Page 80 of Dark Witch: Entangled Fates

"I bet." Jasmine laughed, her eyes sparkling with mirth as she leaned into him, her shoulder brushing against his. "In fact, they might be having more fun than we are."

He leaned closer and brushed his lips over hers. "The night is not over yet, beautiful. I promise that there is much more fun in store for you."

59

PETER

Peter's eyes drifted between Marina and the newlyweds on the dance floor. On his other side, Jay was engaged in a lively conversation with Larissa, their voices rising and falling in a loud mix of Russian and English and their hands gesturing the things they didn't know how to say to each other. Marina interjected from time to time, helping to bridge the language gap between them.

He was still amazed at the speed she had taught herself English. Jay, an immortal with a natural aptitude for languages, was still struggling with basic Russian after spending hours in an online course. For a human, Marina's achievement was extraordinary. Peter would have been inclined to assert that her aptitude for languages was a paranormal talent and, therefore, an indicator of godly genes, but the absence of the most obvious indicators overruled that possibility.

Given how many times they'd had sex and how many times he had bitten her, she would have started transitioning already if she was a Dormant.

A crushing sadness overtook him as he thought of her short lifespan. It was a blink of an eye in comparison to his, and by staying with her instead of cutting off the relationship, he was only delaying the inevitable heartache by a few decades yet amplifying it immeasurably.

He was so damn selfish. He couldn't give her children because they would be mortal like her. The smart thing to do would be to let her go so she could find happiness with a human male who could give her what she needed.

A home and a family to call her own.

But the ship had sailed on that. He was in love with Marina, and in his selfishness, he couldn't let her go.

Even the thought of her returning to Safe Haven without him for a short while was intolerable to him. Peter had never imagined that he could feel this way about a human, that he could form a bond so deep and so unbreakable with someone who wasn't even a Dormant.

How was it possible that he felt like he had found a missing piece of himself in her?

How could the Fates be so cruel and merciful at the same time?

Except, if someone asked him whether he would have preferred never to have met Marina, he would have replied that it's better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all.

Peter wasn't angry at the Fates for bringing her into his life. He just wondered what they had been thinking.

What was the Fates' grand plan for him and Marina?

As an eternal optimist, he hoped that there was a solution down the line, and in the meantime his concern was how to ensure the minimal separation possible between them.

He didn't want to wait weeks for her transfer request to go through the proper channels.

Perhaps he could convince Kian that Marina was needed in the village because of her translation skills? Many of the village's new residents still struggled with English, and the Kra-ell knew Marina and would be comfortable with her helping them with the language barrier.

On the other hand, his approaching Kian directly could backfire.

Kian would approve Marina's transfer request if he believed she wanted to move to be close to the other former occupants of Igor's compound or for a different sort of work than what she was tasked with in Safe Haven. He might not approve of her transferring to be with Peter.

Immortals were discouraged from having long-term relationships with humans, and the term discouraged was putting it mildly. It was more like prohibited.

It would be better to tell Eleanor and Emmett about Marina's translation ability and have them add it to the transfer request. The problem with that was that it wouldn't be immediate, and if he tried to expedite it, he would show his hand.

He needed to pretend that his interest in Marina was no different than any he had before with human females. Perhaps Kian wouldn't care that Peter was planning to keep Marina with him and would think nothing of it, but Peter couldn't take the chance that Kian would have an issue with that and not approve her request.

In the meantime, he could take a few days off and join her at Safe Haven, or even better, he could ask Onegus to transfer him there for a couple of weeks. After all, Guardians were rotated between Safe Haven, the keep, and the village, so it wouldn't be anything unusual for him to request a particular post.

Leaning over, he hooked a finger under Marina's chin and planted a soft kiss on her lips. "I love you," he murmured against her mouth before leaning away. "But don't tell anyone," he added with a wink.

She frowned. "Why not?"

"Because it needs to remain our secret," he said in a teasing manner, so if Jay heard him, he would think nothing of it.

"If you say so." Marina looked deflated.

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