I sense Asher stiffen and my attention snaps to him.
When our eyes meet it feels like worlds collide.
My soul is rocked from the impact, and my body thrums, all the atoms of being stirring.
He’s just as beautiful as I remember.
So beautiful it’s soul-crushing.
Drawn forward, I take the first step over the threshold.
Green eyes widening ever so slightly in anticipation, I watch them fill up with a hunger, an intensity that steals all my breath from me.
Becoming aware that I’m only prolonging my suffering, our suffering, I take the next step and give myself over to destiny.
Sixteen
Asher
My eyes temporarily go white when the door finally opens and I see Chloe. See her for what feels like the first time in centuries. I know she’s only been alive for twenty years, but I’ve waited nearly a millennium for her.
I’ve seen kingdoms rise and fall. I’ve felt the world shift more than once from revolution. I’ve witnessed things of wonder and true monstrosity. I’ve fought in countless wars.
All this time I’ve waited for her.
Every second, every minute, every hour, every day, every week, every month, every year, every decade, every century…
Almost a thousand years of waiting, of filling the void of time, coalescing to this moment.
I’ve waited. I’ve been patient. I’ve raged.
I’ve felt every emotion under the dark starry skies.
Nine hundred and eighty-seven years ago, I died during a cold winter night. My throat was bitten, my body drained until I was gasping my last breath. I don’t know why my sire stopped there. I don’t know why he spilled his bloody essence back into me. He was gone before I awoke, disappearing that very night.
My sire died during the Crusades, towards the end of those wars of faith. I felt his loss though I never knew him. And I swore my children would never know that pain. Swore on my immortality I would do everything to provide them a life.
I also swore on my own blood I would give them a mother.
My knees want to collapse at the beauty of the woman before me. Her golden hair. Her full cheeks. Her lush lips. Her stormy gray eyes. Her beauty is all-encompassing.
But it doesn’t stem only from her looks.
No, it’s in the deep bond we share. The connection I feel between our souls that allows me to see inside her. See her purity of heart. The kindness in her nature. Her resilience and strength to survive.
All of it threatens to blind my mind.
Standing on the front stoop of the home, her tear-filled eyes stare at me, full of every emotion. They ask questions I don’t understand. The pain is so great that what’s left of my dying soul aches with anger.
Why the fates would leave this until now doesn’t make sense to me. A split soul shouldn’t have to suffer for this long, or in this way.
Tossing the meatbag that’s in my hand to whoever the fuck is beside me, I simply stare at her, as she does me.
“Gross, this one is not my dance partner,” Ambrose mutters as the body collides with him.
“I’ve missed you, Chloe. I’ve missed you through more lifetimes than I want to remember. I’ve missed you every moment,” I say.
“I…” Her eyes almost glazing over in a haze of lust and fear, of desire and pain, I can see the yearning to be embraced, to be taken into my arms.
Opening them slowly to her, I simply wait for her to come to me.
“Asher,” she whispers quietly as her feet move in slow, scuffing movements.
Chloe still fights what is natural. She fights it because of the indoctrination forced upon her.
An indoctrination I will break her of. I will rip every single fucking teaching of the Order out of her mind.
Taking the final step to her, I wrap my arms tight around her body. When I pull her to my chest, she rests her cheek against me.
I can smell her natural scent now and it’s beyond ambrosia to me.
Leaning down, I brush my lips against the top of her head.
I would kiss those delicate lips if I knew it wouldn’t lead to things we absolutely cannot do in public.
Lifting her into my arms, I sweep her legs up to hold her.
Thou shall covet.
I will covet her. I will secure her forever as mine.
For I am the fucking monster who will end the world to keep her safe.
Turning from the house I’ve come to hate, unnaturally so, I long to be away.
Nodding my head to the men surrounding me, I head directly to the SUV the wolf pack loaned us. Raphael, ever mindful of our needs during this hellacious time, ensured we had transportation.
Matthias opens the door for me. “Two more of the men have arrived. They’ll be following us to the safe house.”
“Good,” I say, and slide into the seat with Chloe in my arms.