Page 69 of Visions of You
"Her name was Isabella," Keegan said, glancing aside as if he could not look at anyone while talking about this. "She was everything to me. We grew up together in a rough part of Rubyville. Our parents were gone, and it was just the two of us against the world. I promised her I'd make things better for us. That's why I became a vampire in the first place—to get power, to protect her."
Jaron squeezed Keegan's hand. He knew exactly what it felt like to wish for the power to be able to protect your siblings.
What wouldn't he give to keep his brothers safe?
"But while I was stuck in my head, unable to tell what was real or not," Keegan continued, "another vampire found her. He turned her without her consent."
Jaron's heart clenched at the thought of Keegan's sister being turned against her will. "What happened to her?"
"She couldn't handle it," Keegan said, voice carefully controlled. "The transformation broke her mind, and she… she didn't survive." He closed his eyes, taking a deep breath as if trying to steady himself. His eyes narrowed. "I made sure the bastard who did it to her got what he deserved, but it never takes away the pain."
Silence hung heavy between them for a moment as Jaron processed everything Keegan had just shared.
"I don't want to be that useless again," Keegan said. "If I bond with you, it might not help me find Apollo. It might just have the opposite effect."
Jaron's heart hurt for his mate. He couldn't even begin to imagine the pain and guilt Keegan must have carried all these years, the weight of his sister's death bearing down on him.
"I'm so sorry," Jaron murmured, squeezing Keegan's hand harder. "That must have been horrible." He shifted closer, his other hand coming up to cup Keegan's cheek. "But it would be different this time," he said softly. "You wouldn't be alone. I'd be right there with you, every step of the way," he promised. "I'd ground you."
He didn't have any great powers of his own, but this, he could do.
Keegan leaned into Jaron's touch, his eyes fluttering closed for a moment. When he opened them again, there was a hint of longing in their depths, a desire to believe Jaron's words.
Jaron wished he would.
But of course he wouldn't.
If Jaron had to guess… "The real reason you're holding back," he said slowly, "it's because of that vision you saw, isn't it? The one of our bad ending?"
Keegan was silent for a long moment, his gaze fixed on the bed. "It was the very first vision I ever saw."
"What did you see?"
Jaron almost expected Keegan to deny him the details again, but surprisingly, Keegan didn't. He looked right at Jaron and said, "I saw you killing me. I have seen you killing me a thousand times."
Jaron stared at Keegan in stunned silence.
Had he heard that right?
He couldn't have.
"That's bullshit."
"I'd love to think so. Now you know why I didn't want to tell you."
"You can't be right," Jaron insisted, his voice shaking slightly. "How is that possible? I would never hurt you. Never!" There had to be some mistake. Maybe Keegan was misinterpreting his visions. Maybe he saw some twisted form of the future that would never come to pass.
Keegan was his mate. The other half of his soul.
Jaron would never do anything to harm him.
The dragon in him would not allow it.
"I don't accept that future," Jaron said fiercely. "Whatever you saw, it's not going to happen."
"It will," Keegan insisted. "Unless we find a way to change fate."
"That isn't our fate. It's not." Jaron was aware that he was raising his voice, but he couldn't help it. He'd never wanted to reject reality as much as he did now. It couldn't be his fate to kill his mate. What kind of fucked up bullshit was that? "Fate can't make me hurt you. I won't."
