Page 14 of Cursed Lifeline

But as the words leave my lips, and I continue to hold her close in my arms, she suddenly becomes a dream so tangible, I wish I could go back on what I just said and risk everything if it meant I stood a chance at keeping her.

Esme gently pushes back against my chest until her eyes meet mine.

I try to read her thoughts, but I'm too clouded by the feeling of her warm, soft body pressed up against mine, and it becomes an impossible feat. She looks down between us, to her hand resting on the left side of my chest and asks, "What if it's not my body that's doing the craving? What if the yearning, the hunger, the longing is coming from my heart?"

My chest aches from her touch as if it senses the final spike that'll inevitably take my life.

My eyes darken.

A sinister grin pulls at my lips.

"I don't have a heart."

My hands around her waist shake against my will and threaten to betray me and the lie I've just said. To my dismay, my hope, my horror, she doesn't back down. Instead, she pulls me closer, and I warn one more time, "At least not a heart you'd ever truly want. Only one that you'd be smart to stay away from."

She shakes her head, "You're wrong. So wrong. I..."

But her words trail off as my eyes lift and catch the gaze of someone who was not supposed to have access to this illusion. Someone that I wasn't expecting to see here tonight. Someone who suddenly changes everything.

Alfred Crowley.

When she spoke his name earlier tonight, she hadn't said his surname. Now, as I put the two and two together, death's fatal grip crushes any hope for her and me to have a future.

I step away from Esmerelda so quickly she almost trips and falls to the floor between us. A shocked huff leaves her lips as she rights herself and studies me with displeasure. My jaw ticks. My brow furrows as realization dawns. The Magister Council. The letter. The assassin that has been chosen to train against us.

My gaze falls back to Esme's just as anger simmers to life in her beautiful blue eyes.

Good. Let her temper grow.

Ifhe'shere watching over her that could only mean one thing.

Alfred regards me with a malicious glare that, if the blood in my veins weren't already ice cold, would send a jolt of fear through my chilled skin. But as it is, I shake my head and step further away from Esmerelda Martin.

The Slayer.

A resentful chuckle leaves my lips. My gaze falls to hers as a mutual hatred grows between us. "I was wrong, mon cheri. It is my heart you want." Taking a heated step forward but keeping my distance, Igrowl, "But trust me when I say I'll never let you have it."

Shooting past her before she can stop me, the illusion breaks, the party returns and chaos ensues. Alfred watches me with a vigilant eye as I stalk past. He nods in a friendly greeting, but nothing is cordial about the matter between us.

He hasn't started training her yet. Not fully. That's evident. But that doesn't mean he won't. And when he does, she'll forget how she felt towards me. She'll want me dead. The coven dead.

No matter how drawn to her I am, it's imperative I keep my distance.

Knowing so, I tell myself to stay away as I stride off to find my brothers. Though, truth be told, I'm not sure how long I can tell my heart to do the same.

Five

Viktor

Song: CALL ME DEVIL | FRIENDS IN TOKYO

Felix stompsout the front door of the Martin estate as I hide in the shadows of the foyer. Bitter devastation fills his countenance as he takes the steps two at a time. Once his feet hit the earth, he teleports to meet his brothers.

A rancorous chuckle leaves my lips.

Brothers.

The term is fitting, seeing as he always seemed more connected to them than to me.

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