Bloody Angel: Book 3

Truths and Turmoil

"How can I hold it back? Knowing what I know, knowing how badly I want to keep everyone safe but at the same time just being near me paints a target on them." She's repeating herself and she knows it but no other words come as she sighs and rubs her forehead before raking her palm down over her face. "And what about Copia? What about this bond between us? He's just as much if not more so unsafe if he's with me. Maybe he was right in going away, in staying away from me. If he got hurt again because of me I would never forgive myself. Maybe…"

"Maybe what, Sorellina?"

"Maybe I should be the one to go. I know how to care for myself. Leave here and protect everyone I care for." The words hang heavy in the air and she feels her heart give a painful thump at the thought and for a moment she wonders if this is how her father felt.

"You would abandon your sister? Her child?"

"They have Mountain. He and Lilit are planning on getting handfasted soon. He'll take care of them. The pack will take care of them."

Alesandro shakes his head, his jaw tensing and flexing as he sighs. "No, Annie. You and I both know it would hurt you more to try and leave."

"It would hurt, but if it would keep them safe I would do it in a heartbeat."

"But they wouldn't be. The Magistratus will still come for us. Have you forgotten the spy still has not been found?"

"But if-"

"No." He shifts and leans over, icy palm cupping her cheek and turning her to face him. "You will not go. You will not even entertain that idea. Am I clear? People here need you Annie, and despite what you think you are the safest within these walls."

"I'm just so scared…"

She bursts into tears then and he pulls her into his chest, arms tight around her as he lets her cry. He whispers soft comforts into her hair as she clutches to him, her sobs hard and shaking her whole body. Eventually she calms, sniffling and trembling but the sobs stop and her hold on him loosens yet still he holds her refusing to let go until she shivers from the almost overwhelming cold radiating from him.

"Alessandro?"

"Si, Annie?"

She hesitates, brow furrowing as she chews on her lip. He shifts slightly, using his thumb to gently dislodge it from her teeth and she looks up at him meeting his warm smile as he waits for her to speak.

"Copia…'

"What about him?"

"Are we really…?"

"Soulmates?" Alessandro asks, seeing the hidden question burning in her eyes. "Si. You and mio fratellino are destined to be together by forces far out of anyone's control. He will do right by you, Annie. Even if you were not soulmates, he would care for you with all that he has, with all that he is for as long as he lives."

"That's what the pull in us is, then? What longs, no, demands for us to be together?"

He nods slowly with a sigh. "Each mated pair feels their bond differently. Some stronger than others. The one you share with him is the strongest I have ever seen."

"It's changed, though. Since Midsummer. Even without everything else going on, how it feels now… it makes me uncomfortable. It's too demanding and I'm just not ready."

Alessandro looks down at her as he gently brushes her hair away from her face. "It is a supernatural force that, like me on this side of the veil, knows things and pushes you towards what it thinks is needed and it feels that you and he should consummate and fulfill it. To do so would make it stronger, and by that, the two of you would be stronger, especially with your emerging powers. Surely though you've noticed that it is not always that of a sexual nature. You both have felt each other's pain through it. Your longing. Loneliness. Anger."