Aimee swallowed as fear ran rampant through her. Maybe she shouldn't tell him. What if he rejected her just based on that alone? Arcadians had killed his sister. Granted they hadn't fired the Taser that ended her life, but she would have died anyway because they killed her mate.
He'd shoved her away before. He might this time too and this time he would have the power to destroy her.
Oh, gods, she wanted to vomit. This was something she couldn't even tell her own mother or father. Yet he had a right to know. It wasn't fair to keep this from him. . . .
Taking a deep breath, she looked up at him. "I'm one too."
Fang pulled away to look at her as those words rang in his ears. No. It wasn't possible. Surely he'd have known if she was one like her brothers. How could she have fooled him so completely?
"What?"
He saw the fear in that clear blue gaze that didn't waver at all from his. "I'm Arcadian. Like Vane, I changed at puberty. It's something I've never told anyone in my life. Not even my family knows."
"Why would you tell me?"
Her eyes turned glassy from restrained tears as she showed him the Sentinel markings on her own face. "I just thought you should know what you're involved with."
Fang cupped her cheek where the ancient Greek design spiraled, marking her as one of the most hated groups to his kind. He saw the fear in her eyes and the fact that she would trust him with this . . .
She did love him. She'd have to because only a fool with a death wish would lay this in the hands of a Katagari who knew how Nicolette Peltier felt about Arcadians. The fact that Aimee had kept it from her mother said it all.
Aimee had laid herself completely naked and open to him. No wonder she was trembling.
"You know it doesn't matter to me."
Aimee choked on a sob as she pulled him into her arms and held him close. "You have no idea how scared I've been all these centuries. I think it's why I've been so afraid to even attempt mating with a Katagari. Can you imagine what they might do to me if they find out?"
Kill her at best. Mutilate her at worst. She was right, it wasn't something to be shared lightly. "You were brave to tell me."
"I trust you that much, wolf."
"And I will never betray that trust. I swear it."
Aimee felt a single tear slide down her cheek. Fang brushed it away.
The tenderness in his eyes melted her. He wouldn't betray her, she knew that. But it still couldn't bind them. This was the most hopeless relationship ever devised by the gods.
"So where does this leave us?" she whispered, too terrified to even contemplate an answer on her own.
His look turned to steel. "Come away with me. Just the two of us. Let's forget about all the differences and prejudices. Let's just leave and be together."
How she wished it were that simple. But it wasn't. "I can't do that, Fang. My brothers died protecting me. But for Bastien, I would never have learned to use my powers. He tutored me when I couldn't trust anyone else. Now I'm the only one who can train Kyle to use his. And Maman would be shattered to lose me too. I'm her only hope at maintaining our legacy. The Peltiers have been on the Omegrion since the beginning. You know how rare that is."
His look turned cold. "Is that really more important to you than me?"
"No, but you can't make me choose between you and my family."
Fang winced as he realized she was right. He was being selfish. "Yeah. It was a stupid idea."
And he was a fool for thinking, even for a second, that she would put him over them. No one had ever done that before. Why should she?
His heart broken, he pulled away. "We better finish cleaning up. As you said, I don't want Nicolette yelling at you."
Aimee watched as he returned to stacking chairs. She'd hurt him and she wasn't sure how. But she could tell there was a wall between them that hadn't been there earlier.
When they were finished, she led the way upstairs. She paused outside his room. "Good night, Fang."
"You too." He didn't even look at her before he vanished and left her in the hallway.