Page 75 of Blood

“Why thank you, kind sir,” I reply in a posh British accent.

We sit side by side on the floor in Lucifer’s apartment, using the couch as a backrest. This date has been everything I haven’t allowed myself to dream for. Food. Laughter. And spending time with one of the men I love more than life itself.

Jack’s definitely one of my more timid mates, preferring to quietly assess the situation and only speak up when he deems it necessary. However, that just makes everything he says even more poignant and so goddamn special. His gaze alone feels like specks of hot ash blowing against my cheeks.

“You know, alcohol doesn’t really have an effect on me,” I say as I take another long sip of the red wine. I don’t know what the name of this bottle is, but it’s delicious.

“Are you saying you’re trying to get me drunk to take advantage of me?” Jack asks jokingly, sounding so much like Mason that my heart gives a painful thump. Sometimes, I think it would be easier to forget about Mason and move on with my life. The pain wouldn't be as intense, then. Maybe I could cauterize the wound and no longer be in danger of bleeding to death.

But I refuse to forget about Mason, refuse to allow him to drift silently into the abyss. He’ll always be a part of me, even though he’s no longer physically here. I’ll see him in the sun shining down on the unsuspecting world below. In the way the sky darkens at night, the stain of twilight spreading across the blue. I’ll see him in the faces of my other mates and in strangers I pass on the street. Mason will live, because I’ll refuse to let him go. The knife wedged in my chest will always remain, a physical reminder of the man I loved and lost.

Love and lost.

I still love him.

I’ll always love him.

It’s almost as if he’s here with me, sitting beside me, whispering in my ear...

“You can take advantage of me anytime you want, kind sir,” I tell Jack with an impish grin.

The smile Jack grants me is breathtaking. My heart trips over nothing, falls face-first onto the asphalt, skins its knees, and then gets back up with a newfound determination.

How can anyone deny the love emanating from my sweet mate’s eyes?

“You know, Hux isn’t happy with me for sharing that story with you.” Jack chuckles and moves to lean farther back against the white couch. “He thinks it makes him... What’s the word I’m looking for? Oh. A loser. He thinks it makes him a loser.”

I laugh out loud at that, envisioning Hux’s grumpy retorts to every story Jack regaled me with—most of which featured him doing something ridiculously inappropriate.

“Oh, Hux.” I shake my head with a smile. “You’ll never be a loser to me.”

“But you haven’t heard the time that Hux once thought orgasm and organism had the same meaning. He—” Jack’s right hand moves with an almost blistering speed and slams over Jack’s mouth. I throw my head back in laughter, knowing Hux is controlling that one wayward limb to stop Jack from sharing more of the embarrassing stories from his past.

“I can’t even begin to understand all you’ve lived through.” I sigh as I begin to push my spaghetti around with my fork. “You both have lived so long. You’ve probably been in love hundreds of times—”

Jack’s shaking his head before I’ve even finished speaking. “We haven’t. I haven’t. Hux hasn’t. I’m not saying that there haven't been other women, but we’ve never known love until we met you.” He hesitates then, seeming to consider his next words carefully, and his fingers begin to tap anxiously against his thigh. “We think fate’s always been leading us to you, Violet. I’ve been around for hundreds of years and never even considered attending Prodigium Academy before. Then, suddenly, out of the blue, I had this grand epiphany.” He lowers his head so his dark, onyx-colored hair conceals his features from view. “I’ll admit that my intentions weren’t the greatest at the time—”

“What do you mean?” I ask quizzically.

Jack hesitates yet again, but whatever he sees on my face encourages him to continue. “I hated Hux back then. I thought...well...I thought he was a crazy murderer.” He chuckles softly, and deep laughter bubbles out of me and washes away the filth from the day. Because, yeah, that sounds like an adequate description for my sweet, slightly oblivious, mate. “But then I realized he wasn’t the one who committed all those atrocities. That was Balor. Hux was only trying to protect me when he hid those bodies because he thought I was the one killing monsters and humans alike. He always protected me, even when I didn’t deserve it.”

My amusement dwindles marginally when I think of everything Balor put my mates through. God, what would their lives have been like if they hadn’t spent centuries hating each other? If Jack hadn’t locked Hux away, refusing to let his soul brother come out? Would things have been different? Would they have still come to Prodigium Academy? Would I have met them?

I’m so engrossed in studying Jack that I completely miss the next part of the conversation. I’m only dragged back to the present when his hand lands on my knee. The warmth of his touch sends heat skittering through my body.

“I love Hux, Violet. He’s my brother, my twin, the other half of my soul.” He once again hesitates, and I watch as his perfectly straight teeth nibble on his lower lip. “We’ve been talking...um... We just think...um... We don’t want to separate.” He blurts out the last sentence as if he’s afraid if he doesn’t, he’ll never get the nerve to say it. Red encroaches the edges of his cheeks as he fights a blush. “What I mean is...we don’t want two bodies. We want to stay like this. Together. As one. If you...um... If you want us, that is.” Fear creeps its way across his handsome face. “If you don’t, we can talk to Frankie and work something out. We’ll do anything for you, Violet. Anything. We just think—”

I lean forward and plant my lips against his, cutting him off in mid-sentence. My eyes, however, remain open, tracking the blush that spreads from his neck to his cheeks. I pull away just slightly, so he can see the sincerity on my face.

“I just want you both to be happy,” I confess. “I love you guys so, so much. If you want to remain together, then I’ll support that one-hundred-percent. If you want to find a new body, then I’ll happily murder some people for you.” I shrug. “I’ll do anything for you guys. Everything.”

Tension thickens like fog over a graveyard as Jack leans even closer, allowing me to see the flecks of white in his startling blue eyes. They may not be as bright as Dimitri’s, but they’re beautiful all the same, reminding me distinctly of waves lapping against the shoreline, crested with white foam.

“You may be willing to kill for me, Violet Dracula.” Jack’s voice is a hungry growl I’ve never heard before, and it sends my pulse skittering. “But I’ll burn the world down for you.”

He grabs a fistful of my hair and tugs my mouth to his. There’s nothing gentle or soft about this kiss. He brands me with every movement of his lips against my own. Possessiveness permeates every inch of his body, and hunger taints his handsome features.

I’ve come to realize that Hux and Jack are extremely different when it comes to the bedroom. Hux treats me like I’m made of glass—fragile and invaluable. He worships me with the reverence reserved for deities and goddesses.

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