“Ah, now. If you are going to keep saying that, the same could be said for you. How does what you did make it any more righteous than what I did?”
I clamp my mouth shut, and he arches a brow, his lips curving slightly. “Now come on. Enough of hashing out the past, let’s focus on us. Brothers reunited. Mother would be happy.”
“Mother would be turning in her fucking grave if she knew what we had become,” I counter.
He snorts a laugh. “Yes, I suppose you are right, didn’t she get that lady burned at the stake because she thought she was a witch?” He laughs. “When all she did was figure out the Acmella herb had numbing qualities when chewed. The entire village thought she had poisoned them.” He throws his head back, laughing at the memory.
“Yeah, hilarious, watching a woman getting burned alive for being slightly more intelligent,” I quip.
Morbius rolls his eyes. “Oh, lighten the fuck up, brother.”
“I will lighten up when I have Lilith, and we are leaving this place and you far, far behind,” I state coolly.
Morbius places his palm on his chest. “Ouch. You know words hurt, too.”
I sigh, exasperated. “Enough with the game, Morbius. Tell me what you want with Lilith.” He opens his mouth, but I get in there first. “And I swear to fucking god, if you say it’s because you love her. I will fight the bond and slit your fucking throat; my life be damned.”
“She is special,” he states. “She has the ability to move in time. Able to go back to see her family,” he says with sincerity.
“Stop talking shit, Morbius. I know that’s what you said to lure her here. Knowing she would do anything to see her family again. So cut the shit and tell me the real reason,” I press.
He cocks his head to the side, his violet eyes assessing me. He rolls his eyes and pouts. “You have to ruin it, don’t you?” He laughs, bearing his palms. “Alright, yes, I lied, a small insignificant white lie.”
“It isn’t insignificant to her,” I seethe.
He tuts and shakes his head. “I was hoping we would have longer, but I should have known you’d be so persistent.”
“Longer for what?” I frown.
“Longer to spend time together.” He picks off a piece of lint from his clothes. “You see, I don’t want Lilith.” He pauses for a moment. “Well, that’s not entirely true. I want her. I want her as my queen by my side.”
I ball my hands into tight fists, fury coursing through me at the thought of him claiming her, touching her. My jaw grinds so tight I’m surprised my teeth aren’t crumbling from the pressure.
“It’s you I really want,” he confesses.
The fury seizes in my chest, confusion marring my brow. “What do you want with me, Morbius?”
“You are a liability. A noose around my neck.” He pauses. “The bond, the blood shared between us, ties us,” he says, like it’s something I didn’t already know.
“I know this,” I grit out, tired of him skirting around the facts.
“But I bet you didn’t know if you die, I die,” he adds.
My eyes widen, and my brow arches in disbelief. “If you die, I die?”
He shakes his head back and forth. “No, that isn’t what I said.” He pauses. “If you die, I die.”
“Why would the bond only tie your life to mine and not the other way around?” I ask with confusion. Surely it would tie our lives both ways.
Morbius sits back, looking to the roaring fire, his jaw tense. “Because I tried to sever the bond.” His violet eyes pin me. “I wanted you dead. I wanted to kill you with my own bare hands. I still do. Well…” His gaze flickers to mine. “Not all the time, maybe eighty per cent of the time,” he admits. “Anyway, in trying to sever the bond, it backfired and cursed me. And now, you are the target on my back. You are my weakness that I cannot and will not allow to roam free. This whole thing was never about Lilith. It always has been about you. About you.”
CHAPTER TWENTY
LILITH
I wake groggy,limbs heavy. I stretch, rolling onto my back, and there she is. Cara, standing over me. Watching. “Holy Mary, fucking Joseph!” I lurch sideways, slamming into the far edge of the bed. “If I still had a heartbeat, I’d be dead right now,” I rasp, clutching my chest out of habit. “Why the hell are you standing over me like that?”
“Watching,” she says. Of course she is. I blink hard, trying to steady myself. My hip shifts instinctively. Silas. I need to message him. Let him know I’m okay. That I’m… My hand dives into my back pocket. Nothing. Other pocket. Nothing.
