Page 62 of Till Death Do Us Part (Ariel Kimber 7)

Maybe that last part was a lie, maybe I didn’t want that man back. There were a lot of things you couldn’t come back from, and I felt like he was very close to crossing over that line, if he hadn’t already.

But I really did miss him. Rain would hate it if he ever heard me say that.

Marcus, however, didn’t seem to care either way. He was entirely unaffected by my words. It was like he hadn’t even heard me speak in the first place. He was so lost in his head and the bullshit filling it up that I didn’t even know if he really saw me standing in front of him anymore.

What the hell was the matter with him? I was getting tired of asking myself that question and coming up empty handed.

He shook his head. “None of this matters. Adrian was right. You’re better than acting like the common whore with that coven that thought they could claim you before you even had the chance to meet anyone else and really choose for yourself. Adrian is convinced you need a cleansing of your mind to make this better. Once your mind has been cleansed and you’re free of the filth clogging you up, he said that as a Council member, you will be free to pick and choose your very own harem.”

If he kept talking, I was for sure going to puke. Since when did Marcus believe anything that came out of Adrian’s mouth? Had he forgotten what had happened to his own damn beloved sister? She might have killed herself, but it was essentially the Council’s doing. They were responsible.

Marcus believed that in the very depth of his soul, and he didn’t trust the Council and hated Adrian. Or at least he used to.

I wondered what this cleansing was that he spoke of and thought maybe whatever it was, Adrian had done it to Marcus.

There had to be an explanation behind his change in behavior. I refused to believe he’d been an asshole all this time and I had somehow been oblivious to it. I had better instincts than that.

“You’ll have the pick of the litter. People will come out from every coven without a female to line up for the chance to be a consort to you. I believe that, given who you are, some of them with females already will come for you as well. It’s a fresh start. One you very much need, I think.”

Had he lost his damn mind? That sounded terrible to me. And, more importantly, who wanted the type of man who’d leave his coven and his woman when they were supposed to be precious just for the chance to be with the only female on the Council?

Not me. No fucking thank you.

None of my men would ever do anything of the like to me. Never. Not fucking ever.

I was done speaking to Marcus Cole. I was done with this whole fucking thing, and I’d already wasted far too much time on it tonight.

Where the fuck were my men and my bodyguards?

And what the hell kind of coward was Finn to still be hiding out in the tent instead of out here, having my back?

He was really starting to piss me off too. When he did finally manage to drag his pathetic self out of my tent, I was going to kick his pasty ass. And if those two boys tried to stop me, I’d hand them their asses as well, their ages be damned.

“You should go, Marcus,” I informed him. “My coven will be here soon. They already have a problem with you because you’ve been lying and creeping around. If they catch you out here spouting the horrendous bullshit coming out of your mouth, then there will be nothing I can do to save you. Go. Run far away. Don’t look back, and whatever you do, don’t you ever come back here. I won’t be able to save you, and after a while, I’m not sure I’ll even want to.”

I was being generous when I had no right to be. After today and the things he’d said, the things he’d basically promised me, there was no way Rain would ever stop looking for him. Rain wouldn’t stop hunting the madman until the day one of them died. And he probably would not be the only one. They’d all likely take turns.

Marcus smirked at me, looking cold and smug all at the same time. A sense of dread trickled down my spine.

“No one’s coming for you. They are a little busy at the moment. And, if you’re waiting on that loner freak in the tent to come out, I wouldn’t hold my breath if I were you. The tent’s been spelled, and he hasn’t even noticed you’ve left him yet. It’ll wear off in about an hour, and by then, it won’t matter, because you and I will be far away from this place by then.”

My mouth dropped open, and I gaped at him like a moron. When I first met him, he didn’t touch his magic. Now I knew he was a witch, but it was almost like I forgot sometimes that he was powerful and capable of doing oh so much with his magic.

I could be so stupid at times, this being one of them for sure.

At least he hadn’t said something bad was going to happen to Finn. Now that I knew why he hadn’t left the tent, I didn’t want any harm to come to him. Or those boys.

As much as I wanted to panic over what he’d said about my coven, I was trying very hard not to think about it. Now was not the time to break down, and they were more than capable of taking care of themselves. I couldn’t let myself forget that. They weren’t going to just roll over and take it. They’d be fighting to get to me, and they would never stop until we were safely together again.

“I’m not going anywhere with you,” I spat at him. “You’ve got to be fucking delusional if you think I’m going to want to be anywhere near you ever again. And you better get on your damn knees and pray to whatever you hold holy that nothing happens to a single member of my coven, or I will personally destroy you myself. I swear I will.”

I wasn’t a violent person, and I certainly didn’t go around threatening people on the fly, but I’d make an exception for this man.

At this point, any love or affection I’d once had for him had died a quick death tonight. He could call me a whore all he wanted to, I could get over that, but to fuck with my family?

That shit was the ultimate kiss of death.

We were done, and there would never be any coming back from this.

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