Change of Heart

live without anymore hostility. He and Logan's feud will be done."
    "You honestly believe that Logan won't kill Domin?"
    "Yes, I do, because you won't let him. It's your place, yours and Mikhail's, to never let him near Domin again for as long as either of them lives."
    Tears slid down his cheeks.
    "This is maat. You know it is. Logan can't kill Domin, and it's the only way he'll ever stop tormenting Logan's tribe. I can't watch Domin kill Logan, and without your semel, the tribe is dead."
    198
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "Yes."
    "So this is all I know to do to save the man I love."
    "You love him?"
    I realized that I had said it out loud. "Shit."
    "Have you said it to Logan?"
    I looked away from him.
    "Jin?"
    "Go away. I'm tired."
    "Jin, I—"
    "Go away, Yuri."
    "I just... I don't want you to—"
    "Jin!"
    We both turned to Simone as she charged out onto the balcony. She fell to her knees in front of me, grabbing my hands in hers, her face lifted to mine as if she were praying.
    "What the hell's going on?" Crane growled from the other chaise, Simone's voice having woken him.
    "What you took, you have replaced. Bless you, reah!"
    "Are you all right?" I asked her.
    "I don't know what I am or how to feel. To be chosen as aset is a great honor, but the reason for it is barbaric, and... I want you to live."
    I sat up and made room for her beside me on the chaise.
    "I truly never meant to cause you any pain. That was never my intention."
    "I know that." Her voice cracked as tears filled her eyes.
    "And I know you didn't steal him from me. You're his mate, his true mate, and I was a choice he made. It's not the same."
    199
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    "But now everything's different."
    She nodded, the tears making speech difficult.
    "Listen," I said gently. "When I fall, he's yours, and I expect you to protect him as I would until you die."
    The tears were rolling down her cheeks.
    "If I live or die, your place is high. You are aset , the throne, and you cannot be taken by another who is not a semel. Do you understand? An aset has the same station as a reah."
    "I know. I know the law." She trembled, her hands clutching mine, her voice dropping to a whisper. "Forgive me for what I said yesterday. Please, reah, I'm so sorry."
    "You were worried about your place and what people would say," I soothed her, smiling. "And besides... you didn't want to lose him since he's really hot and all."
    She gasped her hand over her mouth.
    I smiled slowly, and she suddenly had her hands on my face. "I'm your servant, now, before anyone else, before my brother, before Logan... there's only you, Jin. You've made me aset by your sacrifice, and I can never repay the honor."
    I grabbed her, and we hugged tight.
    "I promise you that I didn't want him like this, and if I had known yesterday what your heart was like...." She pulled back to look into my face. "I would have just stepped aside without a word. Why didn't we talk yesterday?"
    I smiled at her. "We could've been friends."
    She grabbed me tight, her face buried in my shoulder.
    "We're friends now."
    200
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes
    I gave her a last hug before I stood and walked to the edge of the balcony. Seconds later, Crane joined me, standing still and silent.
    "I want you to stay here, even after, okay?"
    "I don't think I can," he said slowly. "This will be the place you died, Jin, and I'll be reminded of that fact every single day."
    "But it's also the place I was happiest," I countered. "Think about that instead."
    He took a deep breath. "Everything will be different after."
    "You won't." I forced a smile. "You'll be the same."
    "I won't," he said flatly. "I'll be different after I watch you die. We all will."
    We didn't talk after that, and I was glad. I needed the quiet to prepare myself. It wasn't every day you died.
    [Back to Table of Contents]
    201
    Change of Heart
    by Mary Calmes

Chapter Eleven
    I stepped out of the bathroom after taking a shower, and there, in my room, was an enormous panther. He was larger than any other I had ever seen, like he could have hunted mammoths. Powerfully muscled, sleek and strong with the dimming light from the sunset bathing my room in gold, my mate was glorious. In any form he took, the man was breathtaking.
    He had come from the balcony, and so I rushed across the room to close the open door. When I turned around, for a moment I found that just looking at him was mesmerizing.
    Then he took a step toward me. Instantly, I took