chapter 8
974 Words
Gwen stared up at him and immediately wanted to take shrink back. He looked wrong like a painting that shouldn’t be breathing
Her brain kept screaming at her to run. But her legs didn’t listen. Traitor legs. Instead, she asked.
“What are you?” It came out rough, like her throat was full of sand. She hated that. She hated sounding weak.
He didn’t answer, he just watched her without blinking. Like she was math he couldn’t solve and he had all night.
Gwen made this stupid sound that, like a half laugh and half snort. “Okay. Cool. Love that for me.”
The mansion was too quiet. It made her skin feel tight.
She pointed at him. “You were upstairs before I even… you weren’t behind me and you don’t walk right. You don’t walk like a…” She trailed off. Saying it made her head hurt.
“Do you only talk when you’re trying to make me mad?” She was mad now.
At least mad was better than scared.
His mouth did this weird thing. Almost a smile, then nothing.
“Go to bed,” he said, flat.
Gwen blinked. “That’s it? Go to bed?”
“Yes.”
“No,” she said. Then she felt dumb immediately. “I mean… no. That’s not an answer.”
His jaw ticked. Then he started down the stairs slowly. Gwen stepped back before she told herself to.
Damn it. She hated that her body decided things before she did.
He stopped too close. She could see his eyes up close now and they weren’t right. They were too bright. Too old. Like someone glued three thousand years into a 30-year-old face and forgot to make it fit.
“What are you?” she asked again because she didn’t have anything else.
He stared intently at her face. “I should ask you that. What are you?”
Gwen laughed. It came out wrong, high and broken. “Human. What else would I…”
His eyes narrowed. “Human.”
“Yeah, human,” she snapped, anger was easier than the other thing in her chest. “Is that a problem?”
Then he said it. “I, Lucien Quin, reject you as my mate.”
The words hit anyway. Not as bad as before but bad enough her stomach dropped.
“Accept it,” he said.
“Accept what?”
“The rejection.”
Gwen just stared at him, bemused. What bullshit was this?
“This is insane,” she said.
“Say it,” Lucien's jaw clenched. “Don't make it harder than it seems.”
Gwen swallowed, her mouth felt like paper. “What happens if I do?”
“Nothing.”
“Bullshit.” She rubbed her face. Her hands felt rough. She was so tired. Too tired to keep fighting him. Too tired to keep fighting anything. “Fine.”
She said it fast, before her brain could catch up. “I, Gwen Brooks, reject you, Lucien Quin, as my mate.”
Nothing happened. No sound. No blinding pain. Just some stupid clock ticking somewhere in the house.
Gwen blinked. “Well?”
Lucien didn’t answer. He just stood there staring at her, his brows furrowed in confusion.
Lucien looked irritated. Three thousand years of watching bonds snap clean and this one didn’t. This one stayed. That shouldn’t happen. That wasn’t how it worked. A muscle flexed in his face.
“Was something supposed to happen?” Gwen asked.
Lucien ignored her. He was thinking too fast. The curse, the bond, her. None of it made sense. For the first time in forever he didn’t have an answer.
“What the hell are you?” He muttered.
“Excuse me?” Gwen asked.
His gaze snapped back to her and the bond pulled. He gritted his teeth.
“Alfred,” he called without looking away from her.
Footsteps echoed behind him, and the butler's voice came next. “Master?”
“Take her to a room,” Lucien said, turning away.
“Wait…” Gwen started.
He kept walking.
Gwen stared after him and fear sat heavy in her chest. Not because of the rejection. Not because of the mate nonsense.
Because there was something deeply wrong about him. The way he moved. The way he looked at her. The way he had appeared where he shouldn't have been.
Every instinct she had told her to get away from him.
“I’m not staying here.”
Alfred paused. Lucien stopped but didn't turn around.
“ I have my own life to deal with. I've got a lot going on in my life. So…whatever this is, I want no part of it.”
For a moment, nobody spoke. Then Lucien looked over his shoulder.
“Then leave.”
Gwen frowned. “Seriously?”
“Yes.”
She studied his face, waiting for the catch.
There wasn't one. The realization unsettled her more than an argument would have.
“Fine.”
She headed for the front door before he could change his mind. Neither Lucien nor Alfred tried to stop her. The doors closed behind her.
Alfred glanced at his master. “Should I send someone after her?”
Lucien's gaze remained on the entrance.
The bond was still there. He could feel it.
His jaw ticked. “No.”
Alfred looked surprised but Lucien wasn't.
If anything, his confusion had only grown.
Three thousand years and he had never seen a rejected bond remain intact after rejection. Yet he could still feel her.
Still sense her. Still hear the faint pull at the back of his mind.
His fingers clenched. “What joke are you playing on me?” he murmured.
For the first time in a very long time, Lucien Quin had no answer.
- Writer
