I thrust my shoulders back and stopped before Corson. I despised the pity in his eyes and the way he glanced at Kobal again, as if asking for permission. I would guarantee he was. He raised his hands before him and took up a fighter’s stance.
“Don’t pity me,” I grated through my teeth at him.
His citrine-colored eyes flickered over me, and his head tilted to the side, causing one of the stars in his ears to twinkle as it spun around. “No pity from me,” he replied as he moved around me.
“It sure seems that way,” I said as I jabbed at his hands.
Corson moved to the left to avoid a kick I launched at him. “Maybe some, but not for the reasons you think.”
“Then why?” I demanded.
“Because there is enough demon in you to have driven you to mark him too. I have never met my Chosen, but I know how much my parents cherished each other. When my father was killed by Lucifer, it destroyed my mother. She threw herself into the fires afterward.”
Tears sprang into my eyes at the thought of such loss and pain as I stopped moving. Freaking tears,again. I wiped them hastily from my eyes. “I’m sorry,” I whispered and started moving again when Kobal stepped toward us.
“It was centuries ago, but I know how strong the Chosen bond is. If you’re feeling a fraction of the grief they did, then I do feel sorry for you.”
I glanced away from him and focused on the sun dipping toward the horizon. Pinks, oranges, and reds streaked over the clouds floating across the sky. “But you feel I’m an idiot or selfish for resisting the bond that destroyed your mother.”
“Kobal told Bale and me about your dream with Lucifer. Fearing for the life of the one you love, and you do love him…?”
I gave a brisk nod when Corson’s voice trailed off questioningly. I may not have told Kobal that I did, but there was no denying it. “Yes.”
“Fearing for his life, and for what you might become, and suffering unimaginable sorrow to protect the one you love is neither selfish nor idiotic.”
My eyes slid back to him. I was half tempted to throw my arms around him and hug him. However, I had a feeling it might end up in his limbs being tossed around if I did. They’d grow back, but I seriously doubted he’d talk to me again after. “Thank you,” I whispered.
His head tilted to the side as he studied me. “You stood up to him, which means you can more than hold your own against any of us, including Lucifer.”
With those words, Corson had just become the closest thing to a friend, outside of Kobal, I’d had since arriving here, and I so desperately needed someone to listen.
“One thing though,” he said quietly.
“What’s that?”
“He’s not going to be able to let you go. It’s not possible for us. You’re going to have to decide, when you’re not so angry and frightened.” I shot him an irritated look, but he merely smiled in return. “Your feelings for him terrify you. They’re far deeper than anything a human would feel and you know it. Lucifer has unnerved you, and what Kobal did to the woman was disturbing, but you must realize by now it was an instinctive reaction for him to protect you and not meant as one of maliciousness.”
I recalled Kobal’s words about the mark Ziwa being a blessing and a curse, and how there was nothing more dangerous than a hound when its mate was threatened. He’d warned me many times he was capable of being vicious, but I still had never expected to see that from him.
“I do,” I admitted.
“You reacted out of panic and shock.”
“Yeah,” I muttered.
“You are going to have to decide if you reallycanlive without him, or if you just need some time to come to grips with who and what you are now. Because if you can live without him, you are going to have to get far away from him after all of this is settled. Your presence will only bring him more hurt.”
My head canted to the side as I stared at him. The easygoing, earring-wearing demon was far more perceptive than I’d believed him to be. If Kobal knew he was discussing this so openly with me, he may kill him.
“I know.” Though I couldn’t picture my life without Kobal in it. We may not be speaking or touching right now, but I was still able to see him every day. The idea of not being able to do so nearly drove me to my knees.
“Will he survive without me?” I whispered in a strangled voice.
“Will you survive without him?”
No.
He grinned at me and sidestepped to avoid the leg I kicked at him. “I can understand keeping your distance if you think it really will help protect him; you have to figure that out on your own also. Your instincts are strong, maybe a little frazzled right now, but they’re there, so listen to them. The sooner the better would be good too. Kobal was never a ball of laughs before; now I’d rather play keep away with a madagan than deal with him.”
