Page 13 of Titan’s Mate

Titan was frowning, his whiskey bottle clutched hard in his hand. He was also still growling, although she didn’t think he realized it.

He said, “Stop making googoo eyes at her and tell me. Is she dying?”

Brock rolled his eyes. “Really, Squatch? Tactless, at all?”

“It’s okay,” Mari said. “It’s not like I didn’t already know. Go ahead and tell him.”

Brock turned to him. “Sorry, man. There’s definitely something in there. It’s very toxic, and very unstable. So yeah, almost certainly deadly. But I’ve never seen anything quite like it before. It seems like it’s magical, not biological.”

“It is.” Mari picked up the chips again. She didn’t like talking about it, and having to talk about things she didn’t like talking about made her want to eat. “It’s a curse. From a demon.”

That stopped the conversation.

“How the hell did you get a demon curse?” Titan demanded.

Mari sighed. She didn’t like talking about this either. “I was trying to do a good thing. Stopping a demon from hurting people. Which I did, but he didn’t like it. And he cursed me.”

She gestured to her head. “It should have been fatal right away, but a witch was able to contain the magic before it spread too far. Only, the curse keeps breaking down the—the grape skin around it. I’ve been to all the witches and sorcerers and healers I could find, but none of them could get rid of the curse, or contain it better.”

Titan looked at Brock, a question in his eyes. Brock shook his head.

“This is way out of my league,” he said. “I think being bound makes the curse more powerful over time. The containment is definitely breaking down, and I’m afraid it won’t be long before it fails.”

“Yeah,” Mari said. “Demon grape pops, demon power grabs my soul, and Mari gets a painful death and a sucky, sucky afterlife. The end.”

Titan winced.

Brock said, “But you think Titan can keep the demon away from your spirit long enough to get you to the other side?”

“It’s what he does.”

“Not anymore,” Titan said.

Mari said to Brock, “Have you ever tried helping him with his self-esteem issues? Because he doesn’t seem very confident.”

Brock grinned. “It’s a work in progress.” Then he sobered. “I wish there was something I could do for you, but this is beyond my healing powers. I do know someone who might be able to help, though. A dragon who’s a powerful wizard and healer. Tyr Greystone. Do you want me to call him?”

A dragon? Dragons were some of the most powerful healers in the world—and some of the most powerful sorcerers. A tiny seed of hope blossomed inside Mari, though she tried to crush it down. She couldn’t afford hope.

But still…

“I don’t think there’s anything he can do,” she said, “but I guess it wouldn’t hurt to ask.”

Chapter 6

After that, the conversation lagged. Not that Titan had been contributing much to it anyway, he admitted. He’d just stood there like a fucking idiot, not even drinking his whiskey, just watching Brock put his hands on Mari and trying to keep his bear from going feral again.

Hoping she wasn’t dying. Hoping that if she was, the dragon could help her. Hating that Brock was the one doing something for her.

Hating that he was touching her at all.

Brock was telling her about the guest rooms down in the mansion, he realized. Inviting her to stay there.

“No,” he growled, before he even had a chance to think.

They both looked at him as if one of his sculptures had come to life and said something.

“She needs to stay here.” It was barely even his voice—it was Bear, trying to talk through him. He didn’t want her out of his sight.