15. Zachariah

CHAPTER 15

Zachariah

I can't believe it.

Talia actually agreed to a real date with me, after doing our due diligence and going on a quick hunt, of course.

Still, I'm surprised at her acceptance of my offer, especially seeing as how I know she's been using sex between us as a way to keep things strictly physical.

This feels like I've been given a thread of hope I haven't felt in a while, and I'm damn sure not going to waste it.

"Is this what mortals do on dates?" Talia asks as I pull the door open for her to a lycan-run establishment in mortal territory that happens to be open all night in order to cater to its supernatural clientele.

"This is what we do on dates," I say, nodding at the owner, who stands behind a small mahogany bar serving drinks to a group of werewolves chatting there. I lead Talia through the space to a back room, having already called ahead and paid for our entertainment for the night.

I hold that door open for her as well, ushering her inside and relishing her look of excitement as she sees two massive wooden targets with circles painted on it, and a wide array of axes hanging from a base twenty feet away from them.

"Is this going to feel like training?" she teases as she picks up an axe and heads to the target on the left.

"I don't remember drinking during training," I say, motioning to the two cocktails I pre-ordered already on a bar at the edge of the room.

"Oh, twist ," she says, setting the axe down and walking over to grab her drink, taking a long sip from it and moaning around the flavor. "That's delicious."

My chest puffs out a bit at her declaration, especially since I chose without knowing specifically what her drink of choice was.

When we first courted, it'd been champagne, but of course, that was one of the only drinks acceptable for her to have back then. Tonight, I chose a pink grapefruit Paloma, knowing she liked citrusy flavors. The fact that she's enjoying it, and taking another sip now, only solidified the fact that I do still know her, and that we still work great together beyond the bedroom or the hunt.

She heads back over to where the axes are, picking up the one she had before. "How about we make this super interesting?"

"I'm game," I say, taking a sip of my drink and then moving to the target on the right, grabbing an axe of my own.

"We each make a wager before we throw the axe, and whoever hits their target wins the wager."

All she had to do is speak what she wanted and I would find a way to give it to her, but I'm a sucker for games, and she knows that.

"Deal."

"And I won't even use my powers," she says, arching a brow at me. "And you won't either."

"I would never think you'd cheat. And I don't have a power in my arsenal that would give me better aim."

"We can always fix that for you," she says, not for the first time. "I've always told you that if you wanted to feel what it's like to be able to move things with your mind, all you have to do is ask."

I look at her with a stern gaze. "And I've always told you that I would never risk your life in that way," I chide her. "Why must you keep insisting? Do you relish the danger that much?"

She smiles wildly at me, not a hint of hesitance or fear in her eyes. "Maybe it's fascinating to me," she says. "The way your powers work. The way you absorb that of those you kill or the way you can draw powers from someone willing to give them to you."

"And with how very little that has happened," I say. "You should know how dangerous it is. I almost killed Talon one time, when we both needed to share his gift, and I vowed I would never do it again unless it was a life-or-death situation." I shake my head. "Don't you ever wonder why I never use too many powers at once? This gift I have of power absorption is as much as a curse as it is a blessing. Using too many at once is chaotic and they're hard to control, putting everyone around me at risk. I don't take that lightly. I don't relish the idea of taking power from someone else, even if it's freely given."

The seriousness in my tone seems to catch up with her, and she straightens, giving me an apologetic look. "I didn't know the Talon story," she says, her voice cracking. "Or the rest. If you'd only said that before, I wouldn't keep teasing you about it."

I soften my gaze and my tone. "That's because we need to talk more. I'll tell you anything you want to know," I say. "I didn't have time to before. I know there's a lot we need to discuss, but I'm trying to do this on your terms, Talia. The last thing I want to do is push you where you're not ready to go. And stories from my past, or my recent past…"

"Your recent past could trigger me," she says, assessing. "Because you know how angry I am that you didn't find me." She nods, understanding.

"I did try to find you," I say. "When I heard you were dead...it broke me, but that's no excuse. I should have made absolutely sure those I asked weren't mistaken. I should have fought harder to find you. I'll never make that mistake again."

"I played a role in that," she says. "I spread the rumor. I shouldn't hold it against you."

"You have every right to be angry with me."

She holds my gaze, something like agony shifting there before she glances at her target and clears her throat.

"If I make this, you do that thing with your tongue again," she says, completely shifting the subject away from anything serious.

Not that I didn't take devouring her seriously, but it was lighter, nonetheless.

I shift the axe in my hand, looking at my own target. "And if I make this, you will do that thing with your tongue," I say, and I'm met with a soft laughter from her.

We both let our axes loose at the same time, each of the blades sinking deep into the center of our targets. We look at each other, laughing at the identical throws.

"Okay," Talia says. "Looks like it's all tongues out later," she teases.

We both grab another axe, pointing to a different circle on the wooden targets. I go first this time. "If I make this, you sleep in my bed tonight."

Her lips part in shock at the high-stakes wager. She's refused to let me take her in a bed, and my soul tells me it's because it would be too real for her. It's easy enough to act fast and frenzied in public spaces, but in a bed? In my chambers? That would be opening a door. And I wanted to see if she was ready to walk through it.

"If I make this," she counters. "You have to let me tie you to your bed."

Goddamn. This female would be the absolute end of me. Just the idea of my hands restrained and her having her way with me has me in all sorts of knots. There were few who I would trust as a hunter with the powers I possessed, but there is no one I would let restrain me, save for her. My mate.

"Deal," I say, and we both let our axes fly at the same time, each one driving home into the target we'd pointed at. I turn to her, smiling. "I guess we're both winners," I say.

"You could say that," she says, heading over to the little bar, sitting down to sip her drink.

I join her, following her lead in any way she wants to point.

"How do you feel about Alek asking you for your support?" I ask.

"You heard about that, did you?"

"The king's inner circle, which you and I have been graciously included in, rarely has secrets. Not that this would be something worth hiding. It's natural for the king to want you to take your seat in his court, since you would offer a fresh perspective that I know he's desperate for. You could bring the wavering noble vampires in line."

Talia blows out a breath, stirring her drink with a small straw that's sticking out of it. "I thought that was Cassandra's job."

"It used to be. Though she's still suffering the crimes of her family, unfortunately. Despite her and Talon's mating, and her reconciling with the king and Lyric long ago, some of the aristocrats won't recognize her leadership because of her Zorin name."

Talia rolls her eyes. "That type of horseshit is exactly why I don't want anything to do with the court. It's why I left that life behind me in the first place." She tilts her head, taking another drink. "Well, mostly why I left."

I hate the hurt I hear in her voice, and I shift closer to her, as if pulled by an unbreakable bond that's tugging us together. "Talia, I am so sorry."

She visibly swallows but finds the strength to meet my eyes. "I know you are, Zachariah. I honestly, truly know you regret what you did. But I can't help but wonder if you'd make the same choice again if the situation called for it?"

"That's not fair," I say. "I wasn't choosing my brothers over you, I was choosing life, your life, over losing you."

Her jaw goes taught, and she shakes her head. "That's another line of horseshit," she says, shocking the hell out of me.

She stands from her chair, crossing the room as if she might leave, and I rush to her side, gently gripping her wrist, silently begging her to stay. She looks at where I hold her, shifting her hand into mine, smoothing her thumb over my palm as she looks up at me.

I graze my free hand over her cheek, pushing back some of her long hair over her shoulder. "Would it be such a tragic thought that you might want to stay? In the king's court, and the king's residence, with me?"

She chokes out a dark laugh. "That's the thing, Z," she says, shoulders dropping. "If you would've asked me this before you went into stasis, if you would've looked me in the eye and told me the reasons why you were doing what you were doing, I would've waited for you. I would've spent an eternity waiting for you." She sighs. "But you didn't ask me. You didn't explain. You wrote me a goodbye letter, wishing me to find the best life without you, saying you had no choice." She steps away from my touch, tears lining her eyes. "But you did have a choice. You could have chosen me . You could've chosen to include me in your plans, to see me as your equal, and to trust me to wait for you, to support you. Because that's the fucked-up thing, Z. I would have. I would have understood, even as it ripped my heart out, I would have understood. In case you forgot, I love Saint like a brother , and Dagon and Talon and Ajax. They were blood to you, which made them blood to me, and I would've never asked you to choose between us. All I wanted was the respect enough to make my own decision to wait for you while you slept. But you denied me that." Tears roll down her cheeks.

My world shifts on its axis at her words, her admission.

She makes her way to the door, and I'm frozen, unable to stop her. She looks at me, shaking her head. "I would have waited forever for you," she says. "But that's before I knew what it felt like to be pushed aside for the sake of duty."

She leaves, closing the door behind her, not once looking back.