THE SCREAMING OF my phone greeted me when I returned to the real world.  My body was coated in cold sweat, the covers sticking to me.  My head pounded, and it took several moments to make my limbs move. 

My eyes sought out the clock.  It was just after 2 AM.

My phone rang again, and I winced at the loud hammering against my skull.  Son of a bitch.  I grabbed the thing, seconds away from tossing it across the room until I saw who was calling.

“Hello?”  My voice was barely recognizable.

“Koralein?  Are you okay?”  Even a few words from Rex were a soothing balm to my trembling body.

I swallowed hard.  “Bad dream.”

“I know.”

My brow arched.  “Did you see it or something?”  I hoped not.  It wouldn’t do Rex any good to see what was in store for me.  I hadn’t even told him what I learned from Cade and Ian.  And now Kye.

“No, but I was asleep and everything went black in my dream.”  He paused as if searching for the right words.  “Something was wrong with you.  I could feel it.”

I sat up and brushed the snarled strands of hair from my face.  “We need to talk.  I’m coming over.”

 

I paced in front of Rex’s couch, rubbing my temples.  I’d been stalling for the last fifteen minutes.  When Rex opened the door to his suite, he cursed and yanked me inside.  I should have glanced in the mirror before shuffling across campus because I looked like death. 

If he was worried about my appearance, I could only imagine what he was going to think when I told him what Lorne wanted from me.

“Koralein, sit down,” he said from his spot on the couch.  “You’re making me nervous.”

You should be.

“I can’t,” I hissed, turning back around.

Unfortunately, a massive, Rex-shaped wall was in my way.  His hands gripped my shoulders.  “Sit down.  I mean it.  You look like you’re two seconds away from passing out.”  His eyes softened.  “Please, tell me what is going on.”

I took a deep breath as he led me to the couch.  “It’s bad, Rex.”  I swallowed hard and dived into the horrible news.

Telling my caetera the oldest creature in the world wanted to shatter my soul to become a ferrum again wasn’t the easiest thing to do.  If roles were reversed, I’d be throwing furniture around.  But Rex remained still as I spilled my guts.

“So, that’s why Kye was so determined to turn me.  Lorne needs me to remain a ferrum.  As a demon, it wouldn’t work.”  I nervously fiddled with the ends of my hair.  “And in the dream, Kye said Lorne is unkillable.  He stabbed him with an iron knife, and he didn’t die.”

“I see.”  Rex nodded.  “And this dream with Kye, you’re certain he was really there and telling you the truth about Lorne?”

“Yes.”

He stood, his movements tense.  “Just give me a second.” 

This wasn’t good.  Rex was too quiet.  I didn’t like it.

He strode over to the wall and stared at it with his back toward me, taking several deep breaths.

What the hell was he doing?  Meditating?

With lightning reflexes, his fist snapped out, and he punched a massive hole in the wall.

Definitely not meditating.

“Rex!”  I jumped up, marching toward him.

“I’m fine,” he hissed.

I grabbed his fist, brushing bits of drywall from it.  His knuckles were red, but that was it.  The skin wasn’t broken.

Rex was a freaking beast.

“You shouldn’t have done that,” I said, still holding his hand.  It was so massive compared to mine.  “Destruction of property is my thing.”

His brows knit.  “You just told me the first ferrum and creator of the demon race wants to destroy you.  How did you expect me to react?”

I shrugged.  “I figured you’d start cooking up a storm or something.”

The edges of his lips twitched.  “Right.  I might end up beating something with a frying pan instead.”

“It would be less destructive than these fists of yours.”

Rex’s nostrils flared.  “I don’t like that Kye can get inside your head.  You asked if he could compel you in dreams before, but now he’s actually in them.”

I sighed.  “I don’t think that’s our biggest problem.”

Rex shook his head.  “We have to find a way to stop Lorne,” he whispered.  “I can’t lose you, Koralein.”

I nodded, swallowing the lump attempting to clog my throat.  “I know.  And we will.”  I released his hand and twisted the ends of my long black hair around.  “According to Ian, he doesn’t have the other two people he needs to complete the trifecta.  The answers are probably in the Liber de Sanguine.”

His jaw clenched.  “You’ve got the book hidden, right?”

“Yeah.  No one except you and Brett know I have the Book of Blood.”

Rex ran his hand over his dark stubble, the scratchy sound echoing in the room.  “Maybe we should destroy it.  That way Lorne will never get his hands on it.”

I shook my head.  “Not yet.  If it does have the answers he needs, it could be our only way of getting ahead of him.”

His lips thinned.  “Just keep it hidden for now and tell no one.”

No duh.

Rex sighed and brushed the hair from my face, his thumb tracing my cheekbone.  “You should get some sleep.  School is back on tomorrow.”

“I know.”  I bit my lip.  There was no way in hell I would be able to fall back asleep alone.  “Can I stay with you?”  We were supposed to be extra careful with The Council here, but to hell with it.

“Of course.”  His lips brushed a kiss on my forehead.  “Just don’t steal all the covers.”

I scoffed.  “I never do that.”

He grabbed my hand and led me toward his bed.  I was thankful there weren’t any stupid suggestions of him sleeping on the couch.  We were beyond that.  We were, after all, soulmates.

 

The buzzing of an alarm destroyed my dreamless sleep, yanking me back to the real world where monsters lived.  The biggest, baddest of them all wanted to destroy me.  And the second wanted to make me like him.

Wonderful.

A rough hand ran over my shoulder, making me notice the large, warm body curled around mine.

Rex.

“Koralein, wake up.  Classes resume today, remember?”

Of course I remembered.  Did I care?  Hell no, not while I was cuddled up in bed with the sexiest hunter alive.

“Not getting up,” I mumbled into the pillow.  “I’m skipping.”

“No, you’re not.”  Rex tried to remove his arm from beneath me, but my fingers curled around his wrists, stopping him.  “And I have to teach a class today.”

My lips puckered.  “Stay here and teach me.”  I rolled over, finding a pair of hooded brown eyes surrounded by strands of messy golden brown hair.

Could he be any hotter?

“What do you want me to teach you?” he asked with a yawn.  “You’re pretty damn good already.  We’ll have a training session in the gym before dinner.”

“I wasn’t talking about hunting.”  My fingers slipped beneath his shirt, tracing the lines along his torso.  Rex let out a hiss as his muscles jumped.  “I’m sure there are some other skills you can teach me.”

He grabbed my hand to stop my perusal.  “Koralein,” he warned.  “You’re still seventeen.”

I scoffed.  “So what?  We’re caeteras.  The goddess wants us to be together.”

It was his turn to scoff.  “Since when do you care what Aurora wants?”

“Since she decided we were soulmates.”  My hand tried to move, but he held it tightly. 

And then, without warning, he pinned me down with his body.  “You really know how to push my buttons, don’t you?”  His voice was a husky growl that made my insides tingle. 

“Yes,” I admitted, my pulse spiking.  His long body was stretched over mine, his spicy scent coating my senses.

“Well, at least you’re honest.”  Warm breath blew along my neck as his lips skimmed my skin.  I was going to melt into the bed before he even kissed me.

My fingers tangled in his hair, trying to pull his mouth toward mine.

A chuckle vibrated from his chest.  “You don’t like to be teased, do you?”

“No,” I hissed.

Rex trailed kisses along my jaw until his breath caressed my lips.  “I’ll stop teasing if you promise to be good.”

Rex didn’t want me to push things too far.  He only had so much self-control.

“Sure.”  It was the truth.  Mostly. 

His lips brushed over mine, instantly igniting a fire deep inside me.  I was totally addicted to this feeling.  I craved it.  Craved him. 

My body shuddered as his tongue caressed mine, tiny sparks of electricity crackling everywhere.  My toes curled beneath the covers, and my grip on him tightened. 

“Koralein,” he murmured against my mouth as his fingers slipped beneath my shirt, slowly tracing my ribs.  It was torture and pleasure at the same time.  His other hand curled around the back of my knee, lifting my leg and wrapping it around his waist.

A breathy moan slipped free, and colors flashed through my vision.  My control was completely shattered, and if he continued, his would be nonexistent in mere minutes.

Yes, please.

Rex’s movements changed.  His touch was firmer, his kisses deeper.  His heart crashed against his ribcage with the same frantic rhythm as mine.  Heat swirled between us, burning my flesh in a good way.  I was on fire and the only thing that could cool it was Rex. 

His body shook above mine, no longer in control.  He was becoming undone.

And then his phone rang.

Damn it to hell.

Rex buried his face in a pillow and cursed before reaching over me to retrieve his cell phone.  He grumbled at the number.  “Hi, Mom.” He took several deep breaths to calm himself.

“Rex, are you awake?” Portia’s voice streamed over the line.

“Yes.”  He rested his head on a pillow, rubbing his eyes.  He even made that look sexy.

“I went to Kory’s dorm this morning, and she wasn’t there.  Did she sneak off campus again?”

Why was she going to my dorm?

“Kory didn’t sneak off campus last night.  She’s here.”

A long pause stretched over the line.  Portia was probably silently cursing me.  “Why is she there?  Please tell me she didn’t spend the night in your room.”

“It wouldn’t be the first time.” He sighed.  “She couldn’t sleep so I told her to stay here.”

“Rex,” Portia hissed.  “That is highly inappropriate.  It doesn’t matter if you slept on the couch.  She’s your student.  Not your friend.”

What would she say if she knew he didn’t sleep on the couch?

“Mom, I’ve got it handled.  Don’t worry about it.”

“Rex, I think you and Kory need to get a little distance.”

That was the last thing we needed. Kye would use it to his advantage.

“Where’s Dad?” he asked.

“Don’t change the subject.”

Rex held back a sigh.  “I’ve got to go, Mom.  I’ll see you later.”

“Rex,” she protested. 

“Bye.  I love you.”  He hung up and glanced at me.  “I guess you heard that.”

“Why does your mom hate me?”

Rex rolled over and brushed strands of hair from my face.  “She doesn’t hate you.”

“She just thinks I’m corrupting her perfect son.”

He laughed.  “She doesn’t understand like my father.  If she really believed we were caeteras, things would be different.  She’ll come around though.”

“If you say so.”  I sat up and flung the covers off.  “I better get dressed.  I’m sure she’s marching over here right now.”