"You vote for king?"
"Stop talking," I hissed, licking her hipbone then biting the sensitive flesh above it.
"O-o-okay." Genesis gripped my head and forced it down.
I chuckled. "Demanding."
"Sorry, I was… distracted."
"Allow me to distract you more." I leaned up on my knees, still hovering over her and ripped off every stitch of clothing left on my body. "Also, remind me to lock you in the bedroom for the next few weeks."
She laughed, her hands dancing across my naked chest. "You're beautiful."
"Vampires are deadly. Not beautiful."
"Fine. You're deadly."
I smiled.
"Still pretty though."
"Dangerous," I corrected her.
Her eyebrows arched.
With a hiss, I flipped her onto her stomach and moved between her thighs. "Still think I'm pretty?"
"Very." She moved up to her knees and looked over her shoulder. "Is this you trying to prove me wrong?"
With a growl, I rocked her hips back, plunging into her. "Guess I'll have to try harder."
"Yes, harder." She closed her eyes and whimpered.
With a growl, I filled her and began slowly stroking, moving. I ducked my head down and bit the side of her hip, drawing blood between my lips as I went deeper, filling every inch of her.
Eternity.
Immortality.
I experienced it only with Genesis.
And I knew my life would never be the same. Because she lived… I was forever changed.
"Ethan!" she screamed.
I pulled out and flipped her onto her back, sinking my fangs into her neck as I thrust one last time, nearly taking us both off the bed. "I love you," I whispered hoarsely against her neck. "Forever."
Epilogue
Cassius
I wandered the streets, letting the darkness consume the loneliness inside my chest. The irritating little jab that continued to beat in a melodic rhythm, reminding me that I was alive.
That she'd almost died.
I muttered a curse and pulled the hood of my jacket over my head, moving through the shadows, watching, waiting.
"You called?" an amused voice cracked into the night sky.
I flinched at the way his every syllable made my body want to convulse with anger — rage. "Yes."
"And?"
"She gave me her immortality. Is it possible to give it back?"
He stepped out of the shadows, his white hair a stark contrast to the dark air swirling around us, protecting us from watchful eyes. "Why would you want to do that?"
I hated my father, hated Sariel for forcing me into the position of king over a people who, for the most part, feared me but despised me with a hateful rage that could never be fixed. "She's weak."
Sariel smiled, folding his large arms across his chest in a manner that reminded me what he was — and what I was in comparison. Small. "There is always a way to return what has been given, but things always come at a cost. You give back the gift — you earn the same fate."
I figured as much.
"Being human, is it so horrible?" Sariel held his hands out in front of him as the cloud of darkness disappeared and people walked around us, mindless of our presence. "Some of them are happy."
"But most of them are full of fear, anger, sadness." I shook my head. "The same emotions that would overtake me if I didn't have your blood."
Sariel's eyes flashed white. "Emotions are something we don't readily experience."
I licked my lips and nodded once. "Thank you."
His eyebrows shot up. "That's a first."
I ignored him and turned my back, walking in the other direction. It was a mistake to call for him, a mistake to meet with him — only to find out that I was in the same damn position I'd been in a few days ago.
In love.
Chasing after something so forbidden that I'd risked my life in order to follow my heart.
"Thirty days," Sariel called behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder. "Thirty days?"
"Thirty days of humanity — learn to love as a human does. If she loves you in return, truly loves you as you are and mates with you, I'll restore your immortality — and allow her hers."
My heart picked up speed in my chest. "And if I fail?"
Sariel grinned menacingly. "Then I kill you. Blood must always be shed for balance. You know that by now, son."
"Thirty days," I repeated.
"Thirty days, oh, and do try not to get shot or develop a sickness that's not yet found a cure."
"I haven't agreed."
"You agreed the minute the words fell upon your ears." Sariel raised his hands above his head.
A clap of thunder sounded.
Severe pain ripped through my legs as I fell to my knees onto the cold wet pavement.
Heart racing, I reached for my chest only to find that my skin was warm to the touch.
"Thirty days," he whispered and disappeared.
Shaking, I rose to my feet, stumbling past buildings. When I finally made it out of the alleyway and into the lit up street, I glanced at my reflection in the store window and almost got sick.