Marked by Masks and Secrets (Everlasting Possession, #1)

by Maggie Sunseri

The way his gaze pierced straight through me, as if we’d already met countless times before—as if I meant something to him, somehow. Men like him were dangerous, scheming creatures. Especially ones with a fixation on Rune and Valentin’s war against the born. I was glaring down at the package now, lost in a daze of irritation. How dare he call me angel or princess as if we were lovers. As if he even knew me.

I’d always gotten along better with older humans than people my own age. I generally didn’t even bother with witches, fearing they’d pity or distrust me for not belonging to a coven. Or worse, they’d immediately know how different I was and shun me. I preferred to reject others before they could reject me. And, hey, points for self-awareness.

I might never see Kylo again, but whatever it was that he made me feel, that was what I wanted. That was what I deserved.

He was a poison I couldn’t stop drinking, the same as the magick I’d locked away long ago. He was a contradiction, an anomaly. Just like me. The story didn’t make sense. Where had he gone after the lights went out? Where was he when the masked man scooped me into his arms? I thought for sure it had been Kylo speaking to me. How did he get to safety? Why did the exact same masked man save me both in the alley and in the library? I recognized his mannerisms and build, the frightening shadow skull mask. His flirtation. I knew that he made me feel the same way that Kylo did. Alive. So fucking alive.

“Because then I’d no longer be pure, which would mean I was worthless,” I said. “And therefore, safe.” Kylo flinched as if I’d hit him. “Evie…” He searched my eyes, but I felt farther and farther away, as if I wasn’t entirely in this room anymore. Like I was floating backward. “Hey,” he said, his voice a sharp hook that reeled me back to the present. “You’re safe, baby. Come back to me.”

I’d grown accustomed to the piercing ache of my fangs by now, only occasionally needing to take deep breaths and sober myself as a precaution against bloodlust. But gods, it was only getting stronger. My need for her. My growing dependence that would lock into place irreversibly the moment her blood met my tongue.

“I love your compassion, too,” I said. I held her face in my hands. “But the majority of people don’t go through life intentionally harming people. Just because someone can rationalize the pain they inflict doesn’t mean you need to shove your feelings under the rug for them. Your feelings matter, Evie. Just as much as someone’s logic.”

“I love you too.” Tears pooled in my eyes. “I don’t want to, but I do.” Kylo smiled. “That’s a lie. I think you want to love me very badly.” “Mena and Idris are the only people who I’ve ever let in,” I said softly, scraping the words out despite every protest from my body. Something loosened and shattered irreversibly. A dam broke, and more words poured through. “I’m in love with you, but I don’t want to be, because the people who were born to love me unconditionally, whose sole purpose was to protect me from harm…” I faltered, tears spilling free. Kylo frowned deeply, catching the tears with his thumbs. “They didn’t. They didn’t love me,” I said, a sob building in the back of my throat. “They didn’t protect me. All they did was use me. All they did was throw me and Idris to the wolves. So yes, I apologize for my own existence because that was what I was taught. That love is something strived after endlessly, never freely given. And if I put my trust in someone to protect me, they’re just going to betray me and crush my heart beyond repair.”

“I don’t love like a normal person, Evie darling,” he said, low and gravely. My core tightened in anticipation. “I don’t do anything like a normal person,” he said with dark humor. “Because I love you, you aren’t merely mine to care for and protect. You’re also mine to torment. Mine to toy with. To possess. To own. To flood with pleasure until you’re begging for relief—relief that will never come. You’re mine to mark and bite and claim and fucking destroy until you’re nothing but a needy mess at my feet, pleading with your God for mercy.”

“Angel, I’m not sure addicted covers how fucking obsessed I am with you,” he said, his voice raw and quivering with intensity. “You have me downright consumed. In a way that should terrify the both of us. And, likely, the entire realm.” I stared up into those blue depths. Masked Kylo was sexy, but I was ready to stare into his soul for the rest of the night. “I’m not scared,” I said. Kylo grinned. “Neither am I.”