Eric’s POV Gwen and I are a pair of star-crossed soulmates. That’s what the High Priestess told me in my past life while trying to dissuade me from going through the ritual that would keep me around for half a century. She said no matter how many lives our paths crossed, it would never end well. I don’t think I entirely believed her back then. After all, she was the same person who took Ruby’s life with a lie. She could have been lying to get out of performing the ritual because it was forbidden and would cost her. Even if she was telling the truth, it wouldn’t have changed my mind. It’s okay if I never get to be with her, as long as I can protect her. I had hope that would be for at least a few years before my spirit dissipated. But all I’ve gotten are a few months so far. And unless I convince Gwen to give Stefan another chance, that might be all that I get. We make the switch in the morning. I told Stefan I can rob him of his body. I was bluffing. I’ll be lucky if I can hol
Stefan’s POV “Why did Alexander help Theodore?” I ask Phillip when he shows up in the library in the evening. I’ve been in here most of the day, looking through Alexander’s books. Eric insists that I’m wasting my time. But time’s all I have. Gwen has been avoiding me all day since our conversation in the garden this morning. I know I have to give her time. It’ll be a while before she wants to see me, leave alone talk to me. While I wait for that time to come, I’ll not stop looking for a way to give her something she might want more than me. Eric says he is not the one she loves, but she hasn’t heard their story. Maybe…what if…what if all this time, he was the one she loved? She says if we break the bond, I’ll realise I never really love her. What if that’s true for her? Maybe without the bond, I’m nothing to her. Because we were never meant to be. We only found each other because Eric chose me as his host. I’d never have gotten tangled up with her. I only served to bring the
Stefan’s POV It’s not until I watch the flames engulf her body that all hope dies within me. Gwen is gone. She is dead. When I saw her at the castle two nights ago, I thought I had time. Now, I have all the time in the world, but I don’t have her. I have nothing. And it’s all my fault. If I’d never let her leave, this would not have happened. Heck, if I’d left her alone that night I found her at the nightclub, she would be alright. ‘You can delay fate, but you cannot change it.’ That’s what Eric said when I woke up in the middle of the jungle after he went off running last night. She was meant to die, that’s what he meant. That it didn’t matter what I did or failed to do. She would have died anyway, at that exact time. He said the High Priestess never mentioned it. She told him about his own demise, but not a word about Gwen’s. Why did she insist on sacrificing Gwen in her past life when she must have known she would die young? Because then, she must have known that Gwen
High Palace, Ninth Heaven Selena, Moon Goddess, walked through the open doors of the High Palace. It had been centuries since Mother Creator had summoned her. A summon from Her Holiness was a rare occurrence that sent fear through even the most powerful deities. It often meant one of two things–you’ve gotten on her bad side, or she’s about to give you a new Order. Orders could be bad or good, but it was better to manage one’s expectations. Selena spent most of her time at her Lunar Palace, overseeing the race the Holy Mother had sanctioned her to begin as guardians to the human race. That had been thousands of years ago, and it had been her last Order. She wanted to hope, but she had a sinking feeling this summoning was not about her Order. When she got in front of the throne, she got to her knees, her white robes spilling on the iridescent marble floor. Holding her hands together in front of her, she bowed deeply. “Mother.” There was nobody on the throne, but the creator’s
Mari’s POV I swing my knee upwards, hitting him squarely in his junk. He yells a profanity and releases my hair to grab his precious man jewels. While he is bent over in pain, I take the opportunity to grab the pan sitting on the counter. Swinging it, I get him good in the back of his head. That sends him sprawling on the floor. He isn’t out yet, but I have incapacitated him enough to give me a headshot to get away. Grabbing my bag from the floor near the kitchen table, I step around his body and gun for the door. He tries to reach for my leg, but I’m too quick for him. “I’ll kill you, stupid bitch!” He swears, trying to get his body up. “You can’t run away from me!” I know that’s not an empty threat. I would likely be dead on the kitchen floor right now if I had never learned to defend myself from a young age. Adrenaline pumps through my veins as I make a dash for the front door. I open the door and hurry outside, then open my bag, searching for my car keys. Panic sets in when
Mari's POV “Watch where you’re going, bitch!” “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry,” I apologise profusely, grabbing my tray with my other hand to steady it. Placing it on the table, I grab a wad of tissues and go to dab the incensed customer’s white shirt. “I’m sorry!” My hand is suddenly slapped away, and I lift my gaze to find the woman sitting next to him glaring daggers at me. “Are you trying to seduce my man?” she demands, wrenching the tissues from my hand and tossing them into my face. I straighten and glare back. “I was trying to…” “Just fuck off!” she snaps. “Desperate whore,” she accuses, turning to her date and wiping his shirt with her hand. An asshole and a bitch. They deserve each other. I’m barely containing my anger as I snap up my tray and march back to the bar. But I take deep breaths. I need to calm down. If I grab her stupid orange wig and drag her across the table, Joseph might just decide to fire me himself. And keep my money to himself. “Okay there, Mari?” Jim, the
Mari’s POV I gasp and scramble back, running into Jim. He grabs my arm to steady me before pulling me to the back of the bar, far from the counter. From here, we watch the fight take an interesting twist. There are four people—three men and a woman—now attacking Connor and his buddies. It’s one of them who just threw Connor onto the floor. With a single leap over the counter, he lands on the floor next to Connor, grabs his shirt collar, and then punches him in the face over and over again. Jim moves and hurries out of the bar area, heading for the doorway where Joseph is lying, blood oozing from his stomach. A quick glance at the fight reveals that the four strangers are doing fine work of subduing Connor and his men. They seem to have already kicked three of them out. Connor is still in the hands of the guy who interrupted him, and with how bloody he looks, I doubt he’ll be able to attack anyone tonight. I hurry over to Jim. Joseph is still conscious, his hand grasping at his wo
Stefan’s POV She is confused. And scared. I can smell both her confusion and fear, and I don’t like it all. I didn’t look for her for five long years so I could make her afraid of me. But I never thought she would not remember me. Because she isn’t lying. I wouldn’t be sensing all that confusion if she was lying. Has it been too long? I have thought about her every day for thirteen years now, since that day she mysteriously disappeared from my life without a word. Not a single day has gone by without my thoughts wandering to her. Wondering what she was doing, where she was. Maybe she didn’t think about me, and that’s why she forgot. Or maybe she was too young to remember me after all this time. She was just ten… I shake my head. No. We spent way too much time together for her to forget me entirely. We were close. I was the scrawny second son of the alpha, an outcast in my world. She was the housekeeper’s daughter, and she didn’t mind my company. She was my only playmate. Unti