Chapter 16: Chapter Sixteen

Genesis

I didn’t see Ethan the rest of the day. Stephanie tried to distract me with reality TV. It worked for a while, and then I’d gotten restless again. It wasn’t that I was worried about him or anything.

I just wanted to know that Cassius hadn’t removed Ethan’s head from his body. When I’d asked Alex about them fighting, he’d simply rolled his eyes and started talking about the Gathering that evening.

The women.

The lights.

The dancing.

But mostly the women.

It was time to go, and Ethan still wasn’t there. I fidgeted with my dress, hoping it would please him and hating myself that it was even an issue. Why would I care?

He’d rejected me over and over again only to offer me comfort and then reject me again.

He made absolutely no sense, and in my current emotional state, I really desperately needed something to make sense.

Next to Stephanie, I felt like the ugly friend. The one you took with you and forced your brother or cousin to dance with. As if on cue, Alex stepped forward and offered his arm.

It’s not that I needed compliments— I’d lasted my entire life without them.

I’d turned them away, knowing that if my number was ever called, I would never feel pretty again, because I’d be in the constant company of immortals.

Though I’d foolishly thought I’d be a type of teacher.

It was what I’d lived for, to either live to teach them or continue on with my boring life and find a career I was passionate about.

“Hey now,” Alex whispered in my ear, “hold your head high. They’ll smell your fear from a mile away.”

“Fear isn’t welcome,” I repeated under my breath.

“Good girl.” He patted my hand. “And you look gorgeous.”

“Don’t,” I snapped. “Just… don’t lie, please.”

His eyebrows drew together; he opened his mouth but earned a slap on the shoulder from Mason.

I hadn’t noticed his arrival. Mason was wearing dress pants and a shirt that left absolutely nothing to the imagination. Every muscle was outlined— it was hard not to stare. The man was huge.

Had he not shown me compassion, I would be afraid of his size.

“She rides with me.” He started prying my arm away from Alex.

Alex rolled his eyes. “Why not me?”

“She’s safer with me, and those were Ethan’s instructions. Check your phone.”

Alex pulled out his iPhone. “Damn, how am I supposed to make an entrance without little human on my arm?”

“Name.” Mason barked.

“Calling her human is my term of endearment, like sweetheart or babycakes.”

“Call me babycakes, and I’ll scratch your eyes out,” my mouth fired off before I could stop it. Closing my eyes in embarrassment, I shook my head. “I’m sorry, I mean.”

Alex barked out a laugh. “You’re allowed to have opinions, babycakes.”

I groaned.

“It’s staying,” he announced, “because it makes her turn red. Look.”

He was pointing at my cheeks. I was sure they matched my dress. I’d just yelled at an immortal, threatened bodily harm, and he was laughing.

Mason removed Alex’s hand from mine and took my arm. “Let’s go, beautiful.”

The attention, the compliments, the nicknames— they were too much. It was the opposite of what I’d expected, meaning, it was like being made fun of. Like I was naked for the class picture.

It was embarrassing, being told I was beautiful when I knew, without a shadow of a doubt, that I paled in comparison to the ugliest of immortals.

“Did I say something wrong?” Mason asked once we were in his truck driving toward downtown. “You seem… upset.”

My fingers slowly caressed the rich leather seats. I don’t know what I expected him to drive, but a brand new GMC truck didn’t really fit the image I’d had of werewolves.

“Um, no…” I lied. “It’s nothing.”

“You seem sad.”

“Just… in shock, still.”

“It will fade,” Mason said in a calm voice. “It always does. My own mate, well, she…” His voice cracked. “She had a hard time at first.”

“Was her number called?”

His eyes were black; it was hard to see where his pupils started and ended as he gazed at me then back at the road. “Yes.”

“And you loved her?”

“Of course,” he said it so quickly I didn’t doubt him for one second. “With my entire life, my soul, my existence, I loved her.”

“Loved.”

“She simply…” His voice was hoarse. “She simply didn’t wake up one morning. The evening before we’d been talking about children. The next morning she was cold.”

“Mason…” I reached across the seat and grabbed his hand. “I’m so sorry.”

He clenched my hand in his and brought it to his lips; his rough kiss across my knuckles warmed me from the inside out.

“It’s not your fault.”

“But…” My mind whirled. “I could change that? I could make it so that doesn’t happen anymore?”

He was quiet for a while. “Possibly, but there’s no way to know.”

“So I live past a certain year, and what? We’re home free?”

The truck pulled up to one of the hotels in downtown Seattle. It was newer, a boutique hotel right on the water. “Ethan wouldn’t like me discussing such things with you. I’ll allow him to explain.”

“But—”

“That’s all I’ll say,” he growled. “Now, let’s go show you off to your mate.”

The mate who hadn’t even driven me to the Gathering?

The mate who hadn’t spoken to me all day?

The same mate who’d looked like he wanted to shake me to death earlier that morning?

Great.

I choked back the fear at being in a room with possibly hundreds of immortals—in a room with Cassius himself—and followed Mason out of the truck.

He grabbed my hand again. I ducked against him, allowing his body to shield me.

He handed his keys to the valet, who eyed me up and down like I was a piece of candy.

Mason growled at the valet, who jolted out of his stare-down and ran toward the truck. “Idiots, all of the demons.”

“Wh-what?”

“Demons.” He shrugged. “Even hell won’t take ’em, so they toil here for us until it’s time for judgment.”

“And then?”

“Hell welcomes them back with open arms.”

I shivered.

“Are you cold?”

No, just completely freaked out. My studies had said nothing about demons. Nothing.

What other immortals hadn’t I been told about?

I was almost afraid to ask.

Mason walked me through the doors of the hotel. Music sounded from somewhere in the lobby, or maybe it was the restaurant. The music grew louder as we walked toward it in silence.

When we stopped, it was in front of a black door.

Mason nodded to a tall man wearing head-to-toe black. He had an earpiece in his ear and examined the iPad in his hands. He turned the iPad toward Mason, who placed his hand on the screen.

It flashed green.

And the door opened.

I think, in my head I’d built the Gathering up to be something like I’d seen in horror movies— an orgy, blood-drinking, people in little to no clothing.

Instead… it was like I’d just walked onto a Hollywood movie set. Heads turned, both male and female, and they were flawless. My fingers dug into Mason’s arm.

It wasn’t fear.

More like awe. It had been hard enough to keep my jaw tight when I’d entered the throne room. This was a bazillion times worse.

Every woman in that room was perfectly proportioned—tall, exotic, beautiful. There was no imperfection—at all.

The men, if I could call them that, since most of them were most likely immortal, were all pretty large in size and seemed more curious than anything. I noticed a few smiles in my direction.

A few sneers—from the women.

And in the far, far corner of the room, there were a group of people who looked like me, who looked normal, not like they belonged on the cover of a magazine.

“Humans,” Mason whispered. “Over in the corner, most likely gossiping about their mates.”

“What?”

On closer inspection, the humans looked… different. I couldn’t really put my finger on it, but their skin was brighter than mine. Their eyes too. They just appeared extremely healthy.

There were both men and women, which I hadn’t expected. Not that men’s numbers had never been called. I just hadn’t really thought about it much.

The room was decorated in blacks and silvers; long tables lined the walls, piled high with food and champagne.

The curious stares continued, so I clung to Mason like he was my lifeline; that was, until Alex came up beside me and offered a glass of champagne. “They stare because they’re curious.”

“They always stare at new humans?” I took a sip of the champagne, but it tasted off. I couldn’t put my finger on it, but it seemed almost bitter on my tongue.

“No.” Alex grinned. “Only you. Because of who you are, and well… you know… the fact that Ethan’s your mate and Cassius started a pissing contest over you.”

“Alex…” Mason rolled his eyes. “Stop.”

“What?” Alex shrugged, and then his blue eyes brightened. “I think I see my conquest for the night.”

A wave of heat washed over me; I didn’t feel lust this time or anything close to it, just heat.

He winked, and then he was moving through the crowd to a tall, dark-haired lady with a black dress slinked around her body.

“Another siren?” I asked.

“Human.” Mason nodded. “One of Alex’s favorites.”

“What?” I stopped him from walking. “Aren’t all humans mated?”

“Er…” Mason scratched his head and looked around. “…Ethan really should explain that to you.”

“Screw Ethan!” I stomped my foot. “He isn’t here. You are.”

The air around me crackled with warmth. Ethan.

“Hmm…” Ethan’s smooth voice danced across the back of my neck. “Miss me that much, Genesis?”

Slowly, I turned and came face to face with sheer beauty. I couldn’t look away even if I tried.

His green eyes glowed against his smooth skin; long dark eyelashes fanned across his chiseled cheekbones. He was wearing all black— it should have looked ridiculous— a vampire in all black?

It didn’t.

Look ridiculous, that was.

He looked edible.

I stepped away from Mason, not because I wanted to, but because my body couldn’t help itself.

“Not every human mates… of course that’s been the goal… but we do, at times, make exceptions for some.”

“They want so desperately to be a part of our world that they’re willing to do anything to be in it— even if it means they don’t mate with an immortal. Getting screwed by one is enough.”

“Harsh.” Mason coughed.

“You’ve done your duty, Mason.” Ethan looked over my shoulder. “Leave us.”

Mason rolled his eyes and walked off.

“His duty?” I repeated.

“Take my arm,” Ethan commanded.

“You’ve ignored me for an entire day, and you want me to take your arm?”

“You’re my mate.” He said it so simply, so matter-of-factly, that I wanted to punch him across his perfect mouth. “Take my arm, Genesis. You know you want to.”

Every cell in my body screamed for me to take his arm and just be done with it, but I didn’t want to give in, didn’t want to give him the satisfaction.

“How was Cassius?” I asked, ignoring his outstretched arm and glancing away from him so I could gather myself.

“Cranky,” Ethan hissed. “Like I’m about to be if you don’t follow orders.”

“Maybe if you said please,” I whispered under my breath, “I’d be more likely to do your bidding.”

“I could just kiss you into submission… bend you backward over the buffet table and have my way with you.”

Lust surged through me. “I think that’s the last thing you want to do.”

His lips were suddenly grazing my ear. “Then you clearly don’t know me very well.”

“Whose fault is that?” My fingers clenched the champagne glass harder as I fought for control over my own body.

“Let’s blame Alex.” Ethan wrapped his muscled arm around my shoulders. “Now I’m sure in your studies you were told to respect immortals, that you were… nothing compared to us.”

“Yes,” I croaked.

“Good. So your first lesson is this… humans don’t disrespect their mates, regardless of the circumstances.

“If I asked you to bend over and tie my shoe, I’d expect you to do it with a damn smile on your face.”

“You’re a jackass,” I hissed, trying to pull away from him.

“I’m not actually asking you to tie my shoe, Genesis. I’m just telling you how it is. At a Gathering, there is a certain expectation.”

“We talk, we show off our shiny treasures, and at the end of the night, we part ways, each of us comparing ourselves to one another. Every type of immortal is in attendance tonight.

“It would be good of you to stay by me, lest one of them trap you in a corner and try to take advantage.”

“They’d do that? To you? Someone so old?”

His mouth pressed into a firm line. “I’m not that old.”

“You are.”

His arm tightened around my shoulder. “Great, then that makes you a child?”

“No, but—”

“They’d challenge me still, yes. And if Cassius approaches, try not to touch him, any part of him.”

“What about breathing?” I tilted my head mockingly. “Am I allowed to do that?”

“Ethan!” Gushed a high-pitched female voice from my right.

I turned and had the sudden urge to hide behind a potted plant, or maybe just Mason, wherever he’d gone.

The woman was at least six feet tall, had long ebony hair, crystal green eyes, and a smile that seemed completely unreal.

“Where have you been?” She pushed me slightly out of the way, as if I didn’t exist, and kissed him on both cheeks then pulled back.

“Busy,” Ethan answered, tugging me yet again close to himself.

The woman’s eyes squinted in my direction. “Oh…” She smirked. “Sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

Right.

Because I was ugly.

Nonexistent.

Worthless.

I tried to appear meek, but it seemed the longer I was in the immortal world the more anger issues I was developing. A week ago, I would have blushed and shrugged it off.

Now? I wanted to find a fork and stab her with it.

I clenched my fists together and offered a pathetic smile.

“She’s the one then?” The woman kept talking. “I don’t see it. I really don’t. I heard Cassius is on a rampage.”

“Cassius is always on a rampage.” Ethan shrugged. “Delora, this is my mate, Genesis.”

“Already?” Delora gasped. “Ethan, I thought—”

“It was great seeing you,” Ethan dismissed her as if she were nothing but a tiny bug beneath his shoe. “I promised my love a dance though. Excuse us.”

I fought the urge to snort. His love? Right.

Without asking me, Ethan set the champagne glass down on a nearby table and pulled me onto a small dance floor.

“She was lovely,” I said once the music started.

A smile teased the corners of Ethan’s mouth. “She’s horrible, but at least you didn’t throw your champagne in her face.”

“I was tempted.”

“Me too.” His voice caressed my body. I tried to keep my distance from him, but he wasn’t having it. Instead, he pulled me as close as physically possible so we were chest to chest.

“I like your dress.”

“It’s red.” ~Lame. Someone, put me out of my misery.~

His warm chuckle had my knees shaking together. “Like blood.”

“Yeah.”

“About as damn tempting too.”

I was desperate to hear him say it wasn’t just the dress that was tempting, but me, even though I knew it was stupid, and I was just setting myself up to get hurt all over again.

“You look… nice.”

Nice. He said I looked nice. Not pretty, not even cute, or beautiful, just nice. Like a dog.

Or a plant.

“Thanks.” I swallowed the lump in my throat.