Ten Miles Away

Ethan's [POV]

"The last time you called for me was over a hundred years ago," Cassius said from behind my spot in the kitchen. I'd been pacing for the past ten minutes, waiting for him to arrive.

Stephanie and Alex tried to get me to feed.

I didn't want blood from a bag.

If I couldn't have her if I didn't have her I wanted nothing. Death. I would welcome death.

"She's gone." I didn't recognize my own voice. It was hoarse like I'd been choked and barely survived. "An archangel"

Cassius moved by me and held up his hand, his eyes blazing white for a few seconds before he uttered a curse. "Sariel."

Mason whistled and fell down into a chair, hanging his head in his hands. "We should have kept better watch of her. We should have"

"Mason…" I shook my head. "It wasn't your fault." I turned my attention to Stephanie. "Care to explain how you earned the angel's mark?"

Cassius's head craned to the side, his eyes so white they almost glowed. He stalked toward Stephanie and then with one hand pushed her up against the wall, pulling her head to the side to glance at the mark. "Decided to whore yourself out?"

Stephanie's face paled. "I had"

"Do not lie." Cassius dropped her to the ground. She crumpled against the floor, holding her head in her hands. "He didn't say he was going to hurt her."

I lunged for her.

Mason intercepted me.

"He said she needed to be tested. You all knew there was another way." Slowly, Stephanie inched to her feet. "If an archangel deems the human pure, he'll restore balance, regardless of the prophecy!"

"And that worked out so well last time," Cassius hissed.

Lost, I simply waited for someone to explain. When nothing happened, I pretended to lose my irritation. Mason's arms slackened. I lunged for Stephanie's throat, my fangs hovering over her artery. "What. Exactly. Did he promise you?"

Her heartbeat picked up.

"Worth dying for, a siren?"

"Love always is," she whispered.

It wasn't a lie.

I stepped back. Tears filled her blue eyes. "He promised me, Cassius."

Cassius went completely still next to me. The room temperature plummeted, causing a frost to cover the granite countertops. "So, you thought to enslave me?"

"No!" Stephanie sobbed. "You said we could never be together… immortals do not mate. I simply"

Cassius held up his hand. It shook in the air, and pieces of frost fell from his fingertips. "You would betray a defenseless human one for whom we have been waiting for over a hundred years because you think yourself in love with me?"

The room began to freeze; pieces of ice formed along Cassius's face, shattering into the air the minute he opened his mouth to speak. "Dark Ones do not love."

A tear slid down Stephanie's cheek, freezing against her porcelain skin. "But we've spent nearly every night together."

"And every morning I spend with someone else," Cassius said in a flat voice. "I didn't think you were becoming so attached as to sell your soul to an archangel in order to align your destiny with mine."

"But—"

"Enough," Alex barked. "Stephanie, stop… you're making it worse."

Cassius hung his head. "You can track her blood?"

"Yes," I hissed. "But going up against Sariel…"

"He's old," Cassius stated in a bland voice. "Older than me."

"Not hard," Mason grumbled.

Cassius snapped his teeth together. "The only way to rescue her, to pull her away from the archangel's scent, would be…" He looked up, his eyes flashing once again. "…to mix the blood."

"Yes." My voice shook. "She needs angel blood."

"She won't take it." Cassius shook his head. "Believe me."

"She has no choice!" I yelled, pain searing my limbs, making them feel heavy. "She either drinks from you and makes the choice to leave, or he'll keep her forever. You know he will."

"He does like his toys," Cassius swore. "Unless he truly believes she's the human we've been waiting for, and then things are about to get a lot worse."

Alex pushed Stephanie into a chair and crossed his arms. "How can it get worse?"

"Death," I whispered. "We can distract him long enough to grab her, shield her from his scent. But if he truly believes what we do then blood will be spilled."

"For balance to be restored." Cassius sighed. "Blood always needs to be spilled."

"Does it matter who?" Alex asked. "Because I vote Stephanie."

Her soft sobs were grating on my nerves. I should have watched her closer and should have seen the signs of her infatuation. Dark Ones did not mate for a reason. They were too addicted to those who fell for them, destroying the other half that should help make a whole.

"Track her," Cassius finally said. "We'll go when he's at his weakest."

Night.

Sariel taught the stars how to shine. At night his resources were depleted on account that his power was shared with the sky.

"Alex…" I nodded toward the siren. "Keep her locked up until we return. And Mason?"

He stood. "Let me go with you."

"You're not strong enough." I hated saying it, almost as much as I hated that I was right.

Mason let out a growl.

"Wolf…" Cassius put his hand on Mason's shoulder. "Your diet makes you weak. Therefore, it makes us vulnerable. You stay."

I knew it hurt Mason's pride.

His eyes went completely black as he slowly sank into the chair, his face completely tight with outrage. Berries and cones didn't make a werewolf strong he knew that as much as we did.

"Ten miles away." I sniffed the air for traces of the woman I loved the woman who was taken from me. Anger overtook all good reason as I started moving toward the door.

"Level head, Ethan." Cassius's cold grip stopped my blood from boiling over. "She'll need you at your strongest."

"I know."

"Drink."

I had to have heard him wrong.

"Drink." His teeth snapped. "Before I change my mind." He lifted his hand to my lips.

With a sneer, I pushed him away.

He slammed me against the wall. "You want to save your love? Stop being so damn prideful and drink."

With a hiss, I bit into his arm and sucked deep. His blood was like ice, cooling my veins, making my body so calm I was finally able to think clearly. I took a step back, the blue tint of his blood dripping from my fangs. "I won't thank you."

"And I won't expect it." He moved his fingers along the small indents. The skin slowly closed back together.

"If she touches you" I whispered.

"When she touches me," he clarified, "you will finally see it."

"That you were right all along?" I growled.

"That you should have trusted her to begin with."