Just like he'd tempted Ara.
Only Ara had bitten.
And with that one bite, destroyed a part of myself I'd never been able to get back.
Until now.
Genesis
"It's snowing." I held my hand out and caught a few snowflakes. "No lake today?"
Cassius shrugged. His mood was different, darker. "I wanted the comfort cold brings me."
"Normally it's heat."
"I'm the opposite of warmth." His eyes turned white. "Therefore, it's cold that comforts. It's my fire."
I pulled the fur blanket around me. We were sitting outside a cabin in front of a roaring fire. It was beautiful; snow-blanketed the forest, making it seem enchanted.
"More questions…" Cassius sighed. "I sense them."
I stared into the fire. "What was Ethan's daughter?"
"Different question," Cassius snapped.
"Can you mate?"
Cassius let out a slew of curses. "Our punishment or maybe our prize? Women die at our hands. Human women." He shrugged. "Vampire blood and human blood co-exist. Angel blood and human blood are an abomination."
My throat went completely dry. "So it can't mix."
"It can… for a time, and then the angel blood overwhelms what weakness the human has. It makes them evil, destroys them from the inside out."
"So you can't mate."
"We don't mate," Cassius snapped, "because there is no point, Genesis."
"That's lonely."
His eyes closed. "You have no idea."
"What about other immortals. Can you mate with them?"
"Why risk more lives?" Cassius threw a piece of wood into the fire. His eyes still hadn't returned to a normal color — they were void of color, void of emotion. "Is that it for this evening?"
"One more…" I held my hands out to the fire.
He nodded.
"Is there a way to test the prophecy? To make sure it works?"
"There is always a way," Cassius sneered, "but I highly doubt it is a road you want to travel — or one your mate would let you even step foot on."
"So I wait to live or die?"
"You pass all tests, you live — and hopefully restore balance. The prophecy says a human will mate with an immortal. It will be the new beginning, and they'll have a child."
I shuddered. "I don't want to die."
Cassius's eyes met mine. "Then don't."
"Wha—" He disappeared in front of my very eyes.
And then I jolted awake, shivering in Ethan's arms.
"What did he do? Meet you in a freezer?" Ethan swore, gathering me against him, wrapping blankets tightly around my body.
"S-sorry." I shivered. "I didn't realize how cold I was."
"He thrives on the cold." Ethan rubbed my shoulders. "And clearly forgets himself if he put you in the middle of a blizzard."
"It was a snowstorm… I think… but pretty."
"Oh well, as long as it was pretty," Ethan hissed.
I tucked my head against his chest, focusing on his warmth. "We need to have a child."
Ethan's hands stopped moving. "Cassius told you that?"
"It's part of the prophecy, right?"
"Yes, but—"
"So that will make it come true, right?"
"No," he said, sadness evident in his tone. "I wish that were true, but no, Genesis, we won't know until…"
"I no longer exist." I trembled. "He said there's another way—"
"No!" Ethan yelled. He gulped in a breath released it then said more softly, "No, it isn't an option."
"Maybe if you told me."
"It's forbidden."
I pretended to be satisfied with that — but I wasn't. If there was a way to fix the balance of things, I was going to find it. Not just for me, but for Ethan — for Mason, who'd lost the love of his life — for Cassius, who seemed lonelier than Death.
If I could save them—
I had to try.
Genesis
"Ready?" Stephanie popped her gum and hooked her arm in mine. "Ethan gave me his credit card with no limit, meaning we have damage to do."
I nodded, forcing myself to smile. Something felt… wrong. I'd spent the night in Ethan's arms, yet I felt like my balance was off, like I was straddling a line and was about to get pulled over to the wrong side.
Stephanie directed me toward a white Lexus hybrid and practically shooed me inside.
"So I'm thinking Downtown, since it's close to work."
She nodded. "Work? Why would you want to work anyway? I'm just curious."
I shrugged. "I need a purpose."
"But Ethan is your purpose."
"Right, but Ethan has a job too. It's not good to be idle, you know? Plus, I'm not really good at anything… other than reading… so why not work at a bookstore? It helps out Drystan, and so far I like it."
She snapped her gum and shrugged.
Her hair was pulled back into a ponytail, exposing her neck. I was about to glance away when I noticed a mark on her neck.
"Did someone bite you?"
"Lovers all bite…" She smiled. "If they're good."
"Oh."
"Hey, relax. We're shopping. This is fun. You get to spend your mate's money, and you get me as your personal shopper for the next few hours."
I forced myself to smile and embrace the moment. "You're right."