“If you say so. Now answer our girl so that she can sleep.”
“She’s notouranything.”
He chuckles in my head.“I hate to break it to you, but she’s ours. She will never just be mine or just be yours. Even when I’m dead, my memory will haunt her forever.”
“You are insufferable.”
“I know. Now answer Lumi so that she can sleep.”
I roll my eyes. “No.”
But then I feel her tentative snowflakes at the edges of my mind again. Soft, floating up while trying not to fully enter my mind like she’s afraid to intrude.
“Nyx is okay, Lumi. I’ve got him. You should sleep.”
“He needs blood, doesn’t he?”
“Yes, but he’s got it under control. I won’t let him hurt anyone.”
“He should drink. Now that the curse is triggered, he shouldn’t have to avoid it anymore. He shouldn’t be in unnecessary pain. And he needs his strength to fight your curse.”
I pause, not sure what to say to her. I hate how much she cares for him, when I still want to strangle him to death in his sleep.
“I’ll pass along your message. Sleep, my queen. Two hours, and then I’ll come get you, and we’ll figure out how to break these curses.”
She doesn’t respond, but I feel her fading slowly from my mind.
“She says you should drink,” I say out loud, hoping that will satisfy him.
“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”he says, slithering his way back into my mind again.
“Get. The. Fuck. Out. Of. My. Head. And. Stay. Out!”
“It bothers you that you’re not as powerful as you thought you were, doesn’t it?”
“Godsdamn it.” I sit up, looking around the room so I can look the bastard in the eyes. I find him still standing in the corner of the room, where the shadows usually are. “What do you want?”
“I want you to admit that you need my help.”
“Why? What does it get you?”
He smirks. “Lumi needs to like you. Maybe even love you before this is all over. I’m your only chance of that happening.”
I grunt. “So cocky and self-assured. I don’t see what Lumi sees in you. Sleep if you vampires even need to sleep.”
I feel the bed shift as he falls onto the bed next to me. “I can’t believe I have to play babysitter,” I grumble under my breath.
I close my eyes, letting sleep start to pull me under, when I hear him speak. “Lumi is blinded by her love for me, and I for her. We don’t see each other’s flaws, or if we do, we don’t care. We love each other so much that we’re destined to destroy the world to keep our love for each other. You’re the only one with the power to stop us. She loved you once. You’re her mate. You share something that she and I will never share. You can stop her and me from doing something foolish. I know you love Lumi. Get her to fall in love with you again.”
His words feel like a premonition, like he visited a seer who told him as much. I would argue with him, but then again, I love Lumi. I want her to love me again. I want her to want to be my mate. But I sure as hell don’t want or need his fucking help.
I’m about to tell him that when sleep pulls me under.
Chapter 5
Lumi
Aclawing sensation on top of my hand yanks me out of my deep sleep. Someone is dragging a thousand tiny needles across my flesh all at once.