Let Cassius have another one — and fail.
Or steal her.
Fifty years ago, I had given up my request for a breeder, as had Mason. The bond hadn't lasted like it was supposed to, and even though the bliss we'd felt at the hands of the humans we bonded with was incomparable, they'd always died.
Every. Single. Time.
And we'd been the ones left to bury them.
I could bite her and hope that she'd be the one human to finally change things.
The last one had lived past one hundred and fifty — Mason's mate. We'd thought it had worked — had thanked God.
Until he'd awoken with a corpse.
I'd already lived through enough death and betrayal, and now it seemed my existence was on repeat.
"Damn it, Ethan!" Alex stomped into the room. "Could you at least hold her hand?"
"And what? Squeeze it so hard I break every fragile bone in her pathetic body?" I hissed. "Is that what you want?"
He hung his head. "She's stronger than that."
"Is she?" I snorted out a laugh. "That's what we said about the last one."
"Who lived longer than the rest," Alex pointed out. "Look, all I'm saying is there's something very wrong about having Mason up there consoling the human when she's not even his mate, when… he may have to kill her before it's complete. I can't watch him go through loss again. He's known her for less than a day, and already he's like a kicked puppy."
"Tell him that…" I stared into the fire. "…and you'll get your throat ripped out — again."
"Once. He did that once." Alex elbowed me and took a position in front of the fire. "You did what you had to do."
"Right." My voice sounded hollow, funny, because I felt hollow, like an empty shell. "And now I'm bonded — to someone I don't love. Tell me, how does that work out in all those romance novels Stephanie likes to read?"
Alex ignored me as another one of Genesis's screams rocked the mansion. She was transitioning, meaning, for a human, she would be going into an absolute frenzy to be with me. I should be pleased.
I wasn't.
I wasn't that type of vampire.
One who feasted on the lust of others.
It was a trick — like magic. The mating caused her physical body to want me in ways that were indescribable, but she still had full control over her mind. And wasn't that the horrible part?
I could own her body.
I had to earn her heart.
"You're the only being alive who's pissed about having meaningless sex," Alex said in a low voice.
"Siren," I hissed, "you base your life on meaningless sex."
"And my blood pressure's way lower," he joked.
"Not laughing."
"It was kind of funny," he mumbled. "Look, just… hold her again. Maybe it will help things along. You'll sure as hell feel better. I'll sleep better. Mason won't have to kill her because she doesn't make it through, and Cassius won't end up finding her. We win."
"But do we?" I spoke the question we'd been asking ourselves for years upon years. "How long do we repeat the process? How long does the madness continue?"