He grabbed my arm, the one with the creepy black tattoo and kissed the inside of my wrist and then bit and sucked.
Black drained in a smoky haze from my arm into his lips as though he was drinking the power back into him.
When he was done, my arm was healed.
Completely.
“Come with me. Now,” he commanded, holding out his hand.
“No.” I shook my head. “I don’t know what just happened, but Alex is dying and he’s my mate—”
“He will be your death. And I swore to protect you. Either you come with me and he lives, or I let him die.”
I looked between the two of them, my heart twisting, shattering into tiny pieces. “But I care about him. I can’t—”
“Make your choice.” Timber’s eyes glowed red. “Now.”
Alex. I’m so sorry.
I’m so sorry.
He needed to live.
He had to live.
Slowly, I put my hand in Timber’s. He squeezed my fingers tightly and exhaled a puff of smoke in the air.
We walked by the frozen immortals and down the stairs.
Cassius was standing near the door; his feathers were purple, shedding a wet mist as he eyed us cautiously. “Keep her safe.”
“It is not me you have to worry about.” Timber said hoarsely. “I have seen his mind. He is not stable.”
“With her, he could be.” Cassius fired back. “But you have taken that from him, in more ways than one.”
“He killed an entire race,” Timber snarled. “A race I am honor bound to protect. So forgive me for not feeling more gracious right now. I saved his life. For her. Because she is our leader, our Hope. If he comes after her, there will be war.”
“There is always war,” Cassius said his eyes flashing white.
“At least now we are not on opposing sides.” Timber finally broke eye contact and turned to me. “At least now we have her.”
“Bannik will stop at nothing to destroy her.”
“And I will stop at nothing to protect her.”
“You must know I have seen the futures, Timber. Her leaving does not end well, not for any of us.”
Timber hesitated, his eyes closing briefly before he shook his head slowly. “I cannot allow her to be where she isn’t safe.”
Cassius tilted his head as his eyes flashed white. “Perhaps, I can.”
An icy feeling ran through my body, lingering in my temples before disappearing altogether.
“We are at an impasse.” Cassius’s steely gaze never left Timber’s. I was terrified and had no idea w
hat was going on other than I was leaving with a dangerous stranger who thought he had some sort of psychotic claim to me.
I shook my cloudy head.