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I’ve thought long and hard about meeting my fated mate. It doesn’t happen for everyone, and being that Kor and I were trapped with the patriarchs and rarely let out to play, I wasn’t sure if it ever would.
“Doesn’t it bother you? You can’t be a man whore anymore,”Kor said last night when we were alone.
“Not one bit,”I replied.“Think of it this way, brother. Every girl I’ve been with has been practice for my mate, and now I know many, many delicious things to try on her, when she’s ready for me, anyway. When I’m done, I’m going to be her favorite.”
Kor laughed at that, and he doesn’t often laugh.
I think he was in a good mood, though, mostly because we now have two weeks with our mate with nothing else to do other than spend time with her and stay out of trouble. He has the short end of the stick, dealing with our dad and Royce, but he’s patient. He doesn’t seem to mind if I warm her up while he placates our captors.
He’s good at that.
And I can be charming when I want to be.
My town house is beautiful, too, and jam-packed with aphrodisiacs. That doesn’t hurt.
My place isn’t as impressive as the penthouse apartment, but it’smine. It’s the one thing I have in this world that doesn’t belong to anyone else.
I don’t even have a fated mate who’s solely my own, but I’m not upset about that. The witch at my side makes my blood hum with new life—and for a vampire that doesn’t have a heartbeat, that’s saying something.
“So, how does this work?” Ishara asks as she peers out the window. She’s tense, but curiosity seems to be getting the best of her.
Jasper, though, is glaring at me through the rearview mirror and hasn’t taken his eyes off me.
I’m not sure what he has to be so pissy about. He’s the one who spent the night in Ishara’s bedroom.
Alone.
“How does what work?” I ask as the BMW iX—one of my personal favorite vehicles—seamlessly deals with a sharp turn. It’s one of my many toys granted to me by being in line for patriarch possession. They think placating Kor and me with luxuries will keep us amenable to an early death.
In truth, it’s probably just preparing our roles for when they take over. Every luxury a patriarch could want has been granted to us because we’re eventually supposed to be vessels for them to be reborn.
It’s been described as body-sharing to us, to lessen the blow, but after I saw what happened to Jasper, there was no sharing involved.
No, if the patriarchs get their way, my brothers and I will be kicked out of our own bodies so some dead guys can live.
Ishara waves a hand to indicate the neighborhood. “This is clearly an Outcast Coven sector. Vampires wouldn’t be allowed here.”
Jasper’s still staring at me while I pretend to be invested in the back-roads route that I have memorized. “My brothers and I have enough death magic in us to pass as Outcast Coven members and Kor knows a spell to enforce it by shrouding our vampire nature. Or rather, it just makes witches less interested in noticing it.” Jasper would have received a dose of it, too, just by entering our penthouse apartment. The spell is activated by our genomes, and his genetics are nearly identical to ours.
“But I knew you were a vampire right away,” she says, blinking at me.
“As my fated mate, I’d expect no less,” I respond while flashing her a smile.
She instantly blushes and flinches back to her view.
She wants to deny our connection because Kor and I scared her off after killing five hundred people. Understandable, but she killed five hundred people first, if we’re keeping score.
Not that it was her fault. I know that Daithi set this all in motion and he’s going to pay for that.
Dearly.
If I didn’t already hate him for his role in what happened to my brothers and me, messing with my girl is a good way to get on my shit list.
We arrive at the town house and I park the car, then get out to open Ishara’s door.
Of course, Jasper’s already there with his hand on the handle. He gives me a dangerous smile that suggests he might bite my hand off if I get too close. “I got it.”
Nodding, I wait for Jasper to let Ishara out. I don’t comment when they hold hands.
