Page 11 of Ethereal Shifters

“I was right. The Gods are playing a much bigger part in your story than I imagined.” He sighs. “I would recommend you tell no one about this. Many love our Gods, but too many fear them and their messengers. The Morrigan was a messenger from the Gods…but Vian Gods. I believe they are watching you, too.”

Chapter

Six

Itap the rune. I must have done it a hundred times in the last few hours as I hide in bed. Finnegan, Rhodes and Aleksander were waiting for me outside the castle when I got back from my lesson a few weeks ago, and each one of them said Georgina changes nothing about us. But she does. The Gods put her here to punish me, and I deserve it. I just walked past them, and since then, ignoring them is my go-to. I know they want to make things better; I know they care, but I’m broken. I’m fucked up. I want them so badly that I can’t breathe thinking about them, and now the Gods have thrown a pretty, innocent woman who heals and is fucking angelic in the middle of us.

Dammit, this sucks. Does she have a connection to Onyx too? I wonder if I can piss Onyx off enough that he comes to see me and take the rune away. Diomi. I’ve repeated the word a dozen times, like a comfort blanket, but it doesn’t help much. It’s been weeks now since I’ve seen Onyx, and I miss him. This rune used to annoy him and keep him awake. I’d take him angry, mad and tired. I’d take any version of him at this point. I’d take any version of them all. I know I can just talk to Finnegan, Aleksander or Rhodes, but it’s not that simple.

Thankfully, my lessons have been nonstop, and I’ve had enough to catch up on so that I haven’t had time to think too much about Georgina. I pull my sleeve down, looking up at the ceiling of my room. Finnegan has been out of the academy for a week straight, working for the bastard alpha. Aleksander has taken over his classes, and Rhodes is in charge of shadowing me everywhere, asking me constantly if I’m okay. We both know I’m not.

Nibbles is the only highlight of my day, especially when my Nexus is a wolf every time I have a lesson with Tutor Hank now. She is done talking to me. Nibbles is stretched out in her bed, a bone-shaped teddy in her mouth. Her leg is getting better, but she still is struggling with walks longer than twenty minutes, and she is getting too big to carry, coming up to my knees.

I won’t cry tonight…not like most nights. I still can’t sleep either. I roll over, looking at Annie’s empty bed, and frown at it. Georgina needed help settling in, and Annie, being Annie, went and volunteered to help. Somehow Georgina has a connection to my mates, and now she’s managed to make my best friend sympathetic enough to go and help her every night after class, as she can’t fall asleep on her own. I hate her.

I don’t think I’ve ever been this jealous before. Jealousy like this is dangerous, and I don’t like how it makes my Nexus feel. Rochelle is one thing, but Georgina is something else altogether.

The door opens and I sit up with a smile. Annie always makes me feel better with snacks and a movie. “Annie, you’re back. What do you want to watch?”

My words drift off as Annie’s figure blurs. Her entire body looks like a blurry photo for a moment, and I crawl back onto the bed. Everything changes, like an illusion, and suddenly Severi is there. He shuts the door behind him, putting his finger to his lips. “Don’t scream, Tulip.” He is across the room in a heartbeat, his hand slamming onto my mouth. I bite him and he uses hisweight to hold me down. He doesn’t even flinch. “Scream and I go and find Annie. I’ll make sure that I’m the only version of her walking around here.” He lifts his hand off my mouth, and there is a satisfying bite mark. “Marking me already? I should have come to see you sooner.”

“Don’t you fucking dare touch Annie,” I growl, but I don’t scream. On instinct, I reach for my Nexus, but of course, she likes this psychopath, and she sends me an image of us naked and biting his neck for fun. Oh, for fuck’s sake. She is not going to be of any help. I grab my Nex dagger off the side, and I lunge at him, slamming it into his arm as we both tumble off my bed. He winces, grabbing me around the waist to lift me as he stands. He slams me against the wall, pulling my dagger out of his arm like he doesn’t feel pain, and he presses it straight against my throat, pushing his entire body into mine, his massive hand holding me up just by my waist. “Let me go, you fucking monster.”

“I come to see you and this is the thanks I get?” He tuts and I struggle to get out of his firm grip. His dark locks of hair are windswept, and he feels cold to the touch, telling me he walked outside for a while to get here. His dark eyes fix on me, those haunting brown eyes that sometimes I see in my dreams. It’s a pity the Gods made him as handsome as he is bat shit crazy. “Be nice, my Nexus mate. I’ve actually come bearing gifts, and you stabbed me. Lucky for you, I like a little violence.”

I growl. “What the hell is wrong with you? How have you not triggered every alarm in this place?”

“Illusions. It’s a handy little trick I picked up from…” He pauses and thinks about the Nexus he drained. There isn’t a touch of remorse on his face. “You know what? I don’t even know if it was a man or woman. I can illusion everything about myself from my scent down to my very being, and walk straight through the barriers whenever the fuck I please.” He leans in like it’s awhisper, and his scent floods my senses. My Nexus is purring. “You can shout for me to help you, and I’d be there in an instant. You’re never alone, Tulip.”

“Fantastic, but I’d rather die than ask you for help. Do you want me to congratulate you on your new gift?” I laugh. “It won’t help you when you’re dead.”

“Is that a threat? Why is it so sexy when you threaten to kill me?” He grins. “You can smile at me. I appreciate a thank-you smile for making an effort in our mating. One of us has to.”

I purposely don’t smile. “You’re insane. Give me my Nex dagger. I’ll smile when I stab you again and again and again.”

“So violent.” He puts me down, removing the dagger from my throat, but he holds on to my Nex dagger. Nibbles wakes up at the worst time, jumping off the bed and wagging her golden tail as she sits for Severi and lets him fuss her ears. I need to work on her survival skills, because rubbing her head against our enemy is not a good idea. “Off to your bed, pup.”

“You shouldn’t be able to touch that. Vian can’t touch our Nex weapons. How is that even fucking possible?” I sputter. “And, Nibbles, we will talk about this asshole later.”

“I’m your mate,” he offers as a useless explanation. “Surely you’ve started to realise everything is possible between us.” He has a bag clipped onto his back. He pulls a box out of it and starts setting up a chess set on the floor of the room.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I go to the door, but he clicks his tongue when I touch the handle.

“I wasn’t joking about Annie. Sit your ass down. You’re going to play chess with me.” I’m not. “I’ll make it worth your while.”

“I bet I could get to Annie before you can.” I cock my head to the side. “And then you’re screwed.”

“No, I don’t think you can. She’s with Georgina, right? I know exactly where she is, and I have someone watching them. I send one word to him, through here”—he taps the side of his head—“and she’s dead. Long before you’d even stepped out of this room.”

“I fucking hate you,” I sneer.

“I hate you too. Come and sit down.” He pats the rug on the floor. I think of the bloody mirror, my Nexus, and I grit my teeth. I promised her I would be nice, and I’ve already stabbed him once. I need my Nexus to keep behaving, and so far it’s been weeks since she killed someone. I reluctantly go and sit on the other side of the chessboard. “Good girl.”

“I’m not playing chess with you,” I snap, crossing my arms.

He pretends I didn’t say anything at all. “Your father liked to play chess, right?”

“How do you know that?” I’m actually surprised. Unless he was friends with my father or my father told him, I’m not sure how he could have known that at all.

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