“Yeah, I heard you.” He sets the muffin down.
I envy his calm resolve. The way contentment rests over every inch of him. He’s still the powerful, elemental hunter I’ve always known, but there’s a sense of stillness in him now that he’s never had before. I’d be a fool to deny that the shift in him has everything to do with his recent mating of Annika. It’s easy enough for me to read now that all my hunter brothers, save for Samuel, are mated.
“She only wants to feed fromme,” I repeat the words. I keep thinking if I say them out loud enough, they’ll lose their shock factor. “Do you realize how fucked up that is?”
Dagon furrows his brow. “It makes a ton of sense, actually.”
I glare at him harder, reaching for my knife to give my hands something to do.
“Don’t stab me just yet,” he says. “Let’s pretend that mark on her neck doesn’t exist. Let’s pretend this happened a week ago. You’re the only one who’s been able to help her feed. You’re the reason she’s alive, Saint.”
The notion pricks my soul. Had I not helped her feed after she first turned, she would’ve succumbed to either stasis from not feeding or bloodmadness. Both were horrendous options I’d never let happen.
“That’s because I alter her reality and make her believe the blood is wine. She’s neverbittenanyone before, Dagon.” Fire lashes the edges of my skin at the mere thought of Aurora biting intomyflesh. My blood spilling into her mouth, filling her, sating her, strengthening her. My dick hardens at the image of her riding me while she drank?—
Fuck. Stop.
“Okay, sure. Your powers help her,” Dagon says. “It’s still true. But she’s stronger than she looks. She’s come so damn far after everything she went through, and you and I both know that no one outside of you truly knows the half of it.”
Everything she went through. Meaning the chaos and torture my twin brother subjected her to. The madness that followed. The fog we’ve been chipping away at one dream and vision at a time.
“She’s opened up to me because of the connection my power offers,” I counter. “There’s no hiding the truth when I’m in that deep.”
Dagon cocks a brow at me. “You know that’s not the only reason she’s opened up to you.” He eyes the mark on my neck, the one identical to hers…identical to Samuel’s.
“We don’t know whose mark it is,” I growl.
“It’s more than that,” he fires right back. “You’ve been her lifeline since we found her. How can you be shocked she’d want to feed from you when forced to choose?”
“I don’t know,” I grumble. “I don’t want her mind clouded by the help my abilities offer her.” I don’t want to take her choices away without knowing it. Fuck, what if by taking care of her, I’ve somehow altered her mind to soften to me?
“She’s more lucid now than she’s ever been before,” he continues. “Annika and Cassandra and the other girls have been helping her just as much as you have. You’ve seen that. It’s not just about your powers.”
“Then why doesn’t she want to feed from one of them?” I ask even though the idea of her fangs inside anyone else’s neck is abhorrent to me. She’s been my responsibility since we found her in that abandoned house, chained up and barely clinging to life. My responsibility because I didn’t have the strength to stop my brother at the first hint of his defection.
Dagon eyes me. “You’re smarter than that.”
I sink into the chair next to him.
“She’s wearing your mark, Saint. Speaking as someone with mate experience, it will drive her straight back into madness if you deny feeding her for too long.”
Panic lashes through me, my instincts itching to move. “We’re not sure that’s my mark,” I say again. “You’ve said it yourself, there are signs.” I sigh. “I don’t know if I’m having any.”
I sink inward, desperate for a clear answer. Aurora deserves so much more than me, but if fate chained her to her abuser? I’ll burn the entire world down if it would break that bond.
“Therearesigns, but you know from all of us that this isn’t an exact science. And it’s still really early. Give it time and be open to any possibilities.”
“I have no idea how to be open to anything.” I’ve kept myself closed off for so long, I’m not sure how to be any other way.
Dagon shifts away from the table, an idea churning behind his eyes that makes my instincts prickle. He heads closer toward the door, almost like he’s retreating.
“Okay, how about this? I’ll ask Annika if…” He pauses, his focus on me but his body poised to run. “Ican feed Aurora.”
I’m on my feet instantly, fangs out, ready to shred him. “Fucking.Asshole.”
Dagon laughs, hurrying out of my way as I storm past him.
“You’re lucky I don’t kill you.” I throw over my shoulder, feeling as out of control as the instincts demanding I act—to bite and claim and fuck. But I’ve always felt that way about Aurora, mark or not.
