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“Keep that shit to yourself,” I said, speaking to her for the first time. “You chose to lock yourself away. Don’t push your emotions on me. It’s weird, and it’s definitely not the time.”
“Don’t be ungrateful. I allowed us to be bound to protect you.”
“Ungrateful? Really? I can’t even . . . We’ll set some ground rules later,ifwe even survive, which isn’t likely. In the meantime, he’s the Soulless One. Destroyer of worlds?—”
She chuffed. “And I’m a goddess of death.”
“You’re a bad unicorn is what you are—wait, are you really a goddess of death?”
“He won’t kill you.”
“Disagree. He’s the bad guy.”
The sound of the front door slamming pulled me back to the present.
I was alone. With him.
Knowing I didn’t hold any cards in this game, the best I could do was save my family. Mustering all the inner badass I had left in me after nearly dying, I said, “If there is anything good in you, you’ll spare my family. They had nothing to do with the ward. It was placed on me by witches when I was a baby. None of us had any say in it, least of all them.”
His eyes were dark and unnerving. He didn’t say a word, nor did he move. He just . . . sat there. Inaction on his part led to a suffocating tension in the room, and with each passing second, the wariness I felt increased.
“I know you don’t care,” I continued, “but they mean everything to me. I won’t fight you—just let them live. And try to make it quick if you can. I have a high pain tolerance, but having almost died earlier, I can wholeheartedly say I’d rather not feel it this time.”
“I don’t intend to kill you.”
“What?”
“Told you.”
“Shut up, Eres.”
“Why do you seem so surprised? You’re my mate.”
I laughed, and when he didn’t, the sound abruptly died in my throat. Shaking my head slowly, I mouthed, “No . . .”
“Yes,” he insisted.
“You’re lying. Ican’thave a mate.”
His brows drew together slightly. “Neither can I, yet here we both sit. Believe me, no one is more confused than I am at this moment. My kind? We don’t have mates. We aren’t built for it, and it goes against the laws of creation.” Caius tilted his head. “Until now, it would seem.”
All I could do was stare at him while I tried to process why he was saying that, but somehow ended up falling short every time.
I was the guardian. I had half his soul. The best I could guess was that he was confusing that connection to his soul for a mate bond. It’s the only thing that made sense.
I opened my mouth to say as much when Eres broke into my thoughts.
“He’s not killing you because he thinks he’s your mate. Don’t inform him of how he could be mistaken. Use it to our advantage.”
“You want metoagree to being his mate? I know you and I don’t exactly know each other well, but?—”
Eres sighed. “I think we can agree on self-preservation.”
I internally scoffed. At least I would be in on this arrangement, unlike past decisions about my supposed safety. It was worth considering that she was possibly right. If I could survive him long enough to get my family to safety, that was all that mattered.
“This is reckless.”
“You know I’m right.”
