“I can feel your emotions.” He told me. “I know what you're feeling. You need to explain to me right this second.”
My eyes burned. It would be okay if I cried, the rain was heavy enough. Right?
“This is all temporary.” I waved my hand. “In a few weeks, I'll go back to my life and—”
“You think it's that easy?” Jae pushed his wet hair out of his face. “When this is done, you'll go back to your Fae master, and forget all about us?”
I wanted to nod, but I got the feeling that it would be a very bad idea.
“That man in there—” Jae flung his hand over his shoulder. “He needs both of us, and we're out here arguing because you can't bring yourself to feel for anyone but yourself.”
“How dare you say that to me.” I stepped forward with clenched fists.
Jae closed in on me. “These bonds happen for a reason. They're permanent, and you can't even bring yourself to speak to the people that you've connected with about them.” Jae's eyes narrowed, accusing.
My hand whipped out before I could control it, connecting with Jae's cheek hard enough to throw his head to the side. Rain dripped from the ends of his straight black hair as his head hung. My hands pressed against my mouth, rocked to the core, I stepped backward. My mouth formed the words 'sorry' over and over, but I could not force myself to make a sound.
Jae's eyes were hard as his head tilted up. He reached up and gripped my throat, enough to still me but not enough to hurt. He held me in place, and cocked his head to the side, moving in close enough that I could feel his breath on the skin of my neck.
“I can't get attached,” I whispered, my heart was breaking. “If I don’t get close... It won't hurt when I'm gone.”
Jae released my throat. His face turned blank with shock. “Mara...”
“I’m the last one, Jae.” I raised my hand to catch a drop of rain. “I’m the only Nightmare left.”
Jae repeated my name. A soft prayer. His arms outstretched as he wrapped me in his embrace. He was the same height as me, and my head sat on his shoulder. He shook as he held me close, and I could not tell if he was crying or not.
I didn't know why the universe had given me three soulmates. I wasn't worth it. They deserved better than me.
“Aren’t you afraid of my darkness?” I said in a tiny voice.
“I like it. It’s the same flavor as mine.” Jae replied simply, pulling away. His nose brushed mine, and my lips parted as I wet them with my tongue. Jae's hand cupped my cheeks as he pressed his lips against mine, hard and demanding. Eyes closed and desperate. He tasted sweet. His lips were soft, and thin, as he pressed his mouth against mine, urging us closer until we melted into each other and became one.
My stomach clenched, and my hands reached forward with the intent to push him away, but instead, my fingers tangled in the sodden fabric of his dress shirt.
Jae broke away, only to sigh my name like a prayer. The world sparkled, the rain no longer poured down but bounced off the air around us. Protected by his invisible wings. I closed my eyes, listening to my name in his delicate voice, I wanted to swim in it. Jae kissed me again, chaste at first but deliciously wicked. He pulled my lip between his teeth and teased his tongue against mine as if to ask permission.
Then he bit me.
I broke away, hissing in pain, and my tongue swiped against my lip only to be greeted with the coppery taste of my own blood. Jae's eyes sparkled with wicked triumph.
“Now, you have to keep me too.” He smirked before he fell to the ground and screamed in agony.
Drama queen.
Chapter 20
The next morning, I sat in the Mess Hall. Wedged between Jae and Hart like the bacon in the middle of a sandwich.
The night before, I had to carry Jae across the K9 enclosure and back into Hart's office before anyone saw. For a slim, petite, man, he sure was heavy.
Hart had woken up in the early morning, next to a still unconscious Jae, and had looked like Christmas had come early. Typically the stoic mountain man would have shut down his emotions like a nuclear bunker preparing for attack, the second that I caught a glimpse of them. But something had changed. I was allowed a glimpse into the relief and vindication that Hart wore proudly.
Callum had been kicked out of his pack as a teenager, but I suspected that he had been an outcast long before then. His dreams were of being hunted. I knew the feeling well. Of never knowing what would happen when someone finally caught you.
All three of us had not said a word to each other since waking up, sore from sleeping on the scratchy carpeted floor of Hart's office.
I needed food and caffeine stat.
Every eye followed us as we had walked in together, and I wondered if the rest of the compound could see the invisible change that had overcome the unlikely duo and their newest addition: me.
Hart had already procured a bottle of Tabasco sauce before I even thought about the journey to the condiment stand. Jae had stolen another slice of bacon from the tray and slid it onto my plate—much to Gary's consternation.
Everything was normal. Except it wasn’t.
We sat down, Hart unwrapped my cutlery, and Jae put sugar in my coffee. All without a word, the two men wore blithe happy smiles as if they were guest-starring in an episode of Sesame Street.
I slammed my open palms down on the table. Breaking the silence. “Stop,” I demanded. “You’re freaking me out.”
“I can't help it.” Jae's smile ticked higher.
Hart grunted and reached into his jacket pocket. He pulled out a mini bottle of vodka and moved his tomato juice onto my plate.
I eyed him quizzically.
“Bloody Mary,” Hart explained, though his two short words didn’t actually explain anything.
“How in Lucifer's Anus did you get vodka?” I lowered my head and hissed. Hart's lip twitched the betraying hint of a smile as he sliced his omelet and ate his food without reacting to my hysterics.
“Callum does most of the supply runs.” Jae unscrewed the vodka and dumped it into the glass. He tucked the small bottle into his sleeve in a movement so swift that I wasn’t sure it had happened. “And maybe lay off the Hell-swears. It makes you sound like a Demon.”
I bared my teeth in a mocking grimace of a smile and turned to my bloody Mary. I drank it all in one go, and I did not say thank you when I slammed the glass back onto my tray.
“You’re a sour puss today,” Jae noted.
“Very grumpy.” Hart agreed, not looking up from his breakfast.
“Anyone would think that you're scared of commitment.” Jae sang, sipping his coffee.
I stuck out my tongue. One of the chairs opposite scraped across the linoleum, and I looked up to see Hugo and Remi had joined us. Hugo leaned over the table and greeted me with a kiss on the cheek, which made me feel warm. I counted three scathing stares from the peanut gallery. Chloe was one of them.
I wiggled in my seat, smug. Hugo Sinclair belonged to me.
“What are you two so happy about?” Remi wondered. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked like he needed coffee more than I did. I pushed my mug across the table, Remi sniffed it. “Salt?” He asked.
I answered him with a look that would have made Daddy Davenport proud.
Jae and Hart, in a move that I could only assume they had choreographed, pulled the collars of their shirts down. Each man had a Soulbond on the left side, over their heart. The burnt scars had turned to silver, looking like they had been there years. I tried not to flinch.
Hugo's eyes sparkled. “Welcome to the dark side.”
Remi glanced over his shoulder, and I followed his gaze. Alicia sat a few tables over, staring at us with hatred in her eyes.