“Love.” I sighed. “If you want all of these things, I will grant you your favor, but your days will be numbered and the days of your family, your wife, your children. If you do not give your people the love they deserve, you
r contract will be canceled and your soul extinguished immediately while your enemies take over your kingdom—now do we have a bargain?”
I could see it in his eyes. He would sacrifice all and he would sacrifice nothing to do it.
He was damned already.
“Yes, immortal, take it all. I will change, they will love me.”
I nodded and waved him away as the mist started to disappear, he turned his back just as I reached across the distance, pulled his soul from the darkness, and placed it in the iridescent bowl next to my throne. After all, favors are never truly free are they?
“No, Darius,” I whispered. “You will not change, because you are a fool who thinks he can rule without his heart, and now that I hold your soul for promise of payment you will fail.” I shook my head. Humans. Would they ever learn? I reached down and scratched the tattoo on my arm and frowned.
The itching intensified.
And then I shot out of bed in a cold sweat.
“Who the hell is Darius?” Mason was literally hovering over my sweat-soaked body with nothing but my favorite red grapes in his right hand and an upside-down book in the other.
“Could you not stand over me when I sleep?” I scowled. “How long have I been out? And why the hell are you here?” A headache pierced my temples. I rarely slept, I was a demon, after all; what need did I have for sleep? But lately it had been getting worse and worse. Was the tattoo the cause? The effect?
And the dreams.
So vivid, lifelike, so very familiar and yet wrong at the same time.
“Darius.” Mason repeated. “Who is he?”
Was he my old soul? Was that the borrowed soul I’d been given? Was he trying to tell me something? That he needed to return to the physical body long ago in the grave?
My head pounded worse.
“Me? Maybe. I don’t know,” I confessed, too tired to explain as I peeled off my clothes and stepped into the walk-in shower.
Mason just bit into his grapes. “You been working out?”
“Are all Watchers this annoying? Why couldn’t you have just been full wolf? Still eating berries and pinecones?”
I could almost feel his shudder.
I quickly rinsed off and put a towel around my waist then stepped back out. “Also, could you stop eating all my food?”
“So, Tarek said he kissed a girl last night.” Mason eyed me with amusement. “And then he said that he licked her… and then boom!” He clapped a hand against his denim-clad thigh. “You appear like a bad nightmare come to life.”
“Boo.” I pretended to be afraid then went to my huge walk-in closet. “Is there a reason you’re here telling me this story? Or are you just out of people to annoy? Where the hell is Alex when I need him?”
“I have an answer for that, gardening.” Mason cackled out a laugh.
“You’re shitting me.” I poked my head out of the closet. “Has he lost his mind?”
“No, get this, he thinks he can garden with nothing but his good looks, you know by forcing the tomato plants to grow. He and Ethan have a bet, then Cassius wanted in on it. And honestly I’m just enjoying not being at war right now, which I said to Cassius only to have him glare at me like I’d just challenged the universe in the wrong way. Then Tarek said something about the girl and a kiss and you, and I figured I’d come investigate.”
“Lucky. Me.” I growled, quickly finding clothes and tossing them on, then facing him again head on. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“Right, well the guys want to call a council meeting, seems that Cassius may have found something in one of the books about your little fruit tree tattoo.”
I rolled my eyes. “For the last time, it’s just… never mind.” It was a damn fruit tree. And I officially hated everyone.
Mason grinned. “So tense these days. You know what fixes that? When you settle down and—”