Page 40 of Outcast Island

My father sends his voice echoing in my mind again, this time channeling through me to reach Magnus whose blood I doubt he’s tasted before—but I have. “Take your time with her. I’m in no rush. I’ve been waiting for her heat to unlock at Bariloche Sector, before that process was rudely interrupted. It worked in my favor that she landed in Exile Sector and met a vampire strong enough to force her over the edge. I should havesent her there in the first place. For that, I’ll reward you with this time to knot her as long as you like. Just be sure to bring her home when her heat breaks.” His voice deepens. “And if you don’t, know that the full force of the Älva Nest will be reclaiming what rightly belongs to us.”

I hate my father’s monologues. He’s so pleased with himself that my stomach winds with nausea. But he chose this exact moment to announce his presence so neither of us could enjoy the moment.

He doesn’t think I want this,I realize, though, based on the smugness of his words.

He still believes it is impossible that there’s a compatible Alpha out there for me. That gives Magnus a small edge, but only if we play our cards right.

“Where is he?” Magnus asks, glancing around the room. His knot makes it impossible to detach us, which I realize makes him vulnerable, but at least for now I can surmise we are safe enough.

But any hope I had of estrus is gone now.

And perhaps my heat, too. The fever along my brow cools as pleasure turns to discomfort. It’s impossible to enjoy myself while I know my father is watching.

Or maybe I should try to tune him out. It would piss him off if I accepted a Vampire Alpha that he didn’t choose.

“Probably still in the Älva Nest,” I explain as pain twists in my core. Magnus’s knot throbs at my entrance, but his emotions rampage in my chest, making me feel like I can’t take the pressure anymore. “M-Magnus, stop,” I beg him, because something doesn’t feel right.

My father chuckles, but he’s still not actually here. He just wants us to know that he’s still haunting us.

“You beg just like your mother, so pathetic,” he says.

Defeat twists in my stomach.

Magnus reacts to my plea as his entire body goes rigid. “There’s only one way I can stop, little diamond,” he tells me, and I don’t understand why I can feel the fracture of pain in his heart.

He releases his claws and places his hand directly over his chest.

And then he sinks them into his skin.

“Magnus?” I ask, panicked, when I realize he’s going for his own heart. Vampires might not have a heartbeat, but our hearts are a vault. They hold the majority of our blood and we can’t survive without it.

He’s going to rip out his own heart to obey my wish.

I grip onto his wrist and shove all my love into him.

Because no one has ever demonstrated such care for me.

No one has ever been willing to sacrifice everything just so that I could be spared pain.

This isn’t what I want,I try to tell him as I widen my eyes and redirect all my desire into him.

With Magnus’s gift on my side, I can do what he does. I can project my emotions outward.

And where Magnus has rage—I have love.

Against all odds, I’ve protected my nature deep within my soul, waiting for the slim chance that I would eventually find an Alpha worthy of it.

His fingers relax when he stops hurting himself. His fangs extend and he sinks deeper into me, his knot stretching me as it swells with finality.

Securing us together.

All thoughts of my father fade as a climax rolls over me.

Fuck him.

Let him watch and see that he doesn’t get to win.

Not this time.

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