I shuddered for the third time that hour.
Mating with a human was, in my mind, a lot like befriending a sad, blind yet arrogant mouse. No, thank you.
“Yes.” Cassius nodded thoughtfully interrupting my trip down memory lane. His scolding look said it all. Suck it up. Be a team player. Basically, in Cassius speak, he meant, don’t be an ass, aka don’t be yourself. “They are.”
I tried to read the rest of his thoughts, but he blocked me with the precision of a well-practiced creepy old man, damn him.
“Stop knocking
. I won’t ever answer.” Cassius grinned. “Now, there are three women. I want you to pick one.”
I pouted.
“One,” he repeated emphasizing the word.
“How about all or nothing?” I offered with a flick of my hand.
“How about I rip your skull from your neck and feed it to the bird outside my window?”
“Tempting,” I croaked. “Very tempting.”
“Go.” Cassius urged. “And remember your powers will be somewhat dwindled behind the cement walls of the room, we don’t want you killing them.”
“Hah, death by orgasm, nice.” I made my way toward the door then froze as Stephanie moved to block my way. “What up, sis?”
“Be nice.” Her eyes swirled white and blue. “Please?”
“I am nice,” I lied.
“You’re manipulative. There’s a difference.”
“Old habits?”
“Just…” She took a deep breath and pressed her hands against my shoulders her fingers digging into my flesh. “Please give this a chance. There’s a war coming, and we need to be strong, every one of us.”
And there it was.
She may as well have taken the weight of both the human and immortal realm and settled it quite nicely on my six-foot-five frame.
Fantastic.
Cassius was our king.
What he said went.
And we weren’t strong on our own, we needed mates.
And because the very idea sent Mason into a pinecone and berry coma where I’m pretty sure he started reverting back to a childlike state as he rocked back and forth in the corner — I offered as tribute, hah, see what I did there?
Damn it, the immortal version of The Hunger Games.
Fight or be killed.
And I couldn’t fight if I was half of the whole I was supposed to be.
I was one of the four oldest immortals, and a council member to boot. My job for centuries had been to make sure that the humans, at least the small percentage that didn’t work for us, had no clue about our existence, and of course to make sure there were no feedings. Of any kind.
Not the vampire kind.