Lover Eternal

O picked up the knife, gripping the handle hard. As he lifted it above his shoulder, C's relief brought all those body struggles to a standstill.

'You really shouldn't feel better about this,' O said softly.

He sank the blade into the lesser's chest. There was a flash of light and a popping sound. And C was gone.

O picked up the purse and headed out.

Mary walked over to Rhage, keeping her hand behind her back while she waited for the right moment. He was in the middle of a game of pool, he and Butch beating the tar out of V and Phury.

As she watched them play, she decided she really liked the brothers. Even Zsadist, with all his brooding. They were so good to her, treating her with a kind of respect and reverence she wasn't sure what she'd done to deserve.

Rhage winked at her as he leaned over the table and lined up his stick.

'It's the way you care for him,' someone said in her ear.

She jerked in her shoes. Vishous was right behind her.

'What are you talking about?'

'That's why we adore you. And before you tell me to quit reading your mind, I didn't mean to catch the thought. It was just too loud to tune out.' The vampire took a swallow from a squat glass of vodka. 'But that's why we accept you. When you treat him well, you honor each one of us.'

Rhage looked up and frowned. As soon as he took his shot, he came around the table to her and pointedly nudged V out of the way with his body.

Vishous laughed. 'Relax, Hollywood. She's only got eyes for you.'

Rhage grunted and tucked her into his side. 'You just remember that and your arms and legs will stay right where they are.'

'You know, you were never the possessive type before.'

'That's because I never had something I wanted to keep. You're up at the table, my brother.'

As V put his drink down and got serious about the game, Mary stuck her hand out. From her fingertips, a cherry dangled.

'I want to see your other trick,' she said. 'You told me you could do something great with your tongue and a cherry stem.'

He laughed. 'Come on—'

'What? No trick?'

His smile was slow. 'You just watch my mouth go to work, female.'

Looking at her from under hooded lids, Rhage bent down to her hand. His tongue came out and captured the cherry, pulling it between his lips. He chewed and then shook his head as he swallowed.

'Not quite there,' he murmured.

'What?'

'Your secrets are so much sweeter.'

Flushing, she covered her eyes with her hand.

Oh, sure. Now he wants to get sexy, she thought.

As she took a deep breath, she caught the erotic, dark fragrance he threw off whenever he wanted to be inside her. She lifted her hand and peeked at him.

He was staring at her with total absorption. And the centers of his eyes were as white and gleaming as fresh snow.

Mary stopped breathing.

Something else is in there, she thought. There was… something else looking through his stare at her.

Phury came up, smiling. 'Go get a room, Hollywood, if you're going to be like this. The rest of us don't need to be reminded of all you have.'

He clapped his palm on Rhage's shoulder.

Rhage wheeled around and snapped at his brother's hand with his teeth. The sound of his jaws clamping shut was loud enough to suck the conversation out of the room.

Phury leaped back, yanking his arm away. 'Jesus Christ, Rhage! What's your—Shit. Your eyes, man. They've turned.'

Rhage paled and then stumbled away, squinting and blinking. 'I'm sorry. Hell, Phury, I didn't even know I was—'

All around the room, the men put down whatever was in their hands and came at him, circling him.

'How close are you to the change?' Phury asked.

'Clear the females out,' someone commanded, 'Get them upstairs.'

As the sound of people leaving filled the air, Vishous squeezed Mary's arm. 'Come with me.'

'No.' She struggled. 'Stop it. I want to stay with him.'

Rhage glanced over at her, and immediately that odd, fixated look came back. Then his white eyes shifted to Vishous. Rhage's lips pared off his teeth and he growled, loud as a lion.

'V, man, let go of her. Right now,' Phury said.

Vishous dropped his hold, but whispered to her, 'You need to get out of here.'

Screw that, she thought.

'Rhage?' she said softly. 'Rhage, what's going on?'

He shook his head and broke their eye contact, backing himself up against the marble fireplace. Sweat gleamed on his face as he grabbed on to the stone, and he strained as if he were trying to lift the whole damn mantelpiece off the wall.

Time slowed to a crawl as he battled with himself, chest pumping, arms and legs trembling. It was a long while before he sagged and the tension left his body. Whatever the fight had been, he'd won. But not by much.

As he looked up, his eyes were back to normal, but he was pasty as hell.

'I'm sorry, my brothers,' he mumbled. Then he glanced at her and opened his mouth. Instead of speaking, he hung his head as if ashamed.

Mary walked through the barrier of male bodies and put her hands on his face.

As he gasped in surprise, she kissed him on the mouth. 'Let's see the cherry thing. Come on.'

The men standing around them were stunned; she could feel it in their stares. Rhage was shaken, too. But when she just looked at him pointedly, he started chewing, working the stem over with his teeth.

She glanced back at the warriors. 'He's tine. We're fine. Go back to doing whatever, okay? He needs a minute, and all you guys staring at him like this isn't helping.'

Phury laughed a little and walked over to the pool table. 'You know, she's fabulous.'

V picked up his cue and his glass. 'Yeah. True.'

As the party resumed, and Bella and Wellsie came back, Mary stroked Rhage's face and neck. He seemed to have trouble looking her in the eye.

'Are you okay?' she said softly.

'I'm so sorry—'

'Cut out the sorry bit. Whatever that is, you can't help it, right?'

He nodded.

'So there's no sorry.'

She wanted to know what had just happened, but not here, not now. Sometimes, pretending to be normal was the very best antidote to weirdness. Fake-it-until-you-make-it was more than psychobabble bullshit.

'Mary, I don't want you to fear me.'

For a moment, she watched his mouth and jaw work the stem.

'I'm not afraid. V and Phury might have been in a little trouble, but you wouldn't have hurt me. No way. I'm not sure how I know that, I just do.'

He took a deep breath. 'God, I love you. I really, really love you.'

And then he smiled.

She laughed in a loud crack that brought every head in the room around.