Page 50

“You saw what I did to Slade. Victor was right. The power had been there all along. My mom, my dad, Liam… I should have helped them. But I was afraid, too afraid to use an ability that has been a part of me all my life. I hated it, hated being a freak. It’s all my fault. I failed them.”

His jaw clenched.Victor did this. He was the one to put these thoughts in her head. After all she’d been through, it was Victor who’d managed to break her.

She closed her eyes and leaned into Jericho’s palm. “You’re mad at me,” she stated, pressing chilly fingers against the back of his hand.

He grimaced and reinforced his mental shields. “Not at you.” His grip on her chin tightened. “You did nothing wrong, Alex. It’s a miracle you survived at all. Victor…” Jericho hesitated. For once, he had no excuse to offer for his clan leader’s behavior. “Victor twisted your memories and used them against you.” Though he was reluctant to say more, with her, he felt safe to admit, “You witnessed the tension between him and the magister. Victor believes you can play an integral part in his investigation, and he’ll do anything to keep his position.” And Jericho had begun to wonder just how far Victor was willing to go to secure the Council’s favor.

She pulled his hand from her cheek and held it between her palms. “You respect him, but he isn’t the man you once knew.”

He glanced at their joined hands, and she offered him a pained smile. “No, I’m notreadingyou. My father and Victor, they’re alike in some ways. My father understood the price. Knew what he was doing was dangerous. Still, he couldn’t seem to help himself. Power, money… It seems the more you have, the more it corrupts you. I guess”—she drew a breath—“it’s one of the reasons I fear this darkness inside of me. I’m afraid of what it will do to me if I give in. Afraid of who I’ll become.

“I…” Her voice broke. “I don’t want to be the monster you see in me. To be thatthingwho brought Slade to his knees.” She frowned, eyes growing distant. “I think I…enjoyed it. Enjoyed hurting him that way.”

Her stark expression tightened his chest. “If you’re a monster, then so am I,” he said in a gentle tone. “You’ve no idea the number of times I’ve envisioned ripping Slade’s tongue from his arrogant mouth.”

She choked on a tearful laugh. Her expressive eyes lifted to meet his gaze, raw with emotion, unguarded, exposed.

The urge to protect, to provide, pulled at the deepest part of him. She was his Chosen, after all. This was his right.

He tensed to embrace her and stiffened.

No. She is Liam’s.

With gentle fingers, she stroked his chest, tentative at first, then growing bolder. The distance between them faded, and she leaned forward, pressing her forehead into his. Her sweet breath fanned his lips, so close, sharing the very air he breathed.

Think of Liam.

This was wrong. Jericho shouldn’t be here. Shouldn’t draw her closer. Shouldn’t wrap her in his arms. Time to pull away. Hewouldpull away. Soon.

But not yet. He refused to abandon her while she was vulnerable and broken.

She tilted her head, rubbing her silken cheek against his jaw. “I need you,” she said, her whispered words caressing his ear.

Every muscle in his body snapped as tight as an overdrawn bow. Did she mean… No. She couldn’t. Alex was weak and exhausted. She didn’t know what she was saying.

Liam. Liam. Li—

She curled her leg around his thigh and pressed closer. They came together like two pieces made whole, each one of her curves aligning perfectly with his harder planes. Why the hell did she have to feel so good, so right?

Remaining motionless in her embrace was penance for his many sins. The heat of her skin radiated through his wet shirt. Sweat beaded his brow, and his muscles quivered from the strain.

She slid her hand beneath her sodden hair and dragged it over her shoulder. The towel dipped lower, baring the graceful column of her neck. “Please,” she breathed.

Hunger of a different kind roared to the surface. “I need you.” The realization brought a sense of relief. His Chosen was asking for his bite. The one thing he was free to share with her.Yes.This, he could do.

He cupped her head in his palm and lowered his mouth to the curve of her neck. The venom in his bite would soothe her, give his Chosen the endorphins she needed.

“You’re sure?” He hesitated, giving her a chance to change her mind. Hoping she would? Praying she didn’t. He’d fed from her just this morning. The act necessary.

This…

This was about pleasure, not necessity.

“Yes, now,” she pleaded. Her tone breathy and urgent.

His gut clenched in response. Burning pressure built behind his fangs.

He pressed his mouth to her strawberry-scented flesh and swirled his tongue over her vein. Her pulse thrummed like a hummingbird’s wings. What she offered was impossible for even a saint to resist.