Thaddeus walks down with a limp Lana in his arms and walks outside. I get up to follow him to check she is alright, when Orion pulls me down on his lap, wrapping his arms securely around my waist.
Bianca walks down the stairs, fixing her outfit, which is wrinkled, and then comes over to me. “I promise to look after her, Evelyn; she is safe with me. Promise,” Bianca says, looking to the door Thaddeus just walked out of. I like Bianca; she is always kind to me, and I know if my mates trust her, I can as well. Bianca is Thaddeus’ aunty, after all.
“Can I at least say goodbye?” I ask them.
“She is unconscious; Thaddeus broke her neck,” Bianca says, and I jump up, horrified by what she said.
Orion pulls me back down on him. “She is fine, love; it won’t kill her,” he whispers just as Thaddeus walks back in.
“I put her in Ryland’s car; you can take that to get home.” Bianca nods, and rushes outside.
“You broke her neck?” I ask him angrily.
“Be grateful I didn’t kill her; usually, I kill any newborn vampire I come across. I didn’t because she is your friend,” he says, and I can feel his anger burning into me through the bond. I hear Ryland’s car start and try to get up, only to be stopped by Thaddeus’ grip on my arm. “You will see her again, but when you’re not so breakable.”
“Not so breakable?”
“Yes. You’re human, Evelyn.” His words anger me. He wants me to turn into a vampire and be uncontrollable like Lana? He just said he snapped her neck, for crying out loud.
“I have already told you I won’t change, and seeing her like that reinforces that decision,” I tell him.
“You won’t have a choice; you will get older. Evie, you will decide, or I will decide for you!” he yells at me. The lights flicker in his anger.
“Fine, then I will change,” I tell him. He seems shocked by my words. “I will change when you give up your magic!” I scream at him. If I have to give up my life, he can give up his magic like his mother wants him to.
“That’s not happening,” he growls.
“Then I am not changing,” I tell him defiantly, crossing my arms and holding his glare, refusing to back down. I knew he would say that. We stare at each other for a few seconds until he storms out of the house angrily, slamming the door behind him.
Orion
Once again, they are at each other’s throats, though Evie has a point. She shouldn’t be the only one to give up something. We watch him leave; he is angry that she even suggested it.
Evelyn is a bit upset, but she has a determination in her; his magic scares her. It scares all of us, but I can see the wheels turning in her head, and I know deep down, as much as he says he will force her, I know he never will, because part of him loves that she is so vulnerably human, though our little mate doesn’t know that. Doesn’t realize the change she has brought out of him.
Thaddeus is never one to back down, never one to walk away from a fight, but he walks out on her. Not because she demands something in return but because he won’t risk hurting her, not again. He wants her to accept him, craves it. So instead, he leaves before his temper gets the better of him.
That’s one of the strangest changes we see in him. Usually, he doesn’t care about the darkness, and welcomes it. He relishes the power it gives to him and relishes our fear. But he doesn’t want her to fear him; he wants to cherish her and love her; he is starting to realize the damage his magic does, realize how much it affects her. But can he really give it up for her?
Evelyn stares at the door and turns around to face us. Her fists are clenched by her side. Ryland has a smirk on his face at her words. He likes the fire in her and that she will stand up to him.
Honestly, so do I, but I worry that it might get her killed. She thinks we see her as weak, and in some ways, being human; she is. But she doesn’t actually realize how much control she truly has over him.
Evelyn flops down on the couch beside Ryland and I. Ryland pulls her onto his lap. I growl at him, pulling her off and over to me; he is still in trouble for letting her go. I’m not so forgiving of what he did. Evelyn, however, doesn’t blame him; she feels guilty for Ryland getting in trouble with us.
“Please stop blaming him,” she says, looking up at me and touching my face with her fingers.
I kiss her fingertips. She is tired of fighting with us, tired of everything. I can never stay mad at her. With Ryland, though, I am determined to try, but the next words to leave her lips grind my gears because she knows I will give in to her; she knows how much I love her, and even though she doesn’t realize most of the time, she sometimes plays on that. “If Ryland can’t have me, neither can you.”
I growl at her, nuzzling my face into her neck. “Is that so?” I ask, nipping at her neck as she leans back against me. Her arousal perfumes the room as I run my hand over her stomach and press it between her legs. Her hips move involuntarily against them as I rub her over the leggings she is wearing. Her chest is rising and falling as she loses herself in the feeling of my fingers teasing her.
“I can put you in a better mood,” I tell her.
“You can try,” she challenges, and I smile as I watch Ryland’s eyes flicker to his beast for a second.