Chapter Fourteen

EVERYTHING WAS BEcoming a bit too much to handle. It was too much at once. Being a seer. Vampires, incubus, shifters, chimeras… Having a mate—let alone three of them. It was intense.

If Lily was being honest to herself, everything that happened in the last twenty-four hours or so was enough to have her spiraling into a panic attack. Why hadn’t she had one yet? Perhaps it had something to do with the eye-candy male before her.

Caspius had a sort of air around him. It comforted her, and chased away even the worst of her demon. Yet, every voice inside her head screamed at her to put as much distance as possible between them. They demanded separation, or all three men might be her ruin.

Lily had it in her. There was no attachment. There was however carnal desire for Caspius and Elias both—despite the incubus’s manipulative seduction. She couldn’t say anything about Donte. The vampiric asshole both infuriated her, and frightened her. She pitied him over his past, but believed he should be much better because of it. He wasn’t.

“You want to leave?” Oh, the look in his eyes had her stomach in knots. It seemed like an eternity of silence passed between them. He reached out, but stopped himself. “I’ll arrange for you to leave this afternoon.”

The ache in her chest—that couldn’t have been her ache. Could it be? “I’m sorry.”

“I sense your anxiety about this place. If I knew how to soothe it, I would.” Caspius pushed to his feet. He clasped his hands behind his head. “We waited millennia for you. Now that you are here and we know who you are—I know who you are—there will always be a longing.”

Lily reached out to him. “Caspius, I-.” He stopped her with a hand.

“We will not bother you. You will live in peace.” He started towards the door.

Watching him leave, that was something incredibly painful. The ache in her chest was her own, but it was also his. “Caspius. Don’t go,” she called out to him. “Please.”

He looked back over his shoulder at her. “You need your space.”

Lily didn’t know when she moved. Her body had a mind of its own. She found herself clasping his hand. “Please.” She swallowed a lump in her throat.

“You want to leave. That means there will be space between you and everything in the nighttime world. Why not start it here?” He stared her down, his—identical to her own—eyes staring deep into her soul. “I am respecting your boundaries, whether they are spoken, or unspoken.”

Caspius grabbed her by the nape of her neck, and forced her against the wall. He applied such, delicate pressure at her thumping pulse. He bent down. He released a low, carnal growl in her ear, and she gasped. “Unless, you ask me to ignore those boundaries.”

He placed a hand on the curve of her back. Caspius closed himself around her, placing a leg between hers. Oh god, she could feel his—hard as steel—cock against her belly. Lily nibbled on her bottom lip.

“Is that what you want?” He nipped at her neck, up and down. Caspius fanned hot breaths over her sensitive skin. “Is this what you want?”

Don’t do this. A voice echoed in the back of her mind. Break free of this haze, and run.

An image of her boss flashed in her head. Lily whimpered. She pushed Caspius off of her, sliding down the wall.

She could still feel his hands on her, wondering. Seeking. Scratching at her. She could feel the bile in the back of her throat. Lily sobbed into her hands.

“Beautiful?” His voice was so gentle. He fell to his knees, and pulled her into his embrace. She sobbed into him. “Is being alone what you truly want?”

Lily fisted the material of his shirt. She shook her head, still crying. His arms held her tighter, and she could feel the tingling touch of calm. Oh, how lovely it was.

“Then, why leave?” He placed his thumb under her chin, and forced her to look up at him. Caspius wiped the tears from her eyes. “I don’t believe that would be what’s best for you.”

How could a stranger care so much about me? She looked up at him in awe. There was more compassion in this man than she had ever experienced in her short lifetime. “Why do you care?”

He smiled. “Because, you are my mate. No one else will care for you the way I do.” Caspius brushed a kiss against her lips. “From the moment I laid my eyes on you, I knew you were mine.”

Lily could feel her heart thudding against her chest, begging to break free. She hoped he couldn’t hear it. Don’t let him in. She warned herself. You know where this path leads. He doesn’t care.

No male truly cared. All they wanted was their desires fulfilled. Or worse, they would take what they wanted. Then they would leave, and leave her even more shattered then when they came.

She forced herself to harden, and void out any emotions. Her gaze grew cold and void. “What do you want from me?”

She watched that beastly creature shift under his skin. The first time it scared her, now it was just mesmerizing. “What do you really want from me?”

His jaw clenched. All sense of gentleness was wiped away. She could’ve sworn his tattoos moved. “Who broke you this badly? Enough that you can’t trust people.”

Her eyebrows rose. She scowled at him. “Men. Lying, manipulative thieves. The ones that take what they want—whether it’s given or not—then leave you empty and hollow. Broken.” This was bold for Lily. She knew this courage came from a place of anger. It was very much unlike him.

He dipped down to her ear. “Then I’ll wipe them off the face of the earth, and restore your faith.”

Lily was both honored and taken aback by his words. “It’ll take more than that.” She turned away from him.

“Then maybe I’ll destroy the world. Create a mass grave for your pain to go and die in.” The corner of his lips curled into a devious smile.

It was then, Lily realized the extent this man would go to. The seriousness in not just his gaze, but his voice. He was no hero. He was her villain, willing to destroy it all, if it meant her peace. He was one of three. Three mates.