4. Edgar

4

EDGAR

" I 'm heading up to the penthouse for a proper shower." Edgar leaned over to kiss Jasmine's cheek, remembering at the last moment that it was no longer appropriate.

In some human cultures, it was common for everyone to kiss each other in greeting and farewell, but Edgar wasn't comfortable doing it.

"Okay." Jasmine smiled at him, and it wasn't fake. There was genuine affection there, which made it even worse. "I'll see you later, right? You're not leaving yet."

She wasn't getting rid of him that easily. "No, not yet. I'll wait for you." He forced a smile. "We still need to have an end-of-mission party."

"Of course." The softness in her eyes was slaying him.

Couldn't she be more of a bitch about it so he could rage at her?

Turning on his heel, Edgar stalked through the halls of the keep, heading to the freight elevator in the back so he wouldn't be in the way while Jade's crew of hybrids carried the stasis chambers from the truck to the catacombs.

The problem was that the service elevator didn't go to the penthouse, and he had to get out at the lobby level and switch to the one that did.

Waving at the guards, he called for the penthouse's dedicated elevator, and when the doors opened, he was greeted by soft instrumental music playing on the hidden speakers. Regrettably, it wasn't loud enough to drown out Jasmine's voice in his head. The conversation they'd had on the plane was still replaying in his mind in a relentless loop of anger and regret.

She had dumped him.

Edgar had never been dumped before.

He had always been the one who walked away, and it hurt to be on the receiving end of the boot. It was a bitter pill to swallow, a jagged shard of glass that lodged in his throat and refused to move no matter how much logic he tried to wash it down with.

He knew he should be happy for Jasmine and respect her wishes like the good friend he had promised to be. But the green-eyed monster of jealousy had sunk its claws deep into his soul, poisoning his thoughts and twisting his emotions until he could barely recognize himself.

She was right that they both deserved better and that his truelove mate was waiting for him somewhere, but knowing and accepting were two different things.

As he reached the penthouse, Edgar slammed the door behind him with a satisfying bang, the sound echoing through the empty rooms, a hollow and mocking reminder that he was once again on his own.

It had been nice to be part of a couple, to have someone to return to at the end of the day, someone he'd thought belonged to him. And it wasn't about being a possessive asshole. For the short time they had been together, Edgar believed that he also belonged to Jasmine.

Except, she didn't want him.

Stripping off his clothes, he left a trail of discarded garments in his wake as he stalked toward the bathroom. The shower beckoned with a promise of a powerful stream of hot water and a good soap that might wash away the stain of failure and inadequacy.

But even as he stood beneath the scalding spray, Edgar couldn't escape the anger that felt like a corrosive acid in his veins.

If not for that damn corpse of a prince, Jasmine would still be his.

He had done his best for her. He had been there for her every step of the way, and they had been great in bed together. What more could that alien prince give her?

Nothing.

Even if he woke up from his stasis with his brain intact, the prince and Jasmine had nothing in common, nothing to talk about, nothing to share. How could she hope to love the half-god, half-Kra-ell alien?

Better yet, how could she hope that he would love her?

Or perhaps love didn't matter to her?

Jasmine was obsessed with royalty so much that she didn't even care that her royal was not the same species as her, which painted her as shallow and stupid.

The thing was, though, she was neither of those things. She was just misguided and blindsided.

As he stepped out of the shower, Edgar felt a flicker of something dark kindle in his chest. It was a feeling he had never experienced before, a burning need to lash out, to hurt and destroy, and make someone else feel the same pain and turmoil that was tearing him apart from the inside out.

He knew it was wrong and that it went against everything he had ever believed in, every code of honor and decency that had guided his life until this moment. But the jealousy was like cancer, eating away at his reason and his restraint until there was nothing left but a raw, bleeding wound that refused to heal.

"Take a breath," he commanded himself. "You are not going to hurt anyone."

Edgar toweled off, pulled on a fresh set of clothes, and began to plot.

He wouldn't do anything stupid, but there was no law against competing for the affection of a female and using any means considered fair play. He would find ways to undermine the prince and expose him as the dangerous alien freak he surely was.

There was a good reason for Kian to demand that they all wear compulsion-filtering earpieces around the twins. They were rumored to be incredibly powerful and dangerous.

Jasmine was just a fragile human, and she had no business being anywhere near the powerful alien creatures. She might not realize that, but she needed him to protect her.