Page 61 of Bones

Whatever.

Aurora did a better job keeping her head focused on what was important—as opposed to me, who was doing all my thinking with a different head. Forcing her arms between us, she crossed them and demanded, “So who were those… I mean, who was that woman? And what were you saying about a barrier?”

“They’re… She’s… Shit, I don’t know where to start.”

“How about at the beginning?” she suggested, her walls going back up.

“Good idea. A thousand years ago?—”

“I meant the beginning of yourstory,” she said with a snarky laugh and snarkier air quotes, “not the beginning of a fairy tale.”

“That is the beginning. Of me. Ofus.”

CHAPTER ELEVEN

ABRA-FREAKING-CADABRA

AURORA

“There are nicer ways totell someone they need a skincare routine than implying they look a thousand years old,” I joked past the anger that still suffocated me.

I wasn’t sure what the heck had gotten into me. Deke might’ve been sweet. He might’ve looked at me like I was something special and talked to me in a gentle voice that wrapped around me like the comfiest blanket. He might’ve always seemed focused on taking care of me without running a scoresheet of what I owed in return.

But despite what I’d been foolish enough to imagine, he was evidently still a typical man. One with needs. One who wasn’t mine and didn’t owe me anything. One who was free to do whatever the hell he wanted with whoever the hell he wanted, bless all their damn hearts.

The vision of him with those women still filled me with so much pain and jealousy, I wanted to curl into a ball anddie. Clingy and dramatic, sure, but it was the truth. Instead of giving in, I settled for lashing out with insults and fighting the urge to claw his eyes out.

Neither reaction was like me. In all the times Ryan had come home reeking of other women, it wasn’t the sex that’d bothered me. It was the reminder that I’d failed yet again. With my curse. As a sinner. And as a woman. If he had shown some discretion—and not locked me in the prayer room—I likely could’ve buried my head in the sand and enjoyed the quiet time alone.

I definitely wouldn’t have spoken to him the way I spoke to Deke. Not because I hadn’t cared enough to get upset at Ryan—though that was true. Not because it would earn me a long weekend in said prayer room and a longer week of passive-aggressive silent treatment—also true.

It was because something aboutmewas different, and it had nothing to do with Ryan or even Deke. The colors surrounding me were literally brighter. The world was bigger. Louder. Good, bad, bored, lustful,jealous… All my emotions were heightened.

It was like after years of sleepwalking, I was awake.

I couldn’t explain it because I didn’t understand it.

“You’re not a thousand years old,” Deke said, his thumb tracing my jawline. “I am.”

Oh for heaven’s sake, he’s unreal.

And not in the good way I thought.

“Right. You’re an ancient being with long-rooted biological needs. Got it. Have to give you points for originality, but this is wasted on me. I already said you didn’t owe me an explanation.”

“How did you know who I was with earlier?” he pushed again.

The first time he’d asked, I’d begun to answer before realizing it would mean admitting my secret. That time, I opted for the smarter choice.

I kept my mouth shut.

His too-sharp eyes studied me. “Could you tell that there were men there, too?”

“No, but whatever floats your screaming goats. I don’t judge.”

He chuckled as he ran his palm down his face and over his beard. “You’d be cute as fuck if that wasn’t nauseating, and this wasn’t so damn maddening.” Hesitating for a long second, he pulled me from the door and slammed it closed. He’d always said I wasn’t a hostage, but his ironclad hold on my upper arms and the rattling of the door said otherwise.

Guiding me to sit on the couch, he didn’t take his usual spot in the chair. He sat right next to me with his body aimed my way. “The woman with the pink and blue hair is my sister. Juno. Or at least that’s what she used to go by. I’m not sure about now. The other women were my brothers’ mates.”

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