8. CHAPTER EIGHT

CHAPTER EIGHT

ENDER

The woman is a menace who can't leave well enough alone.

I can hear her plotting and planning as she paces outside where we trained earlier.

Occasionally, her wings will flap hard enough to lift off the ground, and Sera will hover a bit before coming back down.

Good.

She's getting stronger. Soon, she'll be able to fly.

My mate is mad at me—no surprise there—but her anger covers a more intriguing emotion.

Concern, specifically for me .

Despite her animosity toward me, Sera still cares about my past.

It saddens her that my father treated me like an abomination.

I don't know what to think. It's such a foreign concept to have someone care for me.

Although I have friends, I never get close enough to form a true bond.

Knowing what I do about the future, it's not worth it.

But I want Sera to care—crave her affection when I shouldn't.

No one's ever cared for me because I've never told anyone the truth about my father.

I practically raised myself in isolation until I became strong enough and powerful enough to help others in a similar situation.

Long ago, I promised myself that no one would suffer as I did, especially a child.

Every single life in every realm is a gift not to be taken for granted.

We all have a purpose and certain capabilities that need honed to be most effective.

Creatures of death are particularly shunned on Earth. The Veil is a haven for them.

Anyone knows you can't have life without death.

And so I've dedicated my life to helping these misunderstood individuals.

Because when I'm gone from this realm, I have to know it wasn't all for naught.

Closing my eye,, I let my wings droop as I sag into my chair.

Sometimes I forget who I am and what my responsibilities are when I'm with Sera.

A very dangerous thing.

I take a moment to collect myself before pushing away from the table and going outside.

Following my mate's scent, I discover she's sitting under the cover of a tree.

She grumbles when I ease down beside her, but she doesn't run.

"You're still mad at me," I note.

"Very good, Sherlock."

"I suppose that's an upgrade from dickhead."

Sera chuckles despite herself. "You're still that, too. Are you ever going to answer my questions?"

"We'll see. I brought you here to learn to use your powers and wings. You're no good to anyone, including yourself, if you spend the rest of your life bumbling around in the dark trying to figure it out."

"I would, eventually."

I nod, acknowledging she's right, but eventually is too far away.

If I had known she was my mate years ago, perhaps things would be different now.

"Probably. You're resourceful and smart, but why spend forever struggling when someone is willing to show you now?"

"Did you just compliment me?"

"That's what you focus on?"

"Right. I guess…it's that I hate asking for help—hate being reliant on someone. I don't want to be a burden on anyone."

"It's not a burden when that person loves you."

Sera scoots back from me, her mind whirling, and I could bite my tongue off.

"Are you saying…that you love me? You don't even know me!"

Except, I do.

I've stalked her from the shadows, drawn to her light. She's more familiar to me than my own mind.

"My point was that you're not a burden. You don't have to kill yourself helping others to prove your worth."

"Isn't that what you've been doing Earthside? Ahnou's mentioned what you do to Fern, and of course, she told me."

"Remind me to yell at the Anubis next time I see him."

"Get in line. I'm first—right after I'm done with that little red-headed backstabber I call my best friend."

Her tone is teasing, but her thoughts jumble around each other as she tries to figure me out.

If I really love her.

How I could love her.

Why I'm lying.

What I'm hiding.

I sigh, my right wing stretching out to stroke down the left side of hers.

She jolts as if electrocuted, and I mirror her reaction as reason and lust war within me at the contact.

Sera's anger at me has melted into resignation, but the banked sparks still glow hot as a new emotion kindles within her.

Need.

For as illogical as she's been about her wings and accepting who she is, my mate doesn't fight the burgeoning attraction she feels to me.

And this makes everything a thousand times harder.

I expected Sera to be fueled by her animosity at me for taking her to The Veil against her will.

What I didn't expect is her to be drawn to me, to see me when no one else has.

To feel for me.

"You're mad at me," I remind in a gruff voice.

"Super pissed. You dragged me here and made me acknowledge that I like you and am acting against my own interests, but I've realigned myself. I rebound quickly. Now I have a new mission."

"Yes, yes, to figure out all my secrets."

"I'll get my answers."

"Sometimes, some things aren't worth figuring out. Humans say ignorance is bliss, and when you can't change the trajectory of events, it truly is."

"Because you've seen the future, and it's set in stone?"

"The future's never concrete, but what I do learn generally comes to pass."

"Generally isn't always. Don't you think it's unfair to accuse me of never letting anyone in, and then you turn around and do it yourself?"

"You don't like me."

It's an impulsive act on my part to prompt her, but Sera's quickly picked up on when I'm being truthful or not.

"I don't like what you've done to me," she corrects.

"You weren't supposed to like me," I whisper more to myself than to her.

I feel her shrug. "But I do. Trust me, it's just as flabbergasting to me. I'm not going anywhere without learning how to open a portal—your words, not mine. Sounds like you're stuck with me, so you better start explaining some things."

My throat closes with how fast the tables have turned on me.

I'm supposed to be the one in control—supposed to be the one to help Sera and then send her away.

I knew when I took her that it would be hard to be near her, but I thought she would put up a wall around herself that I had no hope of scaling.

But for as much as Sera represses her emotions, she readily embraced her attraction to me.

And that's all it took for her anger to dissipate and for her true nature to shine through.

Compassionate.

Kind.

Selfless.

She's bent on figuring me out, but Sera is too precious to risk.

I can't let her grow closer—but I want to.

Because I'm selfish.

Because I'm desperate.

Because I love her.