“You’re supposed to be with Alyssa,” I tell her, pulling Roslyn with me when I sit down on a chair.
My girl gets settled on my lap, and for the first time, she seems comfortable in her own skin.
“Chaz said it had something to do with Slade. I want in on this conversation. I’m the best chance of survival if he comes.”
She squirms in her seat, never once meeting my eyes. She has a soft spot for the bastard who wants my girl dead, but she’s not voicing it right now.
“He saves you,” Chaz points out, “but he wants Roslyn dead. Why?”
Roslyn tenses against me, and I wrap my arm around her waist, tugging her closer. She doesn’t have to be afraid in here. There’s an arsenal of people here who can protect her.
“Because she’s a predator,” Dice chimes in. “She feasts on our blood instead of humans.”
A small smile tugs at my lips, and my hand wraps around her hip, clamping down a little harder than I would if she was still mortal. When she shivers against me, I can tell she knows what’s on my mind.
“Speaking of which,” I whisper, loving how her skin pebbles with Goosebumps, “still not into blood play?”
She turns to face me, and her eyes spark to life with autumn and fire, making my cock hard in my very tight pants.
“You two going to fuck or talk? ‘Cause I thought this was a meeting,” Chaz says, reminding me we’re not alone, just as Gage appears, leaning against the wall as he silently takes in the conversation.
Roslyn clears her throat before her eyes die back down to the violet color, and that pretty shade of blush finds her cheeks again. Hard to believe she’s really immortal with the ability to get embarrassed over something so simple.
“We’ll fuck after we talk,” I announce, laughing when Roslyn’s eyes screw shut and she buries her face in her hands.
“So what can you tell us about Slade?” Ella asks, getting back on point without subtlety. “Is he one of the twins we heard about? One of the ones with the hexer’s curse that makes them feel what the other feels?”
“You know, that could be a little awkward,” Dice interjects. “I mean, if one jacks off the other feels it too. So would it be like getting a hand job from your brother?”
I fucking hate the way his sick mind works. Several groans ring out, and Zee slaps Dice on the back of the head.
“Ouch, you dick! It’s a perfectly reasonable question.”
“No,” Roslyn says, not seeming even a little amused. “They only feel each other’s pain—physical pain. Or they did, until Alton managed to somehow the link and made Slade feel double the pain while his pain ceased to exist.”
Roslyn blows out a breath while leaning back against me, and I kiss her shoulder while she talks.
“Slade isn’t just a creature god,” she says, looking around the room at all the expectant faces. “He’s half of the Gemini.”
That raises a few question marks in the air.
“You mean as in the Gemini twins?” Chaz asks, recognition sparking in his eyes.
The dots connect, and I almost slap myself for not thinking of it sooner.
“It’s not a hexer’s curse. It’s the curse of the Gemini. Fuck.”
This is a lot worse than I thought.
“Question,” Dice inserts. “Why do most of you look a little freaked out?”
Gage curses while pushing off from the wall and going to sit down on the other side of Ella.
“I’ve spent centuries thinking the Gemini were nothing more than a myth. The Gemini were never supposed to be separated. Their link was supposed to make them powerful. A force that could be called upon in dark times. By dark times, I’m talking apocalyptic. No one even knew they were stuck in the rings.”
“So I guess we should hope there’s not going to be an apocalypse,” Dice says, still not understanding the gravity of the situation.
“The link isn’t completely severed, but they’re no longer tied together to be as powerful as they could have been,” Roslyn goes on. “Slade would have already killed Alton if he could. But if Alton dies, Slade dies too. So unless he’s feeling suicidal, he’s not killing him. He will, however, lock him in his own version of hell if he ever gets ahold of him. Physical pain is pointless, since Alton is unable to feel anything now. Some say Slade created a plane just to torture his brother. He’ll destroy his mind since he can’t destroy his body.”