Page 68 of Tainted Gifts
Great.
He takes it from her and nods, standing up and sentencing me to feel the pain without his touch.
"You can come to my room when you get done," Jase murmurs softly. "I have to go make some calls and get this underway."
"Your room?" Kellan scoffs. "She's not sleeping with you."
Everyone tenses up, everyone except for Jase.
"She's hurting, and it's only going to get worse while the detoxifier works. Two days. That's it."
"How fucking convenient," Kellan growls, his eyes cutting me in half.
"You're not even technically together," Jase says with a low, venomous hum. "You kissed her best friend. You don't give a damn about Aria. You just think you have some claim to her."
Kellan jumps up and the boys get toe-to-toe, close to throwing punches as they stare one another down like the alpha males they both are.
"I don't have some claim to her. I'm her mother fucking counter, you stupid son of a bitch. You're too fucking full blood to understand what that means."
"You'd be surprised what the hell I know. One thing I do know is that she doesn't love you. You fucking know it too," Jase blares, making me grimace when I see the genuine pain in Kellan's eyes.
"I know that too," he murmurs in a hushed tone, stepping back. "She will though. I already love her."
He turns to me, fighting back the surge of pain as he backs down from the fight all together. Jase words ripped him in half, and for the first time, I see the true pain he's suffering, making the guilt swarm me with vicious stings. Kellan starts walking toward the door, grabbing a bottle of whiskey on his way.
I may not love him, but he's right. He deserves me to at least give us a shot. I owe him that much.
Jase hears my quick flip of mind, and I let my lip tremble as I finally find the courage to speak.
"I'll be fine. I'll just stay with Kellan," I strain out, fighting off the pain with all my strength. "Others do this without having some magical cure for the pain."
Kellan turns around, surprise in his eyes as he gawks at me in disbelief. Jase now shows me his sting of pain, but I have no choice. I can't do this. It's not fair to Jase who deserves someone he can be with. It's not fair to Kellan who will always want me. I can deal with what's not fair to me.
Jase starts to object after reading my mind, but I hold my hand up.
"I'll be fine," I say again, taking my painful stand, and then I turn my eyes to Mom. "Simone could probably use a friend right now, and I sure as hell can't be it. Will you-"
"I was planning on going to her as soon as we finished here."
I nod, and then I turn back to the tragic eyes of the hybrid opening the door for me as I start to walk out. This is the choice I don't like, but it's the one I had to make.
Chapter
Kellan is walking on eggshells, uncertain of how to act as I lie down in the bed, trying not to show him the pain I'm in. The detoxifier is working, making all the pain I already had even more severe.
"How did you know we were counters?" I ask as he lies down beside me, careful not to touch me with his hybrid heat.
He sighs, seeming to reminisce. "I knew it a long time ago, after my first savage episode, though I didn't really realize it then. I suppose I wasn't ready to realize it. I was in a lot of pain at the time. My mother had just died. I lost it, electrocuted her attackers to the point they were nearly unrecognizable.
"Then I felt a draw, something pulling me away. I ended up at Hershian while you were visiting Simone. I saw you with her, the two of you buying scarves at the shopping cart area. I came down from my savage, shaking for hours after. That one glance brought me down better than olophine could have. I knew it, but like I said, I wasn't ready.
"I followed you around, discreetly of course. I saw your violet eyes that day, realized you were just like me. You were upset about something, and Simone was comforting you.
"I learned all I could about you, studied you for years. Then it all made sense. When I started saving you, I felt it more, like you were feeling exactly what I was. It was so obvious then.
"The night I found you at the Catagar, I actually stopped at Seminole to look for you. I learned you weren't there, but it's not like I could ask someone where you were. I saw the commander there looking for you as well. I knew he'd find you before me and I had planned to follow him, when I felt that magnetic pull drawing me, guiding me. That's how I knew he was on his way. I got there first though. I beat him because I felt where you were. I felt you being seduced by someone, which angered my hybrid," he grumbles.
That confuses me. I wasn't being seduced by anyone. I was getting groped quite a bit, but never seduced.
