"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.
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.