“Fate can be cruel.” I shrugged. “It’s common for Immortals to never even find their mates, because Earthwalkers have shorter lifespans. Sometimes, your mate won’t be born for another few centuries, or millennia.”
“That’s reassuring, thanks,” he grumbled.
“My point is, Dimitri and I kinda lied to Arc when he told us he knew we were supposed to be a group of six. Or at least, we kept something to ourselves.”
He shook his head, sighing softly. “Oh no, Lola…”
“There’s only one that’s unaccounted for,” I said before he could add anything and his jaw dropped.
“One,” he repeated and I nodded. “One. Wait—how come you didn’t say anything about it? Why would you hide the fact that youactuallyknow who another of your mates is?”
“Because I left him behind.” His eyes widened in horror and he opened his mouth to talk but I rushed to interrupt him. “He thinks I’m dead, and it’s safer this way.”
What was obviously surprise turned to straight out confusion. Could I blame him? No, not really.
“Wait—demons can’t die. How did you manage to—”
“There was a hunter,” I explained. “He found me when I was living with my—Blake. My mate’s name was Blake.” I took out the littlering hanging on the chain around my neck and fumbled with it in a nervous habit. “He was—isan Earthwalker. We lived together in London and even got married in the early two thousands. Dimitri lived with us for a while, it was all…perfect.”
I paused, Blake’s face popping in my mind, like it did at least once a day since I fled. His smile as he came back home from his human job every night and ran straight to hug me like I was the most precious thing on earth. The slight shaking of his hand when he reached for me in our bed after waking up from a nightmare at night.
“We were happy,” I resumed, my voice wavering. “But that hunter found me one day. He snuck into our house and threatened me, giving me two options; killing us both or allowinghimto live but I had to flee, and he’d tell him he killed me.” His eyes softened. Maybe because he felt pity for the choice I’ve been forced to make or of his own experience with a demon hunter. “I didn’t bother to grab my things as I was supposed to be dead anyway, and called Dimitri. I don’t remember where he was at that time, but he picked me up in two hours, helped me flee London and made sure to check on Blake regularly ever since.”
Marcus stayed silent for a while, taking the information in. So I decided to share more, because he felt like the first true friend I had in my whole life.
“I also lost my twin brother,” I confessed. “When I sold my soul to save my father after I was the one to kill him, I made the demon erase me from my village’s memory. When I went back after a few months to discreetly check on everyone, my brother was nowhere to be seen, and no one recognized me.”
I only wished I’d included Amyntas in the lot. Maybe he wouldn’t have hunted me down…He did give up rather quickly though, and I often wondered what made him stop after only a couple of years. I could only hope he’d found a way to undo the Maiden’s mark…
“I didn’t care that no one remembered me,” I continued. “Except for Aghen. In his own, kinda messed up way, he helped me escape from the tight situation I was stuck in, and I never got to see him again after I killed my father.”
It was pointless to mention thathesort of caused everything that unraveled after this cursed night. That, if it weren’t for him blabbing to our parents, our father wouldn’t have died. I wouldn’t have sold my soul and lost such an important piece of myself. I’d spent a lot oftime resenting him, to the point of exhaustion. Now, I just missed the brother I’d known before everything went to shit. Wished it had gone down differently…If I could meet with Aghen again? I wasn’t sure if I’d feel angry at him for causing this mess or ashamed of him seeing what I’d become without my soul.
Fifteen hundred years had left me too much time to ponder this, and yet I was still confused and lost on how I grew to feel about him.
But, I guess it didn’t matter anymore. Aghen had forgotten about me—if he hadn’t, he would have found me. Being an Immortal meant I’d outlived any members of my family. It was no use wishing and mourning things that could have happened differently.
Marcus finished his beer in one last swig before placing the bottle back on the table with a clunk.
I blinked, chasing the thoughts away. “Now you know more about me than anyone living in this camp.”
“I’m sorry you lost so much. But after living for so long, I guess it should be expected.”
I shrugged. “You lost two people. So I told you about the two most important people that I lost too. Now we’re even.”
One of his eyebrows arched. “I didn’t know it was a transaction.”
“It’s not. But I guess I trust you more than most people in this camp, so now you get to hear me trauma dump on you.”
A grin spread on his lips, illuminating his face and lightening the heavy atmosphere of the room.
“Oh, are we officially friends now?”
I nodded. “Yes, dumbass. You’re stuck with me.”
Chapter 4
Lola
