CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

S age lay awake, staring at the ceiling for hours. At one point, she began crying. She didn’t really understand why she was sobbing, but she felt a great sadness and loss.

Of what?

It was like she’d lost her virginity or some damn thing. Everything she knew about life was untrue. How could a species live among them for so long undetected? Especially with technology and surveillance.

How did she know vampires weren’t to blame for the millions of missing children, or serial murders, or any number of other things? Sure, they could have wiped out humans. But then again, why would you destroy your food source?

Fucking hell. That just scared the hell out of her.

Yet, Ari and Oliver had never hurt her. They had pleasured her.

Sure, Sage, haven’t you heard of animals playing with their food first?

Ugh.

As a scientist, she’d been trained to ask questions, but she had no data. What Ari had showed her tonight pointed to vampires being predators. Yet what was the point of being terrified of something that had existed long before anyone knew?

And so the monkey mind continued for hours.

Sage realized that wasn’t why she was crying.

Not really.

The way Ari had left, his words had cut her to the bone.

It made no sense that she wished his arms were wrapped around her when he was a vampire.

And yet she did.

She was scared and had no idea what to do. She couldn’t just quit, or she’d lose her home. She knew that’s what he wanted her to say, and she couldn’t. Sage needed to see it with her own eyes. Processing all of this was taking some time. She was upset he hadn’t even given her a moment to come to grips with everything.

And he’d done it cruelly.

Part of her understood what he must be feeling—kind of—she had no idea, really. What she needed was time to work it all out in her head.

Accepting money and support from a man—vampire—she’d known for thirty seconds wasn’t an option. Especially one who appeared to have told her so many lies.

Ari didn’t own a gym. He owned a security company dealing with dangerous people and it was full of vampires.

Ugh.

What other lies had he told her? Her head spun. She couldn’t trust a man she barely knew. That would be foolish. She needed to go back to the office and reassess the reality once she had a look around. Perhaps Ari was wrong, and she could tell him?

Rolling over for the millionth time, Sage wiped her eyes.

She glanced at the clock. Three a.m.

“This is me, protecting my race while I tear my heart apart.”

Those were his departing words, and she was unsure what they meant. Or who they were referring to. Sage hoped he meant her, but his cold eyes had sent a chill through her right before he’d disappeared before her eyes.

Disappeared.

Before.

Her.

Eyes.

Did he think it was okay to just do that without warning?

Sage had gasped and buried her face into the cushions and let out a scream. Tele-fucking-portation?

He didn’t think to warn her?

“I have no damn idea about anything anymore,” Sage said into the empty room. “Give me the answers, God. I’m scared and don’t know what to do.”

ARI SAT IN HIS PRIVATE office listening to the audio from Sage’s tracker. Darren had set up a livestream he could connect to whenever he wanted.

So, basically, a source of torture.

When he’d teleported away, he’d gone down to the street outside her house and listened to her howl. It wasn’t loud, but his vampire hearing had picked it up loud and clear. His heart thumped a million miles an hour as he tried to understand the swirl of emotions running through him.

He wanted to go back to Sage and comfort her, but he couldn’t. He was a strategic warrior—he knew the importance of patience and letting things unfold.

But Sage wasn’t a strategy, nor was she an asset. She was a woman he cared for. A woman he wanted. A woman who could be his mate.

And yet, she was all those things.

Only time would tell, and waiting was hell.

Ari headed to his bedroom to get a few hours’ rest. He was living human hours right now as they monitored Sage’s daily movements. If there was an opportunity to strike a BioZen location, they had to be rested and ready, which meant while his team focused on her audio, the assassins needed to rest.

While Ari rarely went out into the field, he would today. For Sage.

Craig and his team had been training with his guys tonight, while the prince made sure the queen and princess were comfortable. Ari hadn’t spoken to them, rather letting his team keep him updated. He was in no mood to be social or polite.

In a few hours, Sage would return to the BioZen office, and he would have his answer.

The next twelve hours were crucial.

Ari sighed. One glance in the mirror and he saw his eyes remained the same as they had forever. No ring. No sign of the mating bond. At this point, it didn’t matter. His feelings for her were clear, no matter what happened.

If Sage chose to remain on the team of scientists harming vampires, he could not mate her.

He also couldn’t live without her.

Ari cursed, splashing water over his face, then went to lay down on his bed. He opened the app on his phone so he could continue listening to Sage’s livestream.

She was now breathing deeply in sleep.

He lay the phone on the pillow and closed his eyes. There was some solace in listening to her breath, but she stirred a need within him. His hand slid down his body and he gripped his cock. Slowly his hand moved over it, wishing Sage was in his bed, and in his arms, so he could be deep inside her.

Protecting her. Owning her.

Sage was his. Ari was becoming more and more sure of it. What a beautiful and disastrous thing.

He woke a few hours later to the sound of her tears.

A sliver of hope flashed through him.