by Sara Thorn
I knew that once Cassius’s jealousy kicked in, it was nearly impossible to get it back under control. But instead of just feeling bad and worried about it this time, I also felt angry. I was trying desperately to save Quinn’s life, and I had succeeded. We should be celebrating that and not bickering over how our lips had touched in order to keep him from death.
By the time I had managed to get Cassius to slow down and look at me, we were standing at one of the entrances to the vampire caverns. He stopped to look at me just before he started to take a step down into the corridor below.
"Where are you going?" I asked, getting more and more frustrated by the minute.
"I am going to spend some time with my people," he answered.
"Why?"
"Why not?" He started walking away from me, and even though I really just wanted to get back to the castle and pour a glass of wine and crawl into bed with him, I followed.
I knew what he was planning to do. He would recuse himself back into the vampire dens, just like he used to do when he would get jealous and ornery in the past. He would sit in his old throne room and dwell over feelings of betrayal and distress until he convinced himself that they were true and that everything else was false. But I wasn't going to let him do that anymore.
Sylva and Norr had already made their way back here, and we passed them in the hallway as Cassius walked toward the exact place that I had predicted.
"And I suppose you were in on it to, weren't you?" he stopped to ask Sylva.
"In on what?" she asked.
Cassius rolled his eyes at her and then glanced over at Norr. "Don't ever fall in love," he said to the young vampire. "That's the best advice that I could ever give you."
Norr looked at him warily and heard the bitter tone in Cassius’s voice. I didn’t think there was anything that Cassius could have said that would have dissuaded Norr from protecting his relationship with his beloved fae lover. He was far less jaded than Cassius was and hopefully would remain so.
"Don't listen to him," I whispered to the two of them after Cassius had turned to walk away. Then I ran after him again so I didn't lose track of where he ended up. Which, just as I had thought, was right in the throne room.
"Are you going to be acting like this for a long while?" I asked.
"Acting like what?" he said as he slumped down against the side of his chair.
"Acting like an impetuous child."
"What did he taste like?" Cassius asked. I've always wondered what a fae would taste like. I, myself, have had plenty of vampire women, but never a fae. I imagine that they would be delicious to wrap your tongue around." Now he was just trying to hurt me.
"How could you act this way after the way we made love the other night?" I asked, becoming clearly upset.
"How could you let him kiss you after the way we made love the other night?" he shot back vehemently.
"You're infuriating!" I shouted. "I saved his life for fuck’s sake. I didn't ask him to kiss me; it just happened. You know that I love you and would never just pop off and kiss Quinn. It's not like that was a normal situation there inside the dying woods. If it had been Bree and putting your mouth onto hers was the only thing that would save her, I would sure as hell expect you to do it, and I definitely wouldn't be getting angry at you afterward."
"Are you sure about that?" he asked.
I didn't like how his question made me actually start to think that I wasn't sure about my confident stance with it. The thought of Cassius kissing Bree, or any other woman, sort of made my skin crawl. And, of course, that was his point—to make me realize how it felt, whether it was intentional or not.
"Cassius," I said as I walked over to him and put my hand against his shoulder. "What we had the other night is much more powerful than any kiss could ever be. The land beneath us shook and quaked so much that Quinn felt it from all the way in the forest, too."
"He felt that?" Cassius asked in shock.
"Yes," I said, thinking that maybe that wasn't the best thing to have brought up right now.
Cassius smiled. What was it with these boys finding enjoyment in knowing when the other one of them didn't get to have something that they did? This was exactly the reason that I thought they were both acting like rival children, throwing temper tantrums.
"My point in telling you that," I said as I tried to steer the conversation back toward where I was heading with it, "is that you can stop worrying that Quinn is going to somehow charm or seduce me and make me run off with him into a veritable fairyland. It's not going to happen. I'm not going to leave you for anyone else, ever. So if you could please ease up on the issue a bit, that would certainly be appreciated."
"I don't really feel like talking about it anymore," he said.
He stood up and walked past me as I tried to reach out for his hand. I thought for sure he would have gotten over this by now. It wasn't that big of a deal; it's not like I had slept with Quinn. But apparently, he wanted to hold on to the grudge for a bit longer. We walked the entire way back in silence.
When we got back to the castle, Cassius immediately said he had some sort of work to do and disappeared. This was definitely not going to be over yet until we had an actual and productive conversation about it. But since Cassius was clearing incapable of having that conversation now, I opted to go take a bath instead. Being in the dying part of the forest and having my hand clenching the dirt had made me pretty dirty and bath-worthy. It would also give me some peace and quiet for a while so that I could try to brush all of today's drama away.
Bree would stay with Quinn until he was fully healed. There wasn't a threat to have to prepare for or worry about now. Cassius would come around eventually, and at least we were back home in the castle together. All would be right again by morning. At least I had thought that it would.
But in the morning, when we both woke up, Cassius had already jumped out of bed and was dressing for the day. Usually, we would lay in bed together for a few minutes for a lingering kiss and a gentle touch or soft snuggle before having to get up.
"Something important going on today?" I asked as I watched him get ready to leave the bedroom.
"Not in particular," he answered. Then he walked out the door and into the corridor before I had a chance to say anything further.
I got dressed alone in the room's quietness and then went out to see what people were doing today. Mainly, I wanted to see what Cassius was doing. I searched several places before I eventually found him standing over a table covered in maps in the ballroom.
"Are you looking for someplace to go?" I asked.
"No," he said as he closed the maps up and went to go into a different room.
"Yikes," Bree said as she passed him when she walked into the ballroom. "What crawled under his crown?"
"He still hasn't gotten over that kiss with Quinn. It was seriously nothing, and I wish he would just listen to me instead of continuing to make matters worse. If he would just stop and talk to me instead of running off to do various tasks that distract him from having a conversation with me, it would make things a lot easier.
"I'm very sure that he wants to talk with you. He probably just needs to get over himself a bit first so that he doesn't say something he'll later regret.
I supposed that made sense.
"But if he doesn't talk to you soon, let me know. I think I might have a plan to force his hand with it."
Chapter Ten
While Quinn was recovering under Bree's care, I tried everything to get through to Cassius. I tried talking to him, not talking to him, trying to be close to him even when he would walk away to go brood by himself, but nothing worked. He had convinced himself yet again that he was indeed the monster he thought himself to be and that I couldn't possibly ever not be tempted by Quinn. He wouldn't listen to me at all. So, I went to Bree for help.
I knew that there was one way to get his attention, and Bree was on board with me to help. I would trick Cassius into thinking that I was in trouble i
n order for him to actually stop trying to walk away from me and run toward me instead. Maybe then I could get him to stop and listen for more than a minute at a time. Bree agreed to help in the plan, and when Cassius came running, she would send us both to Earth, where he would have no choice but to be stuck with me and listen.
"Cassius!" I heard Bree shout as she ran into his room while I hide just outside the door. "Mara needs you!"
"Why? Has something happened?" he said. His voice sounded worried already.
"Yes, she's in trouble."
I immediately heard fast footsteps as the two of them came running toward the door. As soon as Cassius entered the hall and saw me standing there, he looked first confused and then annoyed. But before he could turn back, Bree opened a gateway to Earth, and we found ourselves both stepping through it. Well, she gave Cassius a little push that set him off balance, so he kind of fell through it. Either way, Cassius and I stepped out of the castle’s hallway and into Boston's city streets.
There was an immediate honking of horns as drivers tried not to hit the two of us who not only had stepped into the center of the city but also into the center of the road. Cassius looked completely disillusioned as I pulled his arm in order to get him to move.
"What are we doing here?" he asked with a very clear annoyance and frustration on his face.
"We need to talk," I said.
"And we couldn't have done that back on Mystreuce?"
"I tried," I said. "You wouldn't listen or even stay in one spot for more than a moment."
"You shouldn't be away from Mystreuce," he said. "Remember how sick it made you leave that world the last time? You almost died."
"I remember," I said, realizing that I hadn't actually given it that much thought. "But this won't take too long. Besides, I think my power and I have been coming to a more amicable agreement lately."
"Okay, well, now that you've got me here, what is it that you want to do?" he asked as he looked around the city.
I didn’t think he felt very comfortable on Earth, and to be honest, he kind of stuck out like a sore thumb, even in the city. It was his unease that made him seem awkward here, which I always thought was rather amusing. He was a vicious and powerful dhampir while on Mystreuce, looking like an awkward and out of place teenager while on Earth. I reached for his hand and led us toward a nearby coffee shop so we could sit down somewhere and talk.
We went inside and ordered a couple of coffees, then found an empty table in the corner to sit. It felt so strange being here, this place that was once my home. It felt like I was wandering around inside someone else's dream, and everything seemed foreign and disjointed. Maybe I was the awkward teenager now and not Cassius.
"Okay, look,” I said as we sat down across from each other and I stared into his glowering eyes. "I know that you were upset that Quinn kissed me and that I got that close to him in order to save his life. But I can't help feeling that there is more to it than that. I thought we'd already gotten over all your issues about being a beast; I thought we were past that and weren't going to let that get between us anymore."
"We are," Cassius said. "I don't want anything to get between us ever again."
"Then what is it that continues causing this back and forth emotional angst that keeps trying to pull at us?"
"Quinn."
I huffed with frustration and rolled my eyes at the thought of his continued jealousy over a man who was literally more in a position to die than to be a threat to him.
"Quinn was dying, Cassius. It wasn't like he intentionally tried to piss you off."
"He intentionally kissed you," he said. "And I'm not just talking about that one incident."
"You're not? Then what are you talking about?"
"I'm talking about the way the three of us seem to be connected to each other. I don't like it."
Okay, maybe now we could at least make some progress and get somewhere with this conversation.
"But there's not anything that we can do about that, and we don't even know what that connection really is yet. How can you be upset with me about it when it's not something I have any control over?"
"I'm not upset with you about it, Mara. I'm just upset that it's there," he said as he reached across the table for my hand. "It seems like Quinn is always getting in the way of things, just when they are good and solid again."
I sighed and took his hand. I loved him so much, and I just wished that he could see right inside my heart to see that truth so he didn't need to keep worrying about my getting pulled away from him. It was never going to happen.
"Quinn may be a part of our lives," I said. "And that may always be true. Until we find out more about what ties us all together, it's hard to say. But the only way he could ever get between us is if you let him because I am definitely not tempted by anyone other than you. You need to stop getting upset with me and trying to push me away from everything when you get angry and jealous of Quinn."
"You're right," Cassius said as he squeezed my hand. "I'm sorry."
Okay good. Problem solved.
"Let's get back home now," I said.
He looked surprised. "You don't want to stay on Earth for a bit since we're here? I thought you might have missed it, and you haven't even finished your coffee."
"No, I actually haven't missed it at all lately. It feels like my whole connection to my own world is fading and being replaced with a stronger tie to Mystreuce. Mystreuce feels more like home to me now. Also, the coffee here isn't that great."
Cassius chuckled, and we got up to leave. He stopped and looked at me before we reached the door. "You do have a way to get us back home, right?" he asked.
I hadn't really thought about that, either. I should have told Bree an amount of time to wait before just opening a gateway back through for us. In my hurry to get things sorted out with Cassius, I had completely forgotten about getting back to Mystreuce.
"No need to worry," he said. "We'll just open the gaming den again. I'm sure that between both of our powers, we'll be able to open the path through."
I had all but forgotten about the gaming dens, too. The gaming den wasn't far from where we were. The walk through the cool air of the city, holding Cassius’s hand and laughing at all the busy humans who had no clue there were worlds outside of this one, was fun. When we reached the gaming den, Cassius got it back up and running, and it seemed like his power combined with mine should be able to get us right back home. But when nothing happened, a tiny feeling of dread began to creep over me. Without Quinn or Bree here, we didn't have any fae magic to call on, and we had no way to reach either of them. If the gaming den wasn't working and our attempts to try to get back didn’t pan out, then the thought of being stuck here might become an actual possibility.
"Why isn't it working?" I asked.
"I don't know," Cassius said as he tried to look around to see what else he could possibly do. "It should work, even without fae magic here. You and I should be able to get back. Unless—"
"Unless what?"
"Unless the reason we cannot get back is that something or someone is blocking us and making it unable for us to return."
"Who or what would possibly do that?" I asked.
We didn't have any other enemies now that I could think of. Athan was gone, and Quinn seemed to be back on the right side of things since we had saved his life; I couldn't think of anyone who would want to keep us trapped here on Earth.
I could feel the frantic confusion rising in both of us at the thought of being unable to return to Mystreuce. To make matters even worse, we both knew that I had to get back, or my connection to the land would eventually suffer, and in turn, so would I. I felt fine now, and I was sure that I could last for a while thanks to the increased mutual understanding that Mystreuce and I seemed to be developing. But even so, that wouldn't last indefinitely. Eventually, I would need to get back or face a situation similar to the one I went through before.
"Did Bree say anything to you about getting b
ack before she pushed us in here?" he asked. The look on his face seemed accusatory, and I wasn't sure why.
"No, why?"
"Because it seems kind of strange that a fae with that much power wouldn't have considered that she needed to provide you with a way back."
"What are you saying?" I asked.
"Nothing in particular. I'm just suspicious as to whether Bree and Quinn perhaps plotted a scheme together that you didn't see."
"A scheme? What kind of scheme?"
"Well," Cassius said. "If Bree has affection for Quinn and he still wants to take me down, then what better way to do so than to lock us out of Mystreuce entirely? Maybe the two of them have plotted to take over the land together?"
"I really don't think that’s the case," I said as I shook my head. "Quinn didn't seem at all interested in seeking revenge anymore or taking control of Mystreuce. With the shadow magic gone from him, I think he is more back to himself now. And as much as Bree cares for him, I don't think that she would support the idea of him ruling over Mystreuce and banishing us to Earth. I'm certain that they aren't planning some secret espionage like that."
"Regardless of the reason, we need to get back," he said.
We frantically tried to reopen the gateway using every idea that came to mind, but nothing was working. There had to be something we weren't thinking of yet.
"We need to be able to each Bree," I said. "To let her know that we need her help to get back."
"There's no way to do that. There is no communication like that between worlds."
"There has to be."
I sat down to think for a minute. Maybe if there wasn't a way to reach Bree on Mystreuce, there would be a way to reach Quinn. I wondered if the ties that we shared—the very same issue that caused Cassius to be upset and led us to come here in the first place—might be the way to get back home. If we were bound together enough for him to feel the ground shake, I was betting that Quinn might be able to feel something from across the worlds as well. I closed my eyes and focused every thought that I had on reaching out to Quinn.
