"What?"
Before I could react, she turned her mouth against my fangs, slicing open her bottom lip.
The tinge of angel blood hit my tongue just as she once again leaned over Cassius and kissed his mouth, breathing out the word, "Live."
Genesis
"Green?" I repeated. "Like Ethan-green or milky green?"
"What the hell does milky green mean?" Mason scowled. "And they're Ethan-green — almost creepy."
My face cracked into a wide smile. "Does that mean I'm a vampire now?"
"Does your face itch?"
"What?"
Mason shrugged. "Does it itch?"
"No."
"Do you smell berries?"
"Huh?"
"Just answer the question," he growled.
I sniffed the air. "No, I smell… wood burning."
He grinned. "Then you aren't a werewolf."
"Gee, thanks." I tried to get up, but he moved around me and tugged my body to a sitting position. "I was worried there for a second. Do werewolves really smell berries?"
"Sometimes." He chuckled, brushing a kiss across my forehead. "To vampires we smell like burning wood… outdoors, warm."
I nodded and leaned in. "I like the way you smell."
"Care to keep your paws to yourself, Mason?" Ethan said from the door, his grimace turning into a grin as he strode in and practically threw Mason off me and pulled me into his arms. "Your eyes are green."
"Why do people keep telling me what color my eyes are?"
"Because," Mason said from his spot behind Ethan, "it's a sign."
"Of what?"
"Greatness." Ethan's mouth found mine; his tongue tasted like sugar.
With a moan, I threw my arms around his neck and tugged him harder against me.
Mason coughed.
Ethan waved him away, moving onto the bed, pulling my body tightly against his.
Our mouths were fused together. I never wanted to let go — never wanted to breathe if it wasn't heavy with his taste, his scent.
I forgot about the feather in my hands, pushing it against his chest.
Ethan flinched and pulled back with a hiss. "Sariel?"
I nodded. "He was with me… when I closed my eyes."
"Well, I'll be damned," Mason muttered under his breath. "The archangels rarely visit immortals, and now you're saying you spent actual time with him?"
"After my kidnapping," I muttered.
"Doesn't matter." Mason's eyebrows shot up. "Time is their currency, to spend time with any being — when you're an angel — is a gift."
I lifted the feather to my face, the purple shining in the light of the room.
Ethan reached out and touched the edges of the feather. "When an angel gives one of his feathers, it's like wishing on a star. Tell me, what did Sariel say to you?"
"He said to choose," I whispered, and he gave me the feather.
"The desire of your heart." Ethan's eyes shone with green. "Cassius may have saved you — granted you immortality — but it was Sariel who let you choose how you'd return."
"I just…" I gripped Ethan by the shoulders. "I just wanted you."
"You have me," he vowed, kissing my mouth hard, "for an eternity."
Mason coughed again.
"Then leave!" Ethan growled over his shoulder. "Nobody's asking you to watch."
A loud male scream pierced the air.
"Cassius," Mason and Ethan said in unison.
In a flash, I was in Ethan's arms, being carried into the room next to us. He set me on my feet just as Cassius jerked up from the bed, his eyes white, veins in his neck pulsing blue.
Stephanie braced herself over him protectively.
He reached for her arms, gripping her shoulders so hard I wanted to flinch on her behalf. "What have you done?"
"What needed to be done," she whispered.
With a groan, he touched his forehead to hers gently, something that seemed odd for him to do. He was always so abrasive, big, looming, scary.
It was then I noticed that Stephanie didn't look the same. Her hair was black, her eyes matching Cassius's.
Alex entered the room.
The temperature rose a few degrees. I felt like a fight was about to break out. But instead of Alex lunging for anyone, he simply gripped the wall and watched as if fascinated by what was taking place.
"What did she do?" I whispered in Ethan's ear.
Ethan's eyes narrowed, searching.
I followed his gaze and nearly fell to my knees when I saw the blood drenching Stephanie's chest.
"She gave him… her heart." Ethan's hoarse voice pierced the silence in the room. "The only good a Dark One possesses."
"Wait? What does that mean?" I asked.
Right before my eyes, Stephanie's glow faded. Her eyes turned blue, her hair stayed black, but her skin was no longer glowing.
"It means," Cassius's voice rumbled, "she gave her essence, her immortality, to me."
Alex sighed from the door. "It means she's now human."
Stephanie nodded slowly and whispered, "It was worth it."
Ethan
I'd never seen it actually done before — an immortal giving essence to another. Only Dark Ones were fully capable of doing it. They were the strongest, after all.
And now. She was nothing.
Stephanie swayed toward Cassius.
He caught her body with his hands, his eyes swirling white. "Why would you do this?"