Page 40 of Mate of a Monster

“I’m trying to make you understand.” He rises, moving around the table with that unnaturally fluid grace. “The mating bond doesn’t make mistakes. And it sure doesn’t sit back and allow others to fuck with it.” His claws brush my shoulder. I suppress a shudder at how good it feels. “Why do you think you’ve always been drawn to the shadows? You feel my emotions? The amusement, the hunger…” His head tilts. “The desire?”

Beneath my own anger and fear, realization settles deep.

“The blood,” I whisper, looking down at the goblet I just drank from, some of Professor Astras teaching about the bonding process coming back to me.

His laughter cackles through my body.

“Romantic.” I play with my food. “I know what comes next, and—”

“Death, as you just promised you would gift me,” he says simply, and my heart stutters. “Our hearts must beat as one. Through the nightmare that follows—” His talons trace my jaw, surprisingly gentle. “And you’ll be all mine.”

I bare my teeth at him. “I won’t.”

“The bond doesn’t lie,” he murmurs. “It doesn’t care about your plans for revenge or your loyalty. It simply is.” I lean into the touch. “We simply are. Anger and betrayal change nothing.”

This is why I never dream-walked with Legend.

This is why Arabella came.

It was all because I belong to the Nightkin.

“And it’s already changing you. Haven’t you noticed? The way your senses sharpen in the dark? The way you hear your dragon’s thoughts.”

I’ve been trying to ignore it, actually.

“When the bond is complete,” he continues, “your power will rival mine. You will be the most powerful source of chaos the realms have ever seen.”

“A monster?” I mean it to sound bitter, but it comes out breathless. “You mean I’ll be a monster.”

More laughter. “My monster.”

I close my eyes, trying to steady myself against the wave of longing—both his and mine—that crashes through the blood-forged connection between us. “And if I submit?” Because let’s be honest, what else do I have to live for at this point? “If I let this bond complete?”

The smug tone in his reply shouldn’t feel hot against my skin. “I’ll leave that for you to find out.”

I open my eyes, meeting his gaze through that ever-shifting rusted mask.

“I still hate you,” I whisper, but there’s no real heat in it anymore.

His laugh rumbles through both our bodies. “Hate me all you want, Hellpet. But you’re already mine. And I will forever be yours, but that’s not all, little mate,” he pauses. “So will he.”

Chapter Eight

Haide

He drags the tip of his nose along the curve of my neck, slow and deliberate, as if he’s peeling back the layers of my skin to feast on every secret I keep hidden. Every fear that I’ve buried deep in the marrow of my bones where no one would ever be brave enough to find.

“You are extraordinary, Haide,” he murmurs, his voice working me into a haze. “A damn rarity…”

A groan slips from my lips before I can stop it as I lean into his touch.

He snaps at my lips, teeth catching just enough to draw blood.

Am I really about to fuck a demon?

This damn demon? Crap. Yes?

I draw forward, fingers locking behind the thick cord of his neck, and—