Yes. Scared, at least.
“Please. It doesn’t change anything,” Dimitri whispered, his lips grazing my forehead.
“It changeseverything.”
He paused, holding me tighter. “You’re right. Now you know that they can’t kill me that easily. That I’ll be safe with whatever happens. That I canprotectyou from them. We can—”
“I don’twantyou to protect me!” I said, pushing at his chest. He didn’t budge. “I want to protect myself. I don’t want to depend on you or anyone for my survival. Is that so hard to understand?”
Dimitri shook his head, his hand moving away from mine to cup my face. “I understand. Why do you think I’ve been training your sorry ass?” He grinned. “You’re not a natural fighter, Ania. You’re getting better, but still not ready to face off any real attacker. You want to be a threat? I’ll make you lethal. But it’s not because you’ll be a living weapon that I won’t be there watching your back.”
Could I let one of them watch my back? They were not trustworthy. A threat to humans, to Astrals. Corrupting the sacred beings that were blessed to protect the earth into wicked things. The Witches and Warlocks, once bound to look after the balance of everything, were now hurting the land and its people out of greed and selfishness. Half of the animal shifters had become mindless, murderous beasts.
What if I, too, was to betray everything I’d been taught and believed in because of him?
“Want me to make a binding promise to you?” he rasped, dropping feather light kisses along my temple. “I’ll swear anything to you. My life, my cursed soul. Whatever you want, it’s yours.”
“Dimitri…” My breath hitched in my throat. Binding promises were dangerous.
“I’m not asking you to promise anything back,” he added, angling my head to the side to kiss my jaw. “We can also make the cutsomewhere hidden so people won’t see the mark. I’m not trying to brand you, but to earn your trust. Please,dusha moya.”
I shivered as his lips reached my throat, bending his back at what looked to be a painful angle because of his height.
“It’s not—”
“What are you scared of?” he asked, interrupting me from arguing. “How can I prove my good intentions to you?”
How could he? Was I actually even scared? My heart was thumping in my chest, yes. The idea of him not being human and corrupting my soul was terrifying. But the thought of him leaving me behind to my fate was even worse. Did he really not know that I had no idea what he was or did he lie? Could I blame him when I was lying about some things too?
“Tell me,dusha moya.” He slipped his hand under my skirt, sliding his palm along the side of my leg until it reached my thigh where I hid the sharp knives he gave me to replace my dull ones. Unsheathing one, he brought it to my hand, closing my fingers around the handle. “Tell me what you want from me.”
Dimitri pulled my closed fist to him until the sharp edge of the blade was slicing the skin over his heart. Red seeped from the superficial wound and I gasped as he groaned, leaving more kisses on the side of my neck.
“I want you to promise you’ll never corrupt my soul,” I panted.
And that was all I really wanted him to say. Topromise. Divines and Hellrisers were cunning, but if he—the child of one and the only Immortal I could ever trust—could swear it…Yes, I could believe him then.
He grabbed the blade from my hand and pulled my shirt from the waistband of my skirt, lifting it to just below my breasts. Our eyes met as the kissing stopped. I nodded my approval and he sliced a thin line on my left side.
It was hidden, but Amyntas would see it if he ever saw me naked. I was determined not to let that happen, but if it did? I hoped it’d put him in a blinding rage.
I winced at the slight pain. He dropped the knife on the grass next to him and pulled me closer to him, making me straddle his lap. Holding me high enough so that our wound connected as he whispered, “I promise I’ll never corrupt your soul and that I’ll protect it with mylife. I promise I’ll hunt down anyone who dares go after it. My soul is yours,dusha moya.And yours is mine too. Mine to protect, to save, to cherish. But never to corrupt.”
I closed my eyes as a bright light emanated from us. He left open mouth kisses on my collarbone as the wind picked up, circling us like we were at the center of an invisible tornado.
He promised more than I even asked for.
And it was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time.
I lifted my shirt and looked at the mark in the old looking glass on my bedroom wall. It mirrored Dimitri’s. The lines formed red arabesques with a faint silver hue and went from my hip bone to my armpit.
So much for it to be discreet. At least, it wasn’t in a place most people could see…
I could have stayed with him longer. But it had been late, and I didn’t want my mother to realize I wasn’t in my room when I was supposed to be there.
Someone knocked on my door softly and I fumbled to tuck my shirt back in my skirt in a hurry.
“Yeah?”
