Page 8 of Total Lunar Eclipse

He cuts me off by pulling me close and kissing me fiercely. Of course, I shut up and participate because I am emotionally needy right now.

Also horny. . . which is the guys’ faults, anyway.

All too soon, he breaks off and whispers, “You ingested Jupiter’s essence?”

I nod sadly, my eyes filling with tears.

“Please tell me there is something we can do. I. . . panicked. I didn’t know what to do. Honestly, it’s like I acted on some weird instinct. . .”

I trail off, remembering the urge to pull Kane’s spirit into myself.

Caed runs a hand through his hair, clearly agitated.

“Zahra love, Jupiter. . .Kane, I mean. . . he’s gone. I’m. . .I’m so sorry.”

First Nyam and now Kane.

I crumble into Caed’s arms and let his strength cradle and soothe me.

I am filled with a deep sorrow, not only for myself, by for the others. I know how much the guys love one another. With a heavy heart, I tell Caed about Nyam. He is much better at masking his emotions than I am, but I feel his grief through our soul bond.

And beneath the grief. . . a raging hatred so raw it takes my breath away.

But I soak it all in though.

I let it form a hardened wall around my heart.

That fucking cum-guzzling kumquat has a lot to answer for when I get my hands on her again.

I can’t fucking wait.

CHAPTER 4

MARS

I hug Zahra’s pastel softness to my chest, rocking slightly, like this might help alleviate some of her pain.

In truth, I hope it alleviates some of mine.

It wasn’t until Zahra told me Sun and Jupiter were gone that I realized I already knew.

I could feel the emptiness inside me; I simply didn’t know what it was at the time.

Two of my brothers are dead.

Well. . .

I quickly put up a mental wall between Zahra and me.

I don’t want her to find out that Jupiter could be saved. . . at the expense of her life. See, the Universe doesn’t do shit for free. It has a pretty strict exchange policy in place. Either you make a fair trade or. . . the Universe makes one for you.

At which point, you wish you had done it in the first place because the Universe takes more than its pound of flesh.

So I hadn’t lied when I said Jupiter is gone.

Without a shadow of a doubt, I know he would never want Zahra to give up her essence for his.

I mull over everything Zahra has told me. I shudder to think how Jupiter gained Lina’s powers. The foolish, vain woman always did think Jupiter less than the rest of us because his first inclination never was to use his fists.