Page 111 of Tempted By the Forbidden Mate

I stare at Holter. He doesn’t deserve this, any of this. I incline my head to him, but he turns away, staring out the opposite window into the dappled sunlight penetrating the depths.

43

Annabelle

“Your apartment is nice.” I’m standing looking out at the night sky of Athens, somewhere I never thought I’d be, wondering how I got here. How I’m letting it get this far out of control. Can I really go back to being Annabelle Portsmouth, the unwanted doctoral candidate of the department? Living alone. Cleaning boys’ dorm rooms for a scrap of attention. Is this what I want? My life. My choice.

But then I look at Holter sitting on the leather sofa. When he sees me, he smiles. But I see how hurt he is. His brother’s sentence. His father attacked, and his other dad being despondent. Who does he have? He can never mate with someone else. He’ll be alone. I’ll be alone. But being in the city without Nico, with all the frenzy of males after me? I don’t want that either. And not being able to work on my thesis, or in a lab again? Sunlight, pizza, real coffee, my own terms of where I go and what I do. No. This is the right thing.

I still have sand in my toes from the winding walk to the private entrance in Castor’s apartment. It was dark. I get the feeling Castor’s trying to keep me from knowing exactly where he lives. We entered via a back entrance to this generic-looking building. When I scan the horizon, there are hundreds like it. But the view from his balcony is anything but generic. I’ve been able to pick out several landmarks. I wonder if that’s going to be my new thing. I have to always know where I am exactly, on a map.

The clothes his assistant got me fit perfectly. A little grain of jealousy makes me wonder if he’s ever had her buy things for other human girls. But asking that? No, I’m not going to do it. Maybe someday, when I have my own job, I can come back to Athens and just... just what, look Castor up?

That’s crazy. No, this is it. A clean break.

Holter’s arms encircle my waist. He breathes in my neck like he’s trying to memorize my smell. And I get it. I did the same in thesolowhen I fell asleep in his lap.

He gives me a squeeze. “Are you tired?”

“A little.”

“We should get to bed. You have a long flight in the morning.”

“And you have a long swim.” I turn to face Castor while not leaving Holter’s arms. “You really swim all that way every time you come to work in the city?”

“I do.” Castor hands Holter a drink of Dragon Ale. I’ve turned it down. I had it once in undergrad, and I was sick for a week.

Holter tosses it back.

“You’re not going to stay with Castor?”

“No. I want to get back to Alder.”

I nod. Because I’m out of words. And if I try to force them, they’re just going to turn into tears. I want them to think of me as strong. When on the inside, I’m wilting.

* * *

“Are you ready?” Castor asks.

“Yes.” No. I’m screaming inside. The mirror in the atrium of his apartment he calls his private elevator reflects a girl I don’t recognize back to me. I’m lost. I have no idea what I want.

“I’m sorry to ask you to do this, Annabelle. But I’d like you to put this on. We’re going to the airport. I promise you that.” Castor holds out a blindfold.

“Is that necessary?” Holter growls out.

“Yes. She’s leaving us. You know it’s important. A few days from now, Annabelle, a female will visit you in your dorm. Her name is Calliope Darkwater. She’s ahagissa. A sea witch. She’ll put a spell on you. You’ll forget all about us. About being able to shift. The two of you can come up with a reason why you have the money. I trust her completely, and I will check to make sure you’re okay.”

“What?” The elevator bings. Castor’s already putting the blindfold on me. “I don’t want to forget you, any of you. I...”

Holter pulls me into his arms. I feel his tears wetting the side of my neck. “I’ll remember enough for us both.”

My tears roll out under the blindfold. I rip it off. “I don’t need this, then, do I?” I yell and drop it on the floor. “How can you trust this Calliope? What if she does some sort of voodoo spell on me and turns me into an assassin who stalks the president?” I’ve lost it.

Castor picks up the blindfold, his lips pursed.

“Is thehagissareally necessary, Castor?” Holter’s got my elbow in a death grip, and I really don’t mind. I’m not sure I’m going to be able to walk on my own without him.

“You know it’s standard. It’s how we’ve kept hidden for so many years.”

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