Page 19 of Immortal Burden

“You are most welcome.”

I squeezed my eyes shut for a moment or two, until I felt the ‘heady sensation’ pass, and when I opened them, I found him standing there regarding me with a mixture of curiosity and what often appeared to be lust.

I smiled to myself. He wasn’t the least bit subtle, nor apologetic about it, as usual.

“What is so amusing?” he asked, breaking out into a grin.

“Even in these circumstances, you just can’t turn it off, can you?”

He lifted an eyebrow.

“You know what I mean, quit playing coy.”

“Coy?”

“Yes.”

“That’s most definitely not a term that’s ever been associated with me before.” His gaze swept down my body as I rose to my feet, finally feeling better. “You believe I am this way with all those whom I encounter?”

“Well, aren’t you?”

Instead of answering, he gestured at my former wound and told me, “You healed yourself.”

“What?”

“That is the story I need you to tell the Sorceress and anybody else who may inquire.”

“I don’t—”

“No one can know I gave you my blood.”

“Because of that Guardian rule imposed by Cornelius?” I scoffed. “You’ve got no worries there. He and I rarely see eye-to-eye on anything and this is no exception.”

He stepped up to me with one of his effortless, gliding steps. “No, because I never offer my blood under any circumstances. I am an Ancient, if word got out that it was any other way, it would create a great deal of chaos.”

I frowned. “Then why risk it tonight for me?”

“You needed help.”

“That wasn’t your responsibility.”

“It has become so, seeing as though I can’t bear to see you suffer.”

I swallowed hard as the weight of his words hit. “Lucian.”

He brushed a couple of stray strands of hair out of my eyes. “No need to say more. I know your interest currently lies with Mia Snow.”

“Currently?”

“Despite it being a nine-hundred-year-old being speaking these words, some things do not last forever, nor are they meant to. Some are just a mere stop along the way, lessons to be learned.”

Before I could counter and defend the depth of my love for Mia, he spoke again, telling me, “You risked yourself substantially tonight. For her.” He stroked my cheek with the pad of his thumb, his vibrant eyes burning into mine and holding me captive in their undeniable spell. “It was not because of your love for her, or an act of chivalry. It was because you still believe you need to prove yourself to her. Your love, your commitment, your value. Of course, all those who enter into a relationship do so initially, but it has been decades for you, and you still feel this way. It’s not healthy, but rather toxic.”

I jerked my head away, his words cutting deeper than I wanted to admit to him or myself.

“I know you’re not ready to acknowledge it, as you’re blinded by your infatuation. When that changes, you know where I am.”

“Lucian, that’s not—”

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