Page 74 of The Mating Fire
She softened her voice. “You saved me. You can save others as well, and so can I with our powers. Don’t you understand?”
“Of course I understand.” His voice carried a note of pure contempt
Jared swept his hand over the desk, knocking aside papers and his laptop. They crashed to the floor with a resounding shattering, making her draw back two steps. Suddenly afraid, she watched him with wariness.
“I’m cursed, Harper. Do you understand? Cursed to be a true beast from midnight to sunset. Save people? I can’t even save myself. I get it. You want out. Out of here, not life here in a lonely castle with a beast.”
“You can’t spend your life in hiding anymore, Jared!”
He whirled, his once amused, dark eyes now glowing red. “I can and I will. No one wants to be around a beast. Not even, it seems, you do. Admit it, Harper. My Krampus form terrifies you.”
“I, er…” Her mouth opened and closed, while the words formed on her tongue, she could not find the power of speech.
When he looked up, his expression was bleak. “I will find Saqra and destroy him for you. You’ll be safe after that.”
“It’s too dangerous! Besides, you don’t know where he is.”
“Oh, I do. The ruins of the village he destroyed - La Fuego Village in Guatemala, near the slopes of Mt. Fiery. I’ll destroy him. No other demon would dare touch you when he is gone. No other demon will be strong enough to challenge you.”
Jared snapped the pencil in half. “Except me.”
His words sounded mocking.
“Jared, you said he’s an extremely dangerous demon!”
“Yes.” His gaze turned mocking. “The favor isn’t merely for you. The demon is powerful and he’s tried in the past to convince me into crossing over to evil and serving the Dark Lord. I’m certain I would be a prize for him to deliver to his master, perhaps even more than you. If I kill Saquara, I eliminate the threat to you, and myself.”
Jared shook his head. “It will buy me perhaps a little time, at least to say good-bye to those who care, like Sonia.”
“I care,” she cried out. “But I need to know, Jared. Where do we go from here? Together, or apart I have nothing of my old life left. Will you join me in a new one?”
It took all her strength and courage to admit those words, tell him how she felt.
A humorless laugh ripped from his throat. “You made it clear my Krampus form scares you. Where do we go from here? The exit. That’s where we go. Or rather, you go. I’ll release you, Harper Ashley, if that is what you wish.”
“Of course I want out, and you should as well. How can you hole yourself up in this cold, dark castle for the rest of your life? Wasting the rest of your life when you could be out there, living and trying to find a way to break the curse?!”
“You have no idea what my life is like. And here I thought you were the one. My one and only. What a farce.” His head dropped as he stared at the floor, as if taken with sudden exhaustion. “Xavier was wrong. There is no hope for me.”
Harper struggled to find the words. They seemed inadequate, and soft for such a harsh display. But she must say them.
“It’s not what I think about Jared. I think about you all the time. I can’t get you out of my mind, no matter how hard I try to envision rocks, volcanoes, geology.”
Her voice lowered to a bare whisper. “But being locked up in a castle, even one as beautiful as this, can isolate your soul.”
Now he did raise his head and the mocking contempt returned to his expression. “My soul isn’t isolated, my dear. It’s damned for all eternity.”
Jared rubbed a hand over his face. “Go, just go. This will never work.”
A knot tangled in her stomach. Her palms felt damp as she squeezed them tight, fighting the emotions inside. He couldn’t dismiss her like this. Not now. Not when they had come this far. Not when he had spent all this time teaching her how to use her powers, and she had found the heart of him.
Not an arrogant man who used people and dismissed them. Not a half without a heart. No, a man with a bruised heart she thought had begun to heal.
A man, like her, who had been mistreated by the world and needed to discover all people weren’t nasty and cruel.
“Jared please. At the very least, let me join with you in destroying Saqara. I have powers and I can help you. Have faith in yourself. Have faith in me.”
For a moment hope flared on his face, like the sputtering of a candle igniting. Then it died. His lips turned back in an almost savage snarl.
