13
~Vaela
"Ugh, I bet he fucks so good."
My head snaps to my friend next to me, who sits back against the headboard, admiring Hale through a gap in the door. He is merely minding his own business in the other room, flicking through a book mindlessly, Eyla's observation having come out of nowhere.
I tap her arm with the back of my hand. "Eyla!"
"What? I'm just speaking my mind." She rubs her arm, her suggestive smile lingering.
Now that the brutal, overwhelming terror Eyla once had in Hale's presence has dwindled, she's decided to divulge into her Pureblood fantasies once again. Hale, on the other hand, hasn't so much as glanced at her beyond anything polite, but her mind still wanders.
"Then tell your mind to keep it to itself." Despite myself, my gaze lifts to the gap in the door.
Watching Hale concentrate is fascinating. His hair curls down his forehead, brushing against his brows, which are creased slightly. He doesn't glance up, captivated by whatever he is reading.
Eyla taps her lower lip with the tip of her finger. "I mean, he has literal centuries of experience."
"I swear…"
"Don't act like it hasn't crossed your mind." She digs her elbow into my side, forcing me to adjust against the headboard, considering kicking her in the leg.
I pick up my own book, but the words don't stick as I gaze over them. "No, it's just you."
It's not just her. It should be, but it's not.
These words from my book may not be settling into my mind, but Hale sure has. He saved me. That's it. And he's trying to help me...
But when he looks at me, the way my stomach flutters in response does not arise from Hale's saviour tendencies. It's because he teases something up within me that I'm not willing to acknowledge just yet.
"He's insanely hot, and he has that brooding, enigmatic look about him that makes me want to tear his clothes off." Eyla's just mumbling at this point, making me privy to the deep Pureblood fantasy she has admitted to divulging into since meeting Hale.
"Whatever you say." I turn the page.
It's taking all my energy to keep my gaze trained on the pages in front of me, at the words swimming incoherently before me.
"And those tattoos? I'm in love."
My gaze flickers back up.
Hale absently taps his pen against his lower lip, drawing my attention right to his mouth. My mind drifts to all the things I know he could do with it.
I clear my throat, "You're not in love, you're just falling for that perfect exterior that purebloods boast. You've been successfully manipulated." I'm sounding like Will now.
"And I'm okay with it. I know you are too." Eyla sounds confident considering I don't imagine she is going to act on how she feels. She has a guy back home who she is currently interested in, and luckily for her, isn't frightfully powerful and dangerous.
Slamming my book closed, I toss it onto the bed, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Oh stop, I have no interest in an Immortal Sin," I grumble.
Eyla grins. "Liar."
"What do you want me to say?" Even if I admitted to being attracted to Hale, what would that mean for me? He would have to be attracted to me as well for anything to happen between us.
"I want you to admit that him doting over you isn't just because he feels like he owes you. It's because he wants you, and now you want him," Eyla prompts.
"Now who's the liar?" She's playing with me.
"Come on, it's obvious. There's something so dark and dangerous about him that you want," she murmurs, tapping her finger against her lip as she gazes at him. I still haven't decided whether what is dark and dangerous about him terrifies me or not.
Some days it's easier to accept who he is than others.
"Stop. I need to be thinking about my mate, who is apparently not too far away and someone I need to sleep with so I don't feel like death all the time," I mutter, collapsing back into the pillows, covering my eyes with my forearm.
"Have you and Hale-"
"Don't even say it," I mutter. Touching Hale is out of the question. Even the softest graze cannot happen, and not because I'm scared he's my mate, but because once we do touch, so much can happen from that.
Eyla shrugs. "What? It's worth mentioning."
"No, it's really not."
"Start with him, give him a touch and rule him out as your mate," she prompts. It would make sense, but I know he's not my mate.
Mate's should be brought together by not only their similarities, but their level of power. Hale and I couldn't be on any more different levels.
"He's not my mate. So now that we have that established, where are we going to start with finding me a real mate?" I adjust on the bed so I'm fully facing Eyla, and so I can't see Hale in my peripheral vision.
Her eyes light up, inspired by an entirely new challenge. "Well, he's got to be close, according to what the Gaze Reader said, so maybe we just need to get out, explore a few bars and touch some attractive strangers."
"Why we?" I narrow my eyes.
"I might find my mate," she teases. Her and I both know she isn't ready to be pinned down by her mate just yet. "Tonight's plans are sorted."
Hale suddenly appears at the entrance of the bedroom. "It's too dangerous. Vaela isn't well enough."
I flinch, looking up at him.
He has that dark edge to his gaze, unimpressed by Eyla's plan. Smoothing my hands over the creases of my pants, I watch him with careful eyes, wondering if I should fight back on this.
I'm feeling better since the incident back home, and there will be no feeling better ever again if I don't find my mate.
And Hale knows that.
So does Eyla, who goes rigid next to me. "She needs to find her mate. She can't do it confined to this cave…"
"I'll go down, find some people and bring them here for you to touch," he offers.
I can't imagine being approached by a Pureblood and told I need to accompany him back to his cave atop a mountain for the purpose of potentially finding my mate.
"No good man is going to agree to come up here," Eyla retorts. I nod in agreement. My right to find my mate naturally has been stripped from me, but I can't imagine a worse way to go about it.
"I'll go down, okay? I'll be fine for a few hours," I assure him. It would be nice to get out, as well.
His gaze assesses me, ice cold like the glaciers outside. "And what about the fact you're mortal? Anyone could kill you?"
I give a little shrug, smiling coyly. "You can protect me."
He doesn't share my amusement, expression remaining sharp and brooding.
"Excellent, I love this plan," Eyla exclaims excitedly, clapping her hands together. She just wants an excuse to get me out again, and play match-maker at the same time.
"What about your sickness from leaving this cave?" Hale reminds me, that unrelenting stare making me shift uneasily. For someone who generally cares so little for most things, he seems to care a lot about my survival.
"It won't be for long. Just a couple hours." I can't tell if I'm begging or not. Strangely, actually finding my mate to be with him isn't motivating me. I just want this sickness over with, so I can figure out how to become immortal again without spending another seventy years in Death's Realm.
Hale inclines his head, brows furrowing slightly. "I get to sit and watch you seduce a random group of men?"
I inhale deeply. "It takes one touch…"
His jaw tightens. "If you say so."
I smile, triumphant. Hale being present while I try to find my mate will only hinder my chances, but he's right, there may be immortals who are unnerved by the fact I'm mortal, and hurt me.
"Is Will invited?" Eyla asks.
"No," Hale and I say at the same time.
Exchanging a glance with him, I almost smile. Will would be an entire nuisance, and doesn't need to know that I need to find my mate. He already made it very clear when we broke up that he is upset he isn't my mate, while maintaining I shouldn't be worried about finding mine.
"It wouldn't be a good idea. I know he isn't my mate," I tell Eyla firmly.
Eyla presses herself closer against me, eyelashes fluttering. "I love the sound of fresh starts."
Hale turns, strolling from the room. Getting up, I follow him out into the main foyer.
"If one of these men lays a hand on you, I will kill them without hesitation," he says, not bothering to turn around to look at me. My eyes narrow on his back.
"Could we skip the whole killing thing?" I ask. The meaning of life is inevitably different to a Pureblood, and now that I'm mortal, I don't want to see someone lose theirs so flippantly.
Hale turns, that darkness in his eyes almost a permanent fixture now. "No."
Eyla brushes up next to me. "Alright Mr. Protective, kill all you want, just don't get in the way or Vaela finding her mate."
He exhales slowly, looking between me and my friend. Eventually he seems to store away whatever he wanted to say, deciding there is no winning against the two of us.
He holds out his hand. "Fine. Let's go then."