes to absorb his Magic and then kill him as well. Kiran somehow imagined that all this
would be okay with Eden because now they could be together. She obviously didn’t see things that way and politely declined his invitation to become his wife. Or, actually, retracted her initial agreement. For all intents and purposes, Eden’s affection for Kiran had killed any chance of a rebellion we’d had. She trusted the wrong person and he proved that.”
“But they’re married now,” I pointed out stupidly. I kind of liked Eden, but this story made no sense. How could she possibly be married to a person who betrayed her like that?
“Yes, they are. But in between then and now, I stepped in. We’d always had this... thing between us. And when we found ourselves working alone- the last of the Rebellion- we came together naturally.”
“You didn’t get captured?”
“No, I did,” he told me. “Kiran immediately saw the error of his ways. But so had Eden. She declared war on the Monarchy and dedicated herself to bringing it down. She was alone, and in danger. Kiran released me to be with her. He wanted her protected, even if they were enemies now. He couldn’t send her brother without his dad realizing what he was doing, so he sent me instead. The next best thing. And that’s when we… that’s when I fell in love with her. It was hard not to. She’s, well, she’s Eden.”
Irrational jealousy surged through my body. I felt my face flush with the intensity of it. I replayed his flippant words through my head and resisted the blinding urge to rip Eden’s pretty hair out of her pretty head. When there’s no other way to explain a girl except by saying her name, as if that sums her up completely, you can bet your life he had it bad for her.
“Finish the story, Jericho, it doesn’t make sense to me yet,” I snapped.
His lips twitched, but some concern for his own life kept him from smiling or laughing. “Anyway, it didn’t last long between us. I thought I loved her more than anything and I thought she felt the same way. But what Kiran and she had… It was just… I couldn’t compete with that. Actually, I didn’t want to compete with that. I didn’t want to be second choice or the alternate. I wanted what they had. I wanted that intense love that seemed to consume them, that ate them alive. I wanted to love that deeply and be loved that absolutely. And so I bowed out. I let her go. By that time they were pretty much working things out anyway. Not that Eden would ever admit that. But, I could see it. I could feel her pulling away and I knew I had to cut my losses before I couldn’t.”
I relaxed some at the admission that even though he thought he loved Eden, he realized there were ways to love someone more. I didn’t want to examine those feelings too closely, but they soothed my ego and my emotions.
“How did Kiran win her back?” I asked out of pure curiosity.
“He became the man she deserved,” he answered simply.
“And she was able to forgive him for everything he did to her?”
A small smile tugged at Jericho’s lips when he answered, “It wasn’t easy, for either of them. But they were young enough and naïve enough to make mistakes that only youth should make. By the time they came back together they had matured by necessity and could approach their relationship how two people that in love should love each other. I’m not saying I didn’t have hurt feelings, but Eden and Kiran belong together. They were meant to be.” He paused and then looked up at me through thick eyelashes, conveying some kind of emotion that I didn’t have a name for. When he spoke again his words carried an impossible weight that I didn’t know if I could shoulder, “In our culture, and because we spend so much time being married, we believe in soul mates. We believe in finding the right person to share forever with. Our Magic can connect with almost anyone if we try hard enough, but there are certain attachments that seem to bond quicker, where the Magic just naturally unites before there is even this conscious thought about it. Soul mate doesn’t necessarily mean love at first sight; it’s more like love at last sight… when we can’t pull apart or separate ourselves, when our Magics have fused and bonded beyond explanation… that’s when we know. That’s how we recognize our soul mate.”
I shivered. How could I accept those words? That was almost exactly the definition of what was happening between the two of us. And I just didn’t know how to process that.
“Jericho,” I whispered.
“Liv,” he said seriously, cutting off whatever I was going to say. “I’ve waited a long time for that… for what I gave up with Eden. There are things between you and me that make our relationship intense and draw us closer together. I feel them and I know that you feel them too. But you need to know that you’re not trapped. You’re in control. Always. Nothing happens unless you want it to happen. And I don’t mean that we simply keep kissing because we are too selfish to stop and then accidentally end up in a situation we can’t reverse. We know what’s going on now, yes? We aren’t going to be stupid about it. You decide. Make the conscious choice. Nothing happens unless you actively want it to. Now that we know the stakes, everything we do from here on out will be deliberate and thought through. okay?”
I nodded because I was physically incapable of speaking. How could I respond to that? What would I say?
He’d basically all but put the ball in my court without giving me a single insight into how he felt about us together? And not just casually hooking up! But like together forever.
I didn’t even get to butterfly my way through the honeymoon phase and then quit when I realized he actually irritated the bejeezus out of me. And I still didn’t know how he felt about me.
But it wasn’t exactly like I could ask and force some kind of declaration out of him. Either way I wasn’t sure I wanted to know yet. If he didn’t like me enough… ouch. If he liked me that much? Yikes!
With those crazy thoughts spinning through my head, he reached out and took my hand. At the contact I marginally relaxed and breathed just a little bit easier.
We rode out the rest of the trip in silence. But really… what else was there to say?
And now, on the brink of all that overwhelming knowledge I had to introduce him to my family.
Perfect.
Chapter Nineteen
Jericho
This was going to be awkward.
We pulled into the driveway of Olivia’s two story happy home in the suburbs of Chicago. She had been growing increasingly agitated the closer we got to her house and I didn’t know how to comfort her.
I didn’t want to brag or anything, but honestly , handling women was my specialty.
But I was at a loss with what to do with Liv.
She’d been pushing me away since the plane, both with her Magic and her words.
Now we were sitting in her driveway while gentle snow flurries drifted across the clear windshield of the rented Porsche Cayenne. The full moon reflected off the thick blanket of snow covering every inch of ground, even while the stars stayed hidden behind the haze of the city.
Talbott and Titus were hidden somewhere in between the neat rows of American suburbia, waiting for Terletov to arrive. We’d called in more Guard to back us up, but we’d had a good head start and they weren’t due to arrive in Illinois for another few hours.
The darkness of night seemed less oppressive because of the brightness of the snow that glowed in the moonlight; it muffled the world around us in hushed stillness, and now that the engine was off, the quiet between Olivia and I seemed to stretch into infinity.
“Liv,” I whispered, both afraid to let the silence continue and to break it. “What are you going to tell you parents?”
After several moments of thought, she asked, “Is the truth completely out of the question?”
“I think the truth is all you have to offer at this point,” I told her. “They will notice a difference immediately. And then there’s the whole thing with your eyes. I mean,” I cleared my throat, a little nervous to remind her. “I mean, they are purple.”
“My parents will be able to tell that I’m Immortal?” she asked sounding so pure and innocent I wanted nothing more than to erase my world from hers. If I
could give her anything, I would take her back to the time she didn’t know about Immortals or what we could do to her… how we could hurt her… how we could bond her to us and erase every single things she’s faced and been through until there was only one.
Until there was only me.
I would do that for her, because despite my own selfishness and hope that maybe I wouldn’t spend the next three hundred years alone. I had begun to feel something for her that went far beyond attraction and an easy connection. Because even if I could have this girl in just her sweet, naïve human state, I would.
I had begun to feel something that went beyond my Magic.
I was falling for this girl.
And she wanted to leave me.
Not that I hadn’t been here before.
Shit, it was depressing in my head.
“Not exactly Immortal,” I explained. “But they will be able to tell something is different, off.”
“You’ll go in with me?” She sounded tiny and so insecure that all I wanted to do was wrap my arms around her, pull her into my lap and hold her there until the world was right again, not just any kind of right, but right for her. However she wanted it, that’s how I wanted it to be.
“I’ll go with you,” I promised. “Always. For as long as you want me to, I’ll stay.” In that moment, my heart felt like an empty glass: hollow, with breakable walls and an open mouth that could be filled with whatever she wanted to pour inside. It could remain empty or be filled with acid; it could be thrown on the ground and shattered or put high on a shelf and forgotten. I knew those words were true as they fell out of my mouth. I’d never said truer words, but they hurt despite their honesty. And they fell at the mercy of a girl that I had come to care deeply for, but that didn’t want me, my world or any part of the woman she’d been forced to become.
She turned her head without moving her body and met my gaze. Her blonde hair, clean and styled from the shower and bathroom on the plane, fell over one of her eyes, clouding her expression in seductive mystery. She had no idea how beautiful she was or what her beauty could do to me.