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I nodded once. “I do.”
An invisible thread formed between us, pulling taut. My breath caught in my throat, and I looked at Caius for clarification.
“Bargains with immortals, true immortals, form a connection of sorts. One that can’t be broken.”
“You said all you had is your word.”
“And when I give my word, the connection forms. It requires your trust.” I wasn’t sure I liked being tricked into a binding agreement, but at the same time, relief flooded me. It meant my family was safe. “Now tell me, who did this to you, and did you want it?”
“No,” I answered quietly. I’d yet to have a conversation with my sister or cousins about what transpired between me and Ben.
Mate bonds were sacred. The claiming between them was special. Ben pissed all over that trying to take me, and when the memories of that night resurfaced, I could see his face clearly. He knew he’d screwed up.
“I had a fuck bu—uh, a friend that I was ... friendly with,” I said clumsily. Clearing the lump in my throat, I continued. “He thought I wanted more. Or at least that’s what he said after the fact. I didn’t want it, not because I’m waiting for true love or some stupid notion like that. I just know that I can’t mate. I live a half-life as the guardian. My soul can’t bond because it has your half, and my life is too complicated even if it could. Now ...” I paused, noting Caius’s tense features. His fists were clenched. Something was raging in his eyes. Anger didn’t quite cover it.
“I will keep my word. He won’t be killed, nor will I have someone kill him, but if he comes anywhere near you again, if I so much as catch his scent, he’ll spend the rest of his days in agony for having dared to touch you.”
I paled, but for all the wrong reasons. Eres perked up, even more intrigued by the man in front of us. He stirred something in her, but neither of us were willing to call it a mate bond. Lust was more like it, shameful as it was to covet someone with a murderous reputation.
Hormones were stupid.
“Let it go. I doubt he’d be stupid enough to come around again.” I blew a strand of hair away from my face. I’d made a bargain for safety. Now I needed to know the rest of his intentions. “So, where do we go from here? You claim I’m your mate, but I won’t stand by while you fuck over my world.”
He chuckled, shaking his head. “I’m not going to destroy this world, love. Where would you get an idea like that?”
“I ... That is what I was told growing up. The witches, the coven, they passed down stories of you. It was foretold that your return would be the end of days.” He stared at me, both surprised and confused. “It sounds a little melodramatic now as I say this out loud and you look at me like that,” I muttered.
“I helped create this world. Was that passed down to you as well?” He cocked his head to the side, genuinely interested in my response.
I stumbled over my thoughts, mouth opening and closing. “No. That tidbit was omitted.” If it were even true.
“Figures.” He sighed.
“Okay, so you don’t plan to destroy Earth, so that’s a win. What about me? I have half your soul, and I know that part is true. Are you going to kill me?” It was probably not the smartest thing to bring up, but I couldn’t help it. This man was nothing like what I expected.
“Originally, I was going to, yes,” he answered after a pregnant pause. My stomach roiled, and my head felt light. Breathing became hard, but I did my best to keep a strong face. “But that would be contradictory to my objective now.” He shook his head as if trying to clear it. “If I’d been asked whether I’d wanted a mate or my soul returned, I would have laughed. There was no comparison.”
“Oh, and now there is?” I was infuriated by the way he so casually laid out my worth. I was anobjective.
“Yes. I want to know you, Reagan. You can’t deny me that.”
I scoffed. “I most certainly can?—”
The front door flew open, slamming into the drywall. The knob would have dented it, if not for the crumbled hole in the wall from how many other times one of us opened it a little too hard. Plaster wasn’t made for shifter strength, or an overly excited Nog.
“You have got to see this. There’s a portal, Rea! Right smack in the middle of Old Kiener Plaza!”
I sucked in a sharp breath and shot Caius a dirty look. “You left a portal to Hell open?”
“Tartarus isn’t Hell,” he countered, but conveniently didn’t answer my question.
“For fuck’s sake,” I mumbled, then looked at Caius and then jutted my chin toward the door and held my hand out. “After you, Soulless One.”
He grunted in irritation, his lips twisting in distaste. It was clear that name had an effect on him. “Caius will do. Or mate. Your choice, love.”
I hummed in derision. He’d just admitted he’d intended on walking through that door to end my life, and then he just changed his mind because he was stupid enough to confuse a bond with his soul reaching for him.
It would be a cold day in Tartarus before I’d call him my mate.
