Mason's entire face crumpled with pain as he let out a howl and ran out of the room.
"Shit." Alex stared after him. "It's going to take hours to get him to come out of his state now."
"I'm so sorry." I held up my hands. "I had no idea—"
"Of course you don't," Ethan snapped. "You know nothing."
I am nothing.
I hung my head.
"Be easy on her," Stephanie said in a calm voice. "She's been brainwashed for quite a while."
"Will he be okay?" I asked in a small voice. "The wer—" I was about to say werewolf and had to stop myself. "Mason? Will he be okay?"
"After he runs." Ethan hung his head. "Maybe if he eats something other than berries and the damn pinecones I keep finding in the upstairs bedroom."
Stephanie's lips pressed together in a small smile. "He finds comfort in the outside."
"Yeah, well, he's ruining my wood floors," Ethan grumbled.
"You live together?" I blurted.
All eyes fell to me. "All immortals live together in one sense or another." It was Ethan who kept answering my questions. "And you didn't offend Mason as much as remind him of what should have been… what could have been."
"Oh." I swallowed against the dryness in my throat. Shock must have been wearing off as I could at least feel my body again, though what I felt was shaky and weak.
"Ethan…" Stephanie glanced between us. "I know you don't like the idea, but it's really the only way."
He chewed his lower lip; fangs descended from the top of his mouth. "I know."
"It's the only thing we haven't tried." Alex put his arm around Stephanie. "It won't be so bad, will it?"
What were they talking about?
And why was I suddenly feeling rejected all over again?
"It won't be so bad," Ethan repeated. "It will be absolute torture… hell rising to earth… and you ask me to do this still? Knowing what you know?"
The two of them hung their heads but said nothing.
It was on the tip of my tongue to ask when the entire temperature in the room dropped.
I saw my own breath.
"He's close." Alex cursed. "Do it now!"
Ethan's green eyes met mine; they flashed then went completely black before he said in a low gravelly voice, "I'm so sorry."
All I felt was pain.
As black overtook everything.
"I love you so much." The woman danced in the field, throwing her hands up into the air in excitement. "Say you love me."
"I love you." Ethan grinned. "Always, you know this."
"Say it again!" She laughed and threw herself into his arms.