“No,” she said with a moan, struggling against him despite her weakness. “Won’t be imprisoned.”
“I’ll never make such a mistake again, you have my vow. Please, kitten, do me this honor. You are so precious to me.”
“I am?” Her struggles tapered until she sagged against him.
“Come, Fluffy,” he said before Viola changed her mind. He flashed to her bedroom. The animal followed.
Brochan stalked into the shower stall. Without releasing his prize, he turned on the water. Blood and dirt swirled down the drain. He didn’t bother trying to strip; he sat and propped her against his chest. After removing her dress, he assessed the damage. Her poor stump remained raw and pulpy.
“Always end up in water,” she muttered as steam enveloped them. “Makes sense. My mother is Dione. Zeus’s first wife.”
“The Oceanid and mother of Aphrodite?”
“The very one.”
“But she is the goddess who imprisoned you in Tartarus, yes?” The one who’d imprisoned her as a child.
“Mm-hmm. After I escaped her, she accused me of a terrible crime. Had me arrested. And yes, I did kind of murder her servants and destroy her home. If kind of means they all died screaming and I left the place in ashes. But I had good reason! My freedom. She feared Zeus learning the truth about her affair with the feline shifter. Not that I remembered that awful, soul-shriveling truth for eons.”
“What happened to the memory?”
“The demon. He likes to hide things from me. He especially liked making me believe I had doomed myself with my soul-eating. I guess knowing your mother ruined your life isn’t good for your sense of worth. But I digress. My father was…” She groaned. “I can’t believe I’m admitting this aloud. He was a lowly…tomcat. He gave me nine lives, at least, each one tied to one of my abilities. He’s the reason my godhood revolves around the Afterlife. I used two of those lives to flee her, and three to escape Tartarus. Then I gave one to Fluffy.”
The lump in his throat prevented him from speaking, so he kissed her temple instead. She’d been betrayed by a woman who should have loved and protected her. Without friends. No wonder she hated being alone. No wonder she’d chopped off her hand to escape his prison. No wonder she clung to her child, the only being who showed her any loyalty.
“I can give one to McCadden too,” she offered, desperate. “He’ll probably need to feed, just like Fluffy, but he’ll live. Or I can help him become a vampire. Whichever you prefer.”
His entire being rejected the notion of Viola parting with another life, leaving her only two and depriving her of an ability she required for her safety. “You won’t be giving up one of your lives. Promise me.”
“No way,” she said with more volume.
Rather than argue with her, he said, “Right now, you must concern yourself only with getting better.” As he worked to clean the worst of her injuries, he admitted, “I’ve been inconsolable without you, kitten. Beyond frantic. I searched so many lands. Questioned hundreds of immortals. Not being able to track you…” He shuddered.
“No one can be tracked in the land of the lost.” Her words were more and more lucid. “How did you track me before?”
His compliments must be strengthening her. “We’ll discuss it later, all right? Right now, I’d like to tell you all the things I admire about you.”
“Mmm. Yes. No!” She gave a violent shake of her head. “Discuss how you tracked me now.”
Though he feared her reaction, he confessed the truth. “The tattoo on my forearm. It’s mystically linked to your blood.”
Seconds passed in stilted silence as he killed countless excuses for his actions.
“Of all the stalkery things you’ve done,” she finally said, and he mentally prepared for the worst—a demand to leave her. “That might be the best.” Did he detect a smile in her tone? He must. A healthy pink flush spread across her skin. “You are utterly obsessed with me.”
“I am,” he said with a nod. “Since the first moment I spied you, I’ve craved you and no other. There is no one better.”
Her flush deepened, the skin over her mutilated wrist weaving back together. But only seconds later, the flush faded and the weaving ceased. She shuddered against him. “Those people hated me. I’d hurt some of them the same way I hurt you and McCadden. I just…I wanted to save my baby.” A sob shook her, tears streaming down her cheeks. “He’s my best friend.”
“I know, kitten. I know.” Brochan rocked her as she cried, his heart breaking. “You are a wonderful mother. The kind I sought for McCadden.” The one I want for my future children.
Could he win this precious woman when so many others had failed? No, no could about it. He would. Because he must. Because he couldn’t imagine his life without her. She was the excitement he’d never had. The pleasure he’d always longed to experience. The comfort he hadn’t known he needed.