31. Chapter Thirty-One

Chapter Thirty-One

Vesperon

Not that I want this grey to be back in our lives—I did not want him before what he did and certainly not after—but unfortunately, we need him. So my hands are tied because this Hades will not see us without him.

I have a gut feeling if I torture him for any longer, he will rat me out. There is only so much I can push him before he pushes back. If he is smart, he will rat me out anyway, but I have a feeling his mouth will stay closed about this.

I have spoken to the grey every night to let him know how I feel about him. That I am aware he is alive and can hear me. That I do not trust him. That he will spend the rest of his life making up for what he did. That there is not a chance in hell I will ever trust him. I only hope it has made his minutes drag on even slower. I hope this experience was agonizing for him.

I cannot say it has made me feel better, but it was needed. This man deserves so much more than this, but my fun is over now. If I keep this up any longer, I am sure to be found out.

I also do not like seeing my mate so upset. She is worried about him, and I can take that worry away. But in taking it away, I open her up to be hurt by him again. If there was no prophecy, my decision would be simple. The grey would stay like this for eternity. But there is a prophecy, and we are running out of time to fulfill it.

"If you ever feel the need to betray us again, grey, remember I could have kept you like this forever," I say before placing my fingertips on his human temples. "And I can easily bring you back to this state." I close my eyes and focus on his conscience.

This is old magic. Though, I should not call it magic, because shadows do not have magic, but it is something we are capable of. In simple terms, it is basically an exorcism. We are able to pull otherworldly beings from humans. It was a duty of ours a long time ago, but then a law was passed stating that we are no longer allowed to do such things because too many humans were being hurt.

I had completely forgotten about it until this happened to the grey.

It is clear the other shadows pulled his conscience out enough to keep him suspended. It was a torture tactic shadows used to scare demons into staying in hell. It never worked, and the humans would come back different—in a bad way.

When I find the grey's being, I focus on pushing it into this body. It is relatively easy, and the moment I feel they are one, the human grey sucks in a sharp breath. I sit back on my haunches. He catches his breath, jolting upright, and glares at me.

"Remember what I said, grey," I warn as his hand goes to his throat. His face is full of fury, and though I do not blame him for being angry, and though I do not trust him, I do not think he will tell a soul about what has happened here.

"Oh, my stars!" Lexia shouts as she runs into the house from the patio, Lumen behind her. "You did it, Ves!"

She drops to her knees beside the grey, putting her hands on his cheeks and asking if he is okay. I suppress a growl, still hating that her hands are on him. Hating that she trusts him and cares for him, even after what he did. I feel Lumen's gaze on me, so I look up at him. His brow is raised, and he is giving me a knowing look. It is possible he has known about this. Also possible he has not.

"I'm fine," Slate says, his voice raspy. "I assure you."

Then it is like a flip is switched and Lexia jerks away from him. He frowns at her, but that soon turns to something else—sadness. She remembers she was mad at him. He remembers why.

"We have a lot to talk about," he says.

"Yes," she agrees.

"Let's get to the table," Lumen says, offering his hand to the grey. "I will make you up a plate of food. You must be starving."

The grey takes the radiants hand and is helped to his feet. They walk to the table, and I stay put. When I turn back to face my mate, she is watching me curiously.

Will she ask how I did that? How I knew? Why it took so long?

I did not answer her question earlier because the radiant spoke for me. It was not me lying to her because I said nothing. Do I feel guilty? As guilty as I felt for killing that boy who spoke ill of her.

So, no. I do not feel guilty for protecting my mate, and I never will. I will do everything in my power to protect her—her body, her mind, her heart. She is my mate; mine to keep safe. And I will do that no matter what it takes.

"Lexia, come on. Have dessert," Lumen says, calling her over. She pulls her attention from me slowly. "It's your favorite," the radiant says.

She smiles and gets to her feet.

The grey is going on and on about how hungry he is. I roll my eyes, knowing the grey is not starving. They survive on nothing. He was proud to tell us that just a short time ago. Now he wants to pretend he cannot survive without food? Pathetic.

I am the last at the table, and though I do not wish to hear what lies he plans to tell, I sit anyway. Because Lexia would not like it otherwise.