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September 4 - September 6, 2023
“What’s so funny?” “You,” he blurted. “You Well-blessed humans from the old world are all the same. Surprising. Funny. Cute.” He booped her nose. She blinked, agape.
No one will track and covet her as you will. It has to be you. That’s what Clarke had said to him months ago. This grumpy woman wasn’t like the others who’d awoken from the old world. She was violent and vicious. She would stab him the moment he turned his back. And he loved it. It turned him on. Having a female defy him at every turn was another challenge to set his heart racing.
“Parasitic wind? Probably more like parasitic microbes or bacteria.” Violet shook her head at her words. “God, it’s been years and I still try to inject logic and science into this world. Stupid.” “I don’t think so,” he murmured, evaluating her. “I think it’s smart. Clever. Beyond what we have in this time. Others would think so too.”
Fuck it. This might be his last chance. He kissed her quickly, hotly, and passionately before flashing a grin and torpedoing through the branches, swords first.
Albert Einstein once said only two things are infinite. The universe, and human stupidity. And he wasn’t sure about the former.
There was a reason vampires rarely mated. Males became protective, possessive, and passionate. To a point that defied logic. Even wolf shifters could not compare against a vampire in the throes of his mating hormones, or a female vampire in heat. Some called them rabid. Some called them insatiable. All Indigo knew was that if he gave in to the feelings bubbling inside him, bloodlust would be the least of his worries. He’d never let her go.
But that was the thing about anxiety… it didn’t conform to logic. It itched and scampered beneath the surface, finding ways to break through until even the smallest possibility of her worst fears coming true was amplified.
He wanted her; he realized. The way a male wants a female. The way a lost soul wants to be found.
“Why did you say we need to figure it out?” “Violet.” His voice deepened, his expression turning serious. “From here on out, it’s always going to be we.”
“I’m not a good person, Indi. I devoted my old life to building weapons of mass destruction. Do you understand what that is? I suppose you can call it magic so big and strong, it wipes out the realm in a single hit. But then, by some sheer strike of luck, I survived. I came here and do you think I did something good? No. I spent my time killing every vampire I could get my hands on. “I’m not stupid. I know I’ve discriminated against your race and I know how wrong that is. I don’t deserve this. I don’t deserve you.” She punched the silt at her side. “I don’t understand how the Well chose me. It
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“Oh, and Violet?” he said, hand on the doorknob. “If you ask me again, I will bite you, and I will make it hurt… but only if it’s for the right reasons.” He would give her whatever she needed, even if it cost him. “And if it’s not?” she asked quietly. “Then I’ll make it feel good.”
She threw her blanket back, intending to get out, but something clattered to the ground. Frowning, she picked it up and found an intricately carved bone dagger inset with rubies. The leather sheath was beautifully burned and scorched with floral patterns. When she pulled the dagger out, Elven runes glowed softly on the blade. She’d heard about these runes… they kept the bone from breaking during battle. They also kept the blade sharp. There was a note. You seem to be fond of hiding weapons on your person. I look forward to hunting for this one. —Indi.
“I’m coming with you,” she insisted. He stared. Blinked. Took one look at her determined strides to clothe herself and sighed. “Okay. But… I’m going to need you sitting on my lap.” “What?” She expected him to smirk, a joke, but he was deadly serious. Slotting his arms into his jacket, he explained. “It’s the mating hormones. I want you for myself, Vi. I need you in my bed where I can spend days making you smell like me.” Her brows lifted. “Days.” “Days.”
“We were unable to lay eyes on Haze,” Shade confirmed. “But we tracked his scent all over the queen’s palace and grounds. We attempted to get in, but you’ve seen the evidence. All we’ve accomplished is arousing Maebh’s wrath. She denies it, but we’re certain Haze has been taken prisoner.”
Jasper narrowed his golden eyed glare but then sat before glancing at Violet and grumbling, “You have my condolences.” “Why?” Violet asked. “Your mate is a cheeky twat.”
Was she… crying? Over Indigo? Her throat clogged. Yes, she was. She didn’t want to separate from him. She didn’t want to be on opposite sides. Sleeping together, even if that’s all it had been for the past week, had made her feel more at home than ever. More secure. More loved. It was as though, despite their tension and competition during their waking hours, their bodies and hearts knew the truth—that they belonged together.
“Holy heaven on earth,” she mumbled. “I’m so sorry. I hope you’re not blind.” He found her neck wound and laved a few times, ensuring his saliva coated the bite—ensuring he healed her, something the others had never bothered to do. A languid sleepiness slaked every limb. “Never dim your light for me, Violet. Ever.”
“This isn’t going to be a problem, is it?” she asked. “I thought you were feeling… good. Satisfied. Not all psycho mate.” “Where you are concerned, I will always be your psycho.”
“Enough with the mating,” he snapped. “We can hear you throughout the palace.” Indigo snorted. “Good.” Violet’s cheeks burned so hot she thought flames would come out of them. “You can all hear?” “He failed to set a privacy ward. Every fae with preternatural hearing caught every last whimper and sound,” Jasper replied, noticed her mortification, and then frowned. “I actually came here because we have visitors. The Prime and one of the Six are here. Be down in the war room an hour after sundown.” He looked slightly apologetic, and then he was gone, his boots thudding on the carpet. Violet shut
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“What is the point?” It is not for us to decide. We are what she made us. “Why do it when it hurt us so?” Because it is our purpose. “Why steal souls and keep them?” It is our food. Our sustenance. We… are nothing alone… but together… we are many. “But it hurts. We don’t want it. We don’t want any of it.” We just want life.
