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But who could possibly want to see me?
I didn’t know anyone.
Not in this area, anyway.
Even as I thought that, though, the front door was swinging open.
And there he was.
Looking like he’d been sick and in agony for days.
Bael.
CHAPTER TWELVE
Bael
“I wish I could tell you that you were going to be okay,” Minos said as he reached down to pull me up off my knees. “But that would be a lie.”
“Fucking great,” I hissed as it felt like someone was carving out a part of my chest.
“What I can say is that you will get better at handling the pain,” he said as I moved inside, shocked when my legs agreed to carry me into the library where I collapsed down onto the couch, my hand clutching my chest.
“The professor?” Minos asked as he went to the liquor cabinet and poured me a big drink.
“Yes,” I hissed out through the pain.
“You fucked her?” he asked.
“That’s how it happens?” I asked, throwing back the drink, finding that for a single instant, the burn eased the pain of the Claiming and subsequent separation.
“You didn’t know?” he asked, brows drawing down.
“I never asked for exact details,” I said.
“You didn’t feel it coming on?” he asked, refilling my glass.
“I did. Sort of,” I said, taking another shot. “I didn’t understand what was going on. She was the first. Human woman,” I clarified.
“Wait… she was the first woman since coming here?” Minos asked, eyes going round. “You’ve… been here a while, man,” he added, shaking his head as he poured me another glass. “Actually, just start swigging from the bottle,” he said, handing it to me.
“This is what you felt?” I asked, looking up at him. “With Dale?”
“Yes. And no. It was more… complicated, I guess. I Claimed her. And she rejected me. But she kept coming back for sex,” he explained. “I was the only man she couldn’t hurt,” he clarified. “So, there were times when it felt amazing, because I was with her. Which somehow made the pain even worse each time she rejected me.”
“Fuck,” I hissed, tipping the bottle back and taking a long chug.
“Did I hear…” Ace’s voice started, coming in the room in one of his heavyweight grandpa sweaters. “Oh, fuck,” he said, shoulders slumping as he took one look at me. “Seriously?”
“Give him a break,” Minos said, shaking his head. “Think he’s being punished enough right now.”
“The professor?” Ace asked.
“The professor,” Minos confirmed as I started chugging again.
This pain, this was unexplainable, intolerable. How the fuck could you feel something like this nonstop and not have it kill you?
And just beyond the pain, lying just beneath, there was a strange pulling sensation. It was urging me to get up, to move, to take steps toward the front door and back to my bike. I knew at the end of the invisible string, I would feel relief.
