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“Kor’s right,” Zy says softly. “Issy is the only one who decides who can and can’t touch her.”
Jasper remains still, but he clearly doesn’t like any of this. “Tell me what you want, sweetheart, and I’ll give it to you.”
Issy looks at Zy, then at me.
There’s longing in her gaze, and fuck, I don’t deserve it.
“I want you to leave me alone with them.”
We all stiffen because that sounds like a terrible idea.
“My touch is helping you,” Jasper wisely counters. “And I’mprotectingyou, sweetheart.”
She slowly shakes her head side to side. “No, Jas. You’re possessing me, and if we’re going to win against Daithi, we need to be able to work together. We need to be able to trust one another.” She looks at me when she adds, “And they need to be able to trust themselves. If none of you have faith, let me have faith for you. Let me show you that we can move past this.”
An unfamiliar sensation pinches my unbeating heart.
I’m not sure what it is at first, but my mate’s words move me. None of us deserve a mate like this.
We’ve murdered. We’ve sinned. We’ve failed her.
Yet, she’s enticing me again, believing in me even though I’ve obliterated any trust between us.
I hope she has an infinite amount of faith, because I certainly have none in myself.
“Jasper,” she says as she lifts herself from Jasper’s chest. I’m not sure where she’s getting the strength. Her bandages are soaked through again, suggesting her wounds have reopened. “If there’s any love for me in your soul, if you ever want this to be a partnership instead of a relationship designed by fate, then do as I say. Respect me enough to trust me.”
Jasper looks like he’s pinned between two choices. One of them is to snatch Issy away and never let us see her again.
The other is a dark shadow, one that will destroy him, because it requires leaving her in our care.
“If I’m going to do this, then I need something from all of you,” Jasper says, his voice taut.
“Name it,” I reply without hesitation. I’m eager to make amends in whatever form that might take.
“Make a soul promise. If you harm Issy again, Iwillkill you.”
It’s not a threat. It’s simply his line. He won’t be capable of restraint if this happens a second time.
I don’t blame him. If I did hurt her again, I would beg him for death myself.
It’s an easy choice to make. I prick my thumb with my fang until a droplet of blood swells. “Deal.”
Zy does the same, and so does Jasper.
We all shake hands, mixing our blood together to bind the spell.
Then Jasper leaves the room, and I’m relieved to know that if I fail a second time, I won’t have to worry whether I deserve to live.
Because my brother will make sure I don’t take another breath.
Chapter33
Issy
I’m once again alone with Zy and Kornelius, but neither of them approaches me after Jasper leaves the room. The screams slowly filter into my mind, but I allow the sorrow of the dead to mix with mine. Sometimes it feels less lonely to hear someone cry with me when I’m sad.
I can sense that Jasper remains just outside the door, but he’s keeping his word. He’s trusting me to prove a point.
