Hunted

Erik and Stevie Rae until we know exactly what we’re up against.”
    “My mind understands that, but my heart says something else,” Jack said, leaning his head against Damien’s shoulder. “It’s just . . . just . . . ” Jack took a deep breath and finished on a sob, “It’s just poop that I can’t go!”
    “We’re going to step down the tunnel a ways,” Damien said, putting his arm around Jack. “Just have Darius yell when he’s ready.” Then Damien led a stricken Jack out of the room, with Duchess trailing sadly along behind.
    “I’m going to go find my cat,” Aphrodite said. “I’ll see if I can find your little orange creature, too.”
    “Don’t you think we should leave the cats here?” I asked.
    Aphrodite raised a blond brow at me. “Since when could cats be told what to do?”
    I sighed. “You’re right. They’d just follow us back and then complain at us for years about leaving them behind.”
    “Tell Darius I’ll be right back.” Aphrodite ducked out through the blanket.
    That left Erik and me alone.
    Without looking at me he started to move toward the doorway saying, “I’m going to—”
    “Erik, don’t go. Can’t we talk for just a second?”
    He stopped, his back still to me. His head was bowed and his shoulders were slumped. He looked utterly defeated.
    “Erik, please . . . ”
    He spun around and I saw there were tears pooling in his eyes. “I’m so damn pissed I don’t know what the hell to do! And what’s worse is that this,” he paused, gesturing to the huge Ace bandage hiding the wound that sliced across my chest, “is really my fault.”
    “Your fault?”
    “If I hadn’t been such a possessive asshole in the basement, you wouldn’t have gone outside with Heath. You were sending him away, but I had to push things and piss you off, so you went out there with him.” He ran his hand through his thick dark hair. “It’s just that Heath makes me so damn jealous! He’s known you since you two were kids. I just—” He hesitated and his jaw clenched and unclenched. “I just didn’t want to lose you again, so I acted like a jerk, and not only did you almost die, but I lost you again!”
    I blinked at him. So he hadn’t been acting like stone man because he didn’t care or because he was mad at me. He’d been hiding his emotions because he thought all of this was his fault. Jeesh—I hadn’t had a clue.
    I held out my hand to him. “Erik, come here.” Slowly he came over to me and took my hand.
    “I acted like a jerk,” he said.
    “Yeah, you did. But I should have shown some sense and not gone outside with Heath.”
    Erik looked at me for a long time before he spoke. “It was hard to see you with him. To see you drink from him.”
    “I wish there could have been some other way,” I said. I did wish it, and not just because it had been uncomfortable for Erik to watch. I loved Heath, but I’d made the decision not to be with him again, not to ever Imprint with him again. I knew the best thing for both of us, especially for Heath, was to be out of each other’s lives, and that’s what I’d planned. Sadly, my life rarely goes according to my plans. I sighed and tried to put some of what I was feeling into words. “I can’t help loving Heath. He’s been part of my life for a long time, and now that we’re Imprinted again, he literally carries part of me with him, even though I didn’t mean for it to happen.”
    “I don’t know how much of your human boyfriend I can stand,” Erik said.
    I kept meeting Erik’s steady gaze and almost blurted I’m not sure how much of your possessiveness I can stand, but I was too tired. I’d save that till later, after I had more time and energy to think things through. Instead I just said, “He’s not my boyfriend. He’s the human I’ve Imprinted with. There’s a big difference.”
    “Consort,” Erik said bitterly. “It’s called being the High Priestess’s human consort. Many of them have one. Often they have more than one.”
    I blinked in surprise. I sure hadn’t gotten to that part in my Vamp Sociology class. I mean, was this consort stuff even covered in the The Fledgling Handbook ? Guess I’d have to read the darn thing more carefully. I did remember Darius mentioning something about it being difficult for a human to be involved with a High Priestess the day Heath and I had had our official breakup scene, and Darius had definitely used the word “consort” for the human. “Huh.