Savi stopped, grabbing her cup for a sip.
“Starting with his cock,” Francesca continued while her sister drank. “We stashed that particular part in their blood fridge.”
A sound between a gasp and a snort escaped me and they both grinned.
“Once we were done hiding his body parts everywhere in the house, we escaped. Jumped on a boat and ended up in Australia where we stayed until the war started. Then, we flew to the states…and now here we are.”
It didn’t surprise me that their story was tragic. After all, whether we were human or Immortal, women were often treated the same…
“Marcus’ story isn’t much happier,” Francesca added.
I turned my face to him and he grunted, pushing the sand and dust on the floor around with the sole of his shoes.
“So youdounderstand,” I remarked.
“Only when I really focus on it.”
“Why are you always playing dumb, then?”
He scoffed. “I’m not playing dumb.”
“Yes, he is,” Savi signed and he glared at her.
“See? I saw that! You totally understood.”
“Fine,” he gritted out. “I’m tired of losing friends, so I'm trying not to make any.”
I opened my mouth to retort but no sound came out. Because I knew that feeling. It was the exact reason why I pushed my mates away: fear.
“And becauseyoubarreled into my life like a wrecking ball, now I’m making friends again. And I don’t dislike it. And I’m kind of mad at you because of it.”
I pushed my unbraided hair over my shoulder with a huff. “Must be my undeniable charm.”
“More like the stubborn way you have to slither under people’s skin.”
A gasp tore free from my throat. “Howdareyou? You’re the one who keeps pestering me with questions.”
“Yes,now. Because you made meinvested. And look at where it led me—on a suicide mission. Now I’m not only terrified of never finding my—friends, I’m also scared of somehow losing you in there.”
I leaned just enough to kick his foot with mine and he lifted his annoyed gaze to mine. “But you won’t. Because we’re going to nail this mission. We’ll find yourlovers, free Arc and all the others.”
He rolled his eyes but didn’t argue.
It made so much sense now. Why he’s been cold and distant at first. Why Aymeric still told me he meant well and looked at him so fondly. Because in the end, he was just like me. Like the rest of us. He had lost too much and was scared to get more in case he’d lose that too. Scared to be left alone, walking in the ashes of the ones that once mattered.
“You mentioned your last tie group once,” I said, changing the subject. “What happened?”
“More friends that I’ve lost,” he muttered. I kicked his foot again and he sighed. “We weren’t that close yet, actually. I had been in that tie for like…a week or so? The Arch was a douche, but the rest of the tie was alright. There was one Succubus, one Warlock, and six demons like me. Oh, and a couple of Hellhounds.”
He paused, fumbling with the zipper of his jacket, eyes lost on the ground in front of him.
“It was Vegas, so business was great. I was on bodyguard duty for the Succubus because, you know…It can quickly get messy.”
I did know. But humans were never as messy as other Immortals when it came to feeling entitled to sex.
“The Arch asked me to bring her to his office for some sort of tie meeting, so I did. She was alright so we made small talk. It was after the war, Succubi were already rare. For some reason, she had been spared during the purge.
“But once we got into the office, something felt wrong. Everyone had that terrified look on their face, and there was this guy—thishunterin there. He took one look at her and slaughtered everyone. I guess my soldier’s training allowed me to escape, but barely.”
