Page 43 of These Dangerous Fates

“What the fuck, man?” he grumbles as he rubs his shoulder and opens his eyes. As soon as he sees me, he understands. Wrapping an arm around Ellis, he pulls her against him. “Why don’t you go hop in the shower?” He lowers his mouth to her ear and whispers, “I’ll join you in a minute.”

She grins sleepily and slides out of bed. As soon as the bathroom door shuts, I release a breath. The pain doesn’t go away, though.

“How bad?” Cade asks.

“Really fucking bad.” I’m sweating now, my hands shaking.

“Do you want me to call one of the girls?” He reaches for his phone.

“Hell no,” I grit out. “I don’t think I can use either of them again. It’s not right.”

“Okay …” he says slowly, sitting up to look at me. “It’s Ellis, right? The reason you haven’t fed from anyone else.”

I nod and it hurts my neck, making me grimace. The muscles tense and aching.

“How long has it been?” he asks.

My eyes burn and I rub them. “Four weeks?” I don’t actually remember the last time I fed.

“Are you fucking serious, Kai?” Cade glares at me and crosses his arms over his chest.

“I didn’t feed before we kidnapped Ellis so I would have an edge. After I met her … I just couldn’t bring myself to use anyone else.”

He closes his eyes and bites his lip, his typical thinking pose. “So, ask her. After last night, I’m sure she wouldn’t say no.”

Just the idea sends agony through my body because I want it so fucking bad. I curl up in a ball and groan. “I don’t think I can.”

“Why the hell not?”

“Because … I think she’s my beloved.”

Cade’s mouth falls open and he stares at me in disbelief. “Your … how … are you sure?”

I rarely see Cade stumble over his words, but I understand. I feel the same way. “I mean, I can’t be sure until I taste her blood.” Just the thought sends fresh waves of desire and hunger through me, and I groan again. “But, as soon as I caught her scent the first time, my heart sped up. Every time I touch her, my heart races.” I place my hand on my chest, my slow and steady heartbeat thumping under my palm.

“But, she’s human. Can a vampire have a human beloved?” he asks, brows drawn low over his eyes.

“I’ve never heard of it, but nothing about Ellis is normal,” I gasp. “Both her parents were supposedly mages. Why is she human? Something doesn’t add up.” Fuck. Just those short sentences took my breath away, leaving me gasping for air.

“And I’m guessing you don’t want to mention this to her?”

“For obvious reasons,” I say dryly. “I would kill for her to be my beloved, but I can’t let her tie herself to me. What the fuck can I offer her besides being stuck with an assassin prince who is engaged to someone else?”

“Your dad would never accept her,” Cade muses.

“No, he wouldn’t.” That is definitely bitterness in my tone. No way would my dad allow me to marry a human.

Cade looks as defeated as I feel. Well, right now, all I feel is awful.

“What happens if we fail?” Cade asks quietly, his gaze trained on the closed bathroom door. “Do we just walk away from her? What if we win? What do we do at the end of this?”

“I don’t think I can let her go,” I reply. “I don’t want to let her go.”

“But what if it’s the best thing for her?”

I clench my jaw against the pain that thought brings. It’s different from the agony of needing to feed. This pain burns in my chest, like my heart itself is rebelling at the thought. “Then we’ll cross that bridge when we come to it.” More anguish builds in my gut and I double over, grunting.

“You need to leave,” Cade says firmly. “I don’t care where you go or what you do, but you need to clear your head. Get away from Ellis for a bit.”

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