It should have been my blood she was drinking. My neck her fangs sank into. My body she left a mark on. Not the demigod with his divinity and righteousness and golden blood andfuckingthoughts about her scent and body and red lips.
He didn’t even shield his mind. He let his thoughts wonder free and his want andneedof her flooded my mind. His fucking pride at her choosing him.
I needed to beat someone and there wasn’t a chance I wouldn’t try to kill Castiel if he and I got into a ring. So I asked Thorne instead and I expected to find him warming up on one of the training arena’s mats. I did not expect to find him standingin front of Mavyn with his aura filling every corner of the room. With her looking like she was about to run from terror.
For the first time I had heard her thoughts. Varian had agreed when I told him I couldn’t read her thoughts and there was a powerful shield around her mind. He said he couldn’t read her either, and unless he wanted to force his way into her mind he didn’t think he would be able to.
But I heard them then.
The scars that cover my body. They. Don’t. Matter.
You don’t matter.
Your worth is designated by what I say it is.
Then she told Thorne he couldn’t bite her but it sounded like she wasn’t entirely speaking to him. She whispered the words with a power as if they were a mantra she was already repeating.
That’s when I stepped in. When I appeared in front of her and wanted to wrap my arms around her. I wanted to protect her, wanted to hold her, wanted her to know she was safe here with me. But I kept my arms at my side as I waited for her eyes to open. I didn’t want to scare her.
Now that they are open, those soft pink iris’s on me, I might just have to kill Thorne too. Why is she looking at me like she’s waiting for me to burn her? Like she’s waiting for me to reduce her to nothing.
No one should have that kind of power over her.
“Firecracker,” I murmur in a soft tone. Her eyes don’t waver or flash or give any indication that she heard me. It makes my chest ache. “Mavyn,” I try.
Her hands curl tighter around the collar of her shirt. Her knuckles white from how hard she’s holding on. Did Thorne try to do something to her? I’ve always known him to be an asshole, but I never thought he would bethatkind of asshole.
Ramming into all of his shields I roar into his mind,DID YOU TRY TO TOUCH HER?
His aura still fuming in the room flinches. Thorne’s shields are the strongest I’ve ever encountered and even Varian has trouble getting through when we’re training our mental shields, but emotions can influence the strength of someone’s aura and right now I’d say I’d be able to get into even Varian’s mind.
Not like that. His voice is quiet in my mind. Lethal.She has a scarred bitemark on her chest from the devil who had adopted her when she was younger.
Castiel’s one saving grace was that he did not bite Mavyn back. He did not leave a mark on her. Because for someone else to have already done it. . .
In the hierarchy of power, the gods are above all. Demigods and devils are right below them with angels and demons right below us. So when the aura of my magic fans out in a tidal wave of pure wrath, exceeding the bounds of Thorne’s magic, it doesn’t come as a surprise.
For a moment I’m worried it will terrify Mavyn even more, but instead of terror she looks at me with a sort of awe. Her mask of stone finally cracking and she takes a full, deep breath before relaxing her body. She drops her arms and the collar of her cleaners uniform drops a couple inches to reveal the mark Thorne said would be there.
A pale white scar with fang imprints. Seeing it makes my magic pulse.
“You are not the Sun Devil,” she states. “I remember the feel of his aura that was always wrapped so tightly around him. His power was barely mediocre. You feel closer to a god than he ever did.”
Taking a step back, she reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small device. It looks like a music player and she presses a button before pulling the wire connected to it up. She stuffs it and the wire back into her pocket and then heaves a sigh as she looks around.
“You can stop expelling your magic. I’m fine now.”
She wraps an arm around herself to scratch the forearm of her other one.
She has scars on her forearms she gave to herself because the devil would bite and drink from her. There’s a bitemark on her wrist and I assumed that was the only one. The devil was able to embed blue belladon into his fangs and that’s why they’re still potent scars on her and why she smells like the flower.
So much for trying to calm down. Mavyn squints at me as another wave of power rolls through the room. She looks like she’s almost chastising me. As if I didn’t just learn she has another scarred bite mark on her skin from someone who used to abuse her.
I remember she had said the devil who adopted her was generous. Did she mean it as a snide remark? That he wasn’t generous with his charity but generous with his punishments?
She said Varian was nearly just like him. Is that how she views us?
“Callahan.” That’s the first time she’s said my name. It makes my heart trip. “The room had already felt suffocating with Thorne pushing his aura into every corner of the room, can you both just chill? I don’t understand why you’re making such a big deal about this.”
