"I can't move," Evie tried but couldn't get up, all she could do was look at the stars, lying on the dusty floor of this roof. A broken rib was likely, she had fallen on her side during the fall, and the pain was unbearable. But even if she could move it wouldn't have helped because her ankle, knee and hip were all sore as well.
And then she heard footsteps approaching.
"Of course. Finn told you to come." Evie sighed, "I must be very important for you to put your work aside, Zeth."
"Quit your sarcasm and your desire to be a martyr and let me help you," Zeth replied, walking gracefully towards her, with his hands in his pockets. He then knelt down beside her, "I'm sorry I wasn't here sooner. I was preparing a surprise for a friend, who by the way, is your best friend right now."
"Yes I think I scared Finn quite a bit this time," Evie mumbled weakly, breathing heavily, "How did you get up here so fast?"
"I was Lord Commander of the Guardians of Evalon and Queen Zafira's Envoy. In my time there were no elevators," Zeth said, placing his hand on Evie's, "Why are you so impulsive?"
"Because there are very few things that make me feel alive," Evie whispered softly, smiling, "You're one of them, all of you. Being close to you makes me feel human."
Zeth smiled at her.
"I am glad that you find my company so pleasant."
"You are so charming," Evie said, looking up into Zeth's sapphire eyes for a moment, "Do you have something for me?"
"If you're talking about a job, no. If you're talking about a cure for your broken bones..." Zeth's eyes flashed a golden colour, and slowly, Evie's pain faded away, like sand on an ocean breeze. "I will gladly provide that."
When Zeth's eyes stopped shining, he let go of her hand, standing up.
"Well, you're a lifesaver." Evie commented, sitting up with a grunt.
"Thank you. I've heard you say that before, the many times I have healed your broken bones," Zeth replied, offering her a hand, "Way too often, don't you think?"
Evie took his hand gratefully.
"At least you don't have to pretend that you're going to give me an amulet."
"My powers heal wounds, not diseases. You know I need the amulets for that," Zeth replied, helping her up. She stumbled, but he kept her steady with a strong arm around her waist, holding her close to his warm body, "Although I would appreciate it if you would refrain from falling from any more rooftops until you're fully recovered."
"I didn't fall off a roof," Evie replied.
"I don't want to hear about it," He said, close to her ear. "I'd much rather hear that you're not injured at all."
The way he looked at her with his penetrating sapphire blue eyes made her heart skip a beat.
She cleared her throat.
"Zeth, when we met, you told me that you didn't trust me, that you didn't like me."
"But now I trust you blindly. You don't need to play Wonder Woman to prove anything to me," he said, and when she tried to pull away, she staggered again, "Fuck! Could you just stay still?" He held her against his body, and her hands landed on his firm pectoral muscles.
She felt a strange sense of familiarity, warmth and comfort, and the realisation made her blush.
His face was an inch away from hers, and he was looking straight into her eyes with such intensity that she was sure her soul was naked for him to see, and it was burning her from the inside out.
"You can let go of me now, Zeth," Evie said because she was already getting uncomfortable.
"You aren't the type to run away," he murmured with a cocky smile.
"I always run away," Evie whispered, unable to stop herself from stepping back. "I always run away when I know someone is going to hurt me."
"So you know Jade kissed me," Zeth said, and she stumbled back, "Fuck! Evie! Stop moving!" He held her close again.
"Why did you kiss her?" she asked, but despite her serious expression, she was dying inside, feeling all sorts of emotions that she usually repressed. And she couldn't look away from his eyes because she wanted nothing more than to gaze into them.
"I didn't, she kissed me." He held her closer to him, his hand rubbing her back ever so gently.
"Yeah, that's what men always say," she rolled her eyes.
"I'm not lying. She gave me a quick peck on the lips. I'm not the kind of man who makes up excuses and you know it." It was only natural that he would say those words. "I am sorry for being kissed without my consent," Zeth said sarcastically, "I understand that you're jealous, okay? But I..."
"Jealous? Please! You know there's nothing between us," she replied coldly.
"If you say so," Zeth retorted, tracing her lips with his thumb.
"You and I are nothing, okay?" Evie insisted, "We're nothing but castles built in the air."
"Oh? Really?" He was staring into her soul; she couldn't look away from him. He was flushed with passion just like her. She could swear his pupils dilated at the sight of her swollen lips.
"Why are we doing this to each other, Zeth?" Evie whispered.
"I don't know," Zeth said, bringing his perfect lips closer to hers seductively, "But I don't want to hide anymore, Evie. I don't want you to say that we're nothing."
"Zeth... I am so sorry," she tried to step back, but he held her close again. She instinctively put her hands on his shoulders, and his hand pressed her against him harder than ever.
"For what?"
"We promised there would be no feelings between us."
"I want proof," Zeth whispered dangerously close to Evie's lips, "I want to feel like there's nothing."
"What?"
"Kiss me," he said, it was not a question, it was an order, "Kiss me, and make me feel like there's nothing between us. Make me believe that, in all these years, you have never felt anything for me."
She began to tremble, her skin was burning, her heart was beating hard, and her breathing was so fast that... She lost control.
"I hate loving you so fucking much," Evie said, grabbing Zeth by the jaw, crashing her lips against his.
Without hesitation, he responded the kiss with the same desperation as her.
"Oh... Oh yes, Zeth," She moaned against his lips, and he held her tight against his body with one hand on her lower back. She lifted one of her legs and he held it with one hand, both lost in their passion with their eyes closed, hungry for each other.
"Oh yeah. You like kissing me, don't you baby?" Zeth whispered, moving his hips against her body, feasting on her full lips.
"Oh yeah I... I love you, Zeth," she whispered against his lips, kissing him much faster and more desperate than before.
"Fuck, I love you so much, Evie... I fucking love you, baby," And then his arms were tightly wrapped around her, and they kissed some more, his hands roaming all over her. "Come on, come on. Let me take control. Let me kiss you however I want."
"I'm yours," Evie panted.
Zeth's mouth opened and he took full control of the kiss. He sucked on Evie's lips; he was very good at kissing, very talented, and then his tongue entered her mouth.
Her hands clung to Zeth's iron biceps to survive this kiss and not collapse; her body relaxed and melted into his.
Her lips followed his lead.
Her tongue danced with his.
She almost fiercely fought to regain control of the kiss, but she felt weaker and weaker each time he moaned against her lips.
They were both on fire.
Against her belly, there was something... Growing?
Was that a microphone?
No. It was not.
Evie trembled and flinched.
"Oh fuck. Zeth... Zeth wait," she whispered, licking her lips, "I... I can... Barely breathe."
"Yeah, I will... I need a moment too," he replied.
They spent a few seconds in silence then, forehead to forehead, their breaths warming up each other's face.
"I'm so sorry, Evie." He caressed her cheek. Her breath caught in her throat, "I always lose control when I'm around you."
"Yeah, happens to me too but..."
"I love you." He said firmly, "More than any woman I have ever met."
"Zeth... Enough," Evie stepped back.
She just had to.
"We don't have to hide anymore. We can tell the others about our love and take all this guilt off our shoulders."
"You know that's not true," Evie said, "And I'm sorry but, that girl, Jade..."
"Evie, she kissed me," Zeth replied, "I didn't even kiss her back. She took me by surprise because she was way too close to me!"
"And why was she?"
"I was showing her what to do for the video, and then she kissed me," he said, hissing in frustration, "I can't believe you, of all people, are jealous of a college girl. I'm fucking innocent!"
And that was exactly the problem.
There was nothing innocent about Zeth.
It all seemed innocent when they met to talk about Frank years ago.
It all seemed innocent when she kissed him and he said he didn't consent.
It all seemed innocent the next morning when she woke up in a motel on Zeth's bare chest.
"Evie. You and I can try being polyamorous."
"You don't believe in monogamy, I know that," Evie said, looking down, "And neither do I. I can't judge you because I love more than one person."
"Exactly! You love all of us, Frank and Draco, Alex and Everett and even Finn," he stepped closer, taking both of her hands in his, "And you know that, from the moment I saw Finn..."
"You know what you feel for Finn is safe with me, and that it doesn't bother me," Evie replied quickly, "What bothers me is..."
"Jade?" Zeth raised an eyebrow, "Is that what all of this is about? Are you acting like a kamikaze to be better than her?"
"Do you love her?"
"I don't know her."
"And she'll become another me? Another girl you don't know but you'll end up taking to bed on the first night? Could she be another girl you don't know but will become your secret lover like me?" Evie asked, raising her voice, "I admit that it bothers me when you are with her. And I admit that it hurts me that you and I will never be more than just passion, Zeth."
"And now you're trying to blame me for that?" Zeth frowned, "Didn't you and I agree to keep everything a secret for Frank's sake?"
"And now you're trying to blame Frank for..."
"No, I blame you and me for being cowards!" Zeth said, raising his voice, something that rarely happened.
"Cowards?" Evie repeated, shocked by what she was hearing.
"Yes! We were afraid of telling Frank what happened between us!" Zeth threw his hands up, "But did that stop us? No! We kept on doing it, over and over again until we couldn't stop anymore!"
"I don't want to hurt his feelings, Zeth," Evie said, looking away from him, "I don't want to come between Draco and Alex. I don't want Everett and Frank to fight because of me. I don't want to stand between you and Finn because... Forget it! You and I are horrible people! We never cared about hurting them, we only thought about ourselves."
"I want this affair to end and make it something real," Zeth said, "I'm sick of secrets. How many more secrets will there be before we both break?"
Evie remained silent. Zeth's face said it all.
He already knew that she had another secret kept.
There was no point in hiding anything from him anyway.
"I have something to confess," Evie said and Zeth looked into her eyes, "But please don't be mad at Alex..."
"Is this about what happened between you and Alex in the showers of that gym in Las Vegas?"
He never ceased to amaze her.
"You knew?"
"An employee saw you and I had to erase his memories." Zeth replied.
"Was it the first or the second time?"
"I wasn't aware there was a second time," Zeth frowned, "Whatever. I won't judge you nor him."
"It was because of Alex's pheromones. I kept the secret so as not to hurt Draco, or maybe you or Frank. Or anyone."
"Because admitting you're in love with him is too difficult, right?"
"Yeah. I just heard myself. I don't even believe my own lie," Evie said, chuckling bitterly, "A Hunter like me? Falling for pheromones? Twice? And even though I had a secret lover, I gave myself permission to fall for that? And yet I still say I'm in love with the other guys? And I want to get back with my ex too! Wow. What an elegant way of calling myself a slut without saying it."
"Hey! Hey! NO!" Zeth rebutted, "I never, ever want to hear you say that again! NEVER!" He grabbed her cheeks and looked desperately into her eyes, "I love you. I love you so much, woman. You're my girl, our girl, and you should never feel bad about wanting to make love to either of us again. That's what this is all about, Evie. So we can all be yours and never have to hide again, you understand? No more S word ever again. Promise me!"
"I... I promise."
"You're not an S word, you're just in love with more than one person at a time and you're afraid to admit it." Zeth said firmly. "You just have to stop wearing masks and admit it. We're all willing to be with you at once, even Frank is willing to try. None of us have any problem with you being with all of us at the same time."
"Right. It all sounds like a fairy tale, but how long will it be before it turns into a horror story, Zeth?" She asked accusatively, "You and me? We are disgusting. How do I know Jade isn't your lover already if you and I have been hiding for years? How do I know Alex won't have an affair with the first blonde he sees at the gym without anyone knowing? How do you know I won't cheat on you and the boys if I was clever enough to hide my gym nights with Alex? I don't really know you, and you don't really know me. The only thing you, Zeth Rahman, know well about me, is my body."
"Oh, you are so very right about that. I sooooo don't know you!" Zeth replied, "In fact, I don't know that you like to wake up in the morning and drink coffee with three sachets of stevia sitting on the couch reading a book. I have no idea that you take ice baths more to prove to yourself that you are human than to heal your bruises. I also don't know that you like waking up on my chest in the mornings talking about what your perfect childhood would have been like in a house in the suburbs. Do I not know you? Really? Yeah, I don't know you like to go shopping and that you dreamed of being a princess when you were a child and that your lost your left..."
SLAP!
She didn't realise she had slapped him until her hand burned.
Shit.
He looked at her with the corner of his eye while rubbing his sore cheek.
"That hurt."
"I apologise." she said with as much dignity as she could muster, though it was hard considering how much pain she was in.
"Don't."
"What?" Evie said, her voice breaking.
"Just don't apologise. I think I shouldn't have used everything you've told me after we 'finished' against you." Zeth replied, looking her up and down, "I see there's no more pain in your body. I'll get back to work then."
"Zeth..." she whispered as he began walking away, and surprisingly, he stopped and looked at her over his shoulder, "Zeth, I'm really sorry. I just don't understand why Jade is here or why you want her to move to Lyonfort or why..."
"I had a vision, Evie," Zeth interrupted, cold and distant, "That's why I'm offering Jade a place in Lyonfort. I'm not in love with her."
"A vision?"
"If she doesn't stay, there will be no more Monster Mash," Zeth turned to face her and crossed his arms, "If I let her go, the end of our band, and everything we have worked for, will come. I know it's inevitable that she will cause our end though, I know it's inevitable that she'll leave and that you...."
"That I what?"
"I can't tell you or I'll ruin the future."
"Why?" she asked, swallowing thickly, and Zeth's eyes softened slightly when he gazed at her.
"Because my visions always come true, and I hope that this time, at least I can change our fate, but saving Monster Mash also means losing..." He shut up abruptly.
"Losing what?" Her eyes widened as soon as he mentioned the word Fate. "If you know she'll put an end to Monster Mash why don't you just send her away?"
"Because I can't or I will lose you forever, Evie!" Zeth yelled, and she was sure she saw tears forming in his eyes, "I can't lose you! Because I love you! Is that what you wanted to hear? I love you like I've never loved anyone before! I love you and that's why I can't be with you! The future is written, and I see no way to fix it other than keeping Jade around!"
Evie opened her mouth, but couldn't say anything.
She felt defeated, broken.
This was not fair to anyone.
"Evie... I had a vision a few nights ago."
"And that was?" Evie questioned softly.
"I don't know the details, but I know that, for that vision to come to true..." Zeth said, pulling his phone out of his pocket, grumbling. He texted someone, then put his phone back in his pocket and looked her straight in the eyes, "Evie, I want you to know that I will have to make a life or death decision very soon. You'll understand in time."
"You want to understand now," she said. "What did you see, Zeth? In your vision?"
"I saw a Shadowman... A Boogeyman," Zeth replied, sighing. "Alex mentioned that a poly relationship could work. I have my doubts, but if you're okay with it, and the guys too, I can offer you that. We can all finally love you without fear, Evie."
"I don't want to feel guilty for loving you anymore, so let's give it a try, Zeth."
"I will tell the others then," Zeth replied, "Now go home and stay there. I don't want any more broken bones."
"No. I don't want to leave. I'll keep working," she said and Zeth looked angry.
"Fine. But if anything bad happens to you, I want you to call me, you understand?"
"I do, boss."
"Good."
"Zeth, before you leave," she said and he stopped walking, looking at her with half-shut eyes, "You know I love you, and I love kissing you and being in your arms, I love having you close and feeling you inside of me, and what happened between Alex and me, and what has been happening between you and me... I've never done anything out of lust."
"I know," Zeth nodded, "I love you, baby."
"I love you more, Boss."
When she descended from the roof using her grapple gun, however, she froze.
The motorcycle she had chased was parked here, right in front of her. It was a yellow Ducati Panigale.
There was no sign of Kasey anywhere, though.
"I don't know why you're here Kasey," Evie whispered, "But tonight even you won't be able to ruin anything. I'll go to that club and I'll tell the boys everything. It's time to stop being a coward."