The Dark Ones (The Dark Ones Saga 1)

"What do you mean?"

"He's both human and immortal. He has two different types of chemical makeup fighting for dominance. Sometimes his human side wins. Other times, the angel side. It's frustrating to follow someone who doesn't even know himself."

"Hmm." I thought about that for a while; they'd made me believe Cassius was like Satan himself, but now I was starting to wonder if he was just misunderstood.

"When you close your eyes," she whispered under her breath, "he'll explain himself better."

"Who?"

"Cassius."

"What? Did I miss an important part of this conversation?"

"You'll see." She smiled. "And then you can make your own judgment, yes?"

"Um, sure?"

"Yes, this!" She moved to a large closet and opened the doors. "I think the dress is in here."

I was still mulling over the fact that Cassius would somehow explain himself to me when a shoe flew by my head, missing my cheek by mere inches. I flinched.

"Sorry! I forget you're breakable."

"Very." I paid special attention to flying objects and went over to the closet. "Will Cassius be there tonight?"

"If Ethan allows it."

"And he won't try to take me."

"Not with us there, no."

"But he'll still try."

Stephanie's hand hovered over the other shoe. "Every day. Until you no longer exist."

CHAPTER FIFTEEN

Ethan

I SHOULD HAVE KNOWN SOMETHING WAS wrong the minute I got into my new Lexus LFA and drove like hell down the winding road.

I'd become accustomed to nice things in life. Living as long as I had, I'd learned to take pleasure from hobbies. My interests ranged from collecting fine art to archery. Had I not done something with my time I would have gone absolutely insane.

My most recent pleasure? Cars. The leather felt smooth against my hot skin; the smell tantalized me. And the speed? Well, the speed was just a bonus. But not now… it seemed everything absolutely paled in comparison to the taste of her.

Maybe it had been too long — the effects of bloodlust could drive a vampire insane — but it wasn't mindless lust I was feeling for her, just intense desire to be near her, to drink from her, to share my soul with her for no other reason than I'd bonded with her.

But if I shared more of my blood, if I took more from her, giving her mine in exchange, she'd continue to be able to see my memories, my dreams — everything I'd been keeping close for the past hundred years.

And the horrible part? She wasn't invested, at least not emotionally, and the last thing I wanted was for her to pity me. The idea made me snort out loud, a human pitying an immortal. The idea was laughable, if it wasn't so damn tragic.

She'd want to make the pain go away…

When really I just wanted to start over.

Cassius wasn't at his usual spot, opting for a more public arena. I hadn't wanted to argue with him yet again over what his presence did to mere mortals. I'd simply sent him a text and agreed to meet in the U District for coffee.

Cassius hated coffee.