Page 26 of Sound
“I was not asked by just any girl, now was I?” he says it softly, the deep tone of his voice melting me in his embrace. “I know what you are.”
“Yeah, so do I.” Blurting the words out like an idiot, I feel all gooey inside.
“How?” Jerking back, he eyes me with suspicion, and I want to kick myself.
“I was worried about you and couldn’t sit still so I might’ve lurked around the hallways,” I tell him sheepishly, biting on my lip. His gaze turns smoldering as he zeroes in where my teeth are sewing my skin. “I heard Seraphina talking to someone on the phone. She mentioned demigods and descendants of a Muse.” Anger bubbles up when I think about it again. “Whoever she was talking to is coming in a few days. He wants to see me, not Vi or Harmony. I don’t know why.” Étienne is staring at my mouth like he’s mesmerized, and I try not to swoon. “She called him Phillipe,” I murmur, watching his face just as mesmerized.
“What?” He jumps back like I’ve slapped him and breaks the moment.
“She called him Phillipe.” Shaking my head to clear it, I watch his face cloud over with rage. “Étienne?”
“Did she speak French?”
“No. Was she supposed to? What’s going on?” All the warmth I got back in my bones disappears from the murder written all over his face. “She is wrong right? It’s insane that I’m a descendant of Jesus.”
“Jesus,” The deadpan way he says it pisses me off.
“She said demigod, Étienne.” Widening my eyes, I speak slowly for his scrambled brain. Maybe the sun did a number on him. “Jesus is a god.”
His eyes flick through mine before he throws back his head and lets out a deep, masculine laugh that fills the room. Panicking, I jump at him and slap a hand over his mouth because I’m afraid Seraphina will hear him and come running. He didn’t say he knows how to fight her, just that he knows what I am. Now he is laughing at me, the jerk.
“Be quiet!” Hissing, I watch mirth dancing in his eyes that have gone back to pools of endless blue. “The sun made you a little stupid, didn’t it?”
Shaking his head like I’m a two-year-old, he pulls at my fingers that are glued on his face like an octopus. Placing a soft kiss at the center of my palm, he smooths my hand at the center of his chest. His heart beats strong and steady under my skin, confirming yet again that somehow, he survived being out in the day.
“You are a descendant of a god, making you a demigod yes.” Another kiss whispers, this time on my forehead. “Your bloodline comes from one of the three Muse’s, Melody. That is why you feel so connected to your violin. Through your instrument, your powers are manifesting.” The next kiss is on my eyelid.
“I’ve never heard of a Muse god.” Keeping my eyes closed, I’m not sure I say it out loud or in my head. Butterflies are alive in my lower belly and they are making me dizzy. “Is it evil?”
“Whatever makes you think it’s evil?” Cupping my face, the touch of his skin flutters my eyelids open.
“My music … it hurts people.” The words come out choked up.
“Your music feeds passion, little one. You do not hurt people, the witch stealing your life energy does.” Something scary flashes in the depths of his eyes but it’s gone the next second. “We need to break the bond.”
“You know how to break the golden rope?” Hope blooms in my chest and smothers the butterflies. “I can get out of here without dying?”
Étienne watches me carefully and nods slowly. “Yes, I need to mark you.” At my frown, he explains more. “When I mark you, a bond will form between us. It’ll be stronger than any magic a witch can weave. That will free you from this cursed place.”
“So, you’ll have to mark Vi and Harmony to get them out, too?” For some reason that idea makes me see red. I’ve never been the jealous type, but if my friends were here I think I would’ve attacked them. Étienne looks smug, like he just won the lotto or something. I can attack him instead of my friends.
“No, I cannot mark your friends.” Chuckling, he smooths my scrunched-up forehead with the pad of his thumb. “I can only mark one female for as long as I live. You. I can only mark you.”
A goofy smile spreads over my face until my stupefied brain kicks in. “There is a catch, isn’t there.” My eyes narrow on his pretty face. It’s always the pretty ones that try to manipulate you, isn’t it? “You are not telling me the whole thing.”
“My brothers will come back to get your friends away from here. If what I know is right, they’ll be able to mark them as well.” His gaze flicks to the vein throbbing in my neck and my heart starts galloping harder against my ribs.
“Why can you only mark me?”
All the amusement and joking washes off his face. The serious look in his gaze sends a jolt of something through me that makes me hold my breath. The gravity of whatever he is about to say presses on me even before I hear the words.
“Because you are my mate.” His chest fills with so much air I’m almost lifted off him. A deep sigh comes out, the air stirring the hair around my face. “You are the day to my night, the light to my darkness, and the missing part of my soul. Will you allow me the honor to mark you as mine?”
The lump in my throat is choking me and I can barely breathe. His face is swimming from the tears overfilling my eyes. Somewhere along the way in this nightmare, I started caring for him. No matter how much everything inside me is screaming to say yes, I still don’t know him well enough to get the words out of my mouth.
Hurt flashes in his blue gaze and I want to do everything I can to make it go away. Still, the tongue is glued to the roof of my mouth and no words come out. That’s when I hear it. The faint click cluck of heels coming from behind the closed door. The blood curdles in my veins when Étienne moves, but instead of turning to the wall, he faces the closed door while pushing me behind his back.
“Yes!” I almost scream the word, yanking on his shoulder so he can face me. “Mark me.” Bearing my neck, I tilt my head as far as it’ll go. “Mark me, damn you. I’ll be your mate. Hurry!”
