"Ah, yes, your good friend Ava. The only one you could count on, right?" He nods. "Well, as it turns out, she gave me a reading once, quite a good one too I might say, and well, we kept in touch. You know she practically fled town the moment you left? Took all the elixir too. Left Damen alone in this room, vulnerable, defenseless, just waiting for me. Didn't even stick around long enough to see if your little theory was true—figuring you were long gone, so, either way, you'd never know the difference. You know, you really should be more careful about who you trust, Ever. You shouldn't be so naive."

I swallow hard and shrug. There's nothing I can do about it now. I can't take it back, I can't change the past, the only thing I can change now is what happens next.

"Oh, and I loved how you kept peering at my wrist, searching for my Ouroboros tattoo." He laughs. "Little did you realize we wear them wherever we choose, so I chose my neck."

I stand there silently, hoping to hear more. Damen didn't even know there were immortal rogues until Drina went bad.

"I started it." He nods, his right hand over his heart. "I'm the founding father of the Immortal Rogue tribe. While it's true that your friend Damen gave us all the first drink, when the effects began to wear off, he left us to age and wither, refusing to give us more."

I shrug and roll my eyes. Granting someone over a century's worth of living is hardly what I'd call selfish.

"And that's when I started experimenting, learning from the world's greatest alchemists until I'd surpassed Damen's work."

"You call that a triumph? Turning evil? Taking and giving life at will? Playing God?"

"I do what I have to." He shrugs, inspecting his nails. "At least I didn't leave the remaining orphans to shrivel. Unlike Damen, I cared enough to track them down and save them. And yeah, every now and then I recruit someone new. Though I assure you there's no harm done to the innocent, only to those who deserve it,"

Our eyes meet, but I quickly look away. Damen and I should've seen this coming, shouldn't have assumed Drina was the end.

"So imagine my surprise when I show up here only to find this—little—urchin—huddling with Damen in her little magick circle, while her creepy twin runs around town, trying to piece an antidote together before nightfall." Roman laughs. "Quite a successful search too, I might add. You should've waited, Ever. You shouldn't have broken the circle. Those two deserve far more credit than you were willing to give them, but then, as I said, you do have a tendency to trust the wrong ones. Anyway, meanwhile back at the bungalow, I just kicked around here, waiting for you to show up and break the protective seal, like I knew you would."

"Why?" I gaze at Damen, then over at Rayne, still huddled in the corner, too frightened to move. "What difference does it make?"

"Well, it is what killed him." He shrugs. "He could've lived for days had you not broken through like that. Lucky for you I had the antidote on hand to bring him back. And even though there's a price, a huge hefty price, what's done is done, right? And now there's no going back. No. Going. Back. You understand that better than any of us now, don't you?"

"Enough," I say, my hands curled into fists.

Thinking I should get rid of him now, eliminate him for good. I mean, Damen's safe, Roman's not needed, so what harm could it do? Except that I can't. It's not right. I mean, Damen is safe. And I can't just go eliminating people just because I deem them no good. I can't abuse my power that way. Much is expected to those given much, and all that. I relax my fists, unfolding my fingers as he says, "That's a wise choice. You don't want to do anything too rash, even though soon you'll be tempted. Because you see, Ever, while Damen's going to be fine, perfectly fine and healthy and basically everything you could ever want him to be, I'm afraid that's just going to make it all the more difficult when you realize you can never be together."

I look at him, my fingers shaking, my eyes blazing, refusing to believe him Damen's going to live—I'm going to live—so what could possibly keep us apart?

"Don't believe me?" He shrugs. "Fine, go ahead, consummate your love and find out. It's not like I care. My loyalties to Damen ended centuries ago. So I'll have absolutely no qualms when you jump his bones and he ends up dead." He smiles, his eyes right on mine, and when he sees the incredulous look on my face, his smile grows into a laugh. A laugh so large it reaches toward the ceiling and shakes the walls of this room, before it settles all around us like a blanket of doom. "Have I ever lied to you, Ever? Go ahead, think about it. I'll wait. Haven't I been truthful all along? Oh, sure I may have saved a few of the smaller, insignificant details for last, which, though it may be quite naughty of me, really does add to the fun. But now, it seems we've come to the point of full disclosure, so I'd like to make it clear, crystal clear, that the two of you can never be together. No DNA exchange whatsoever. And in case you still don't get what that means, then allow me to spell it out by stating that no bodily fluids of any kind may ever be exchanged. And just in case you need a translation of that, well, it means you can't kiss, lick, spit into each other's mouths, share each other's elixir—oh, and of course, you also can't do what's yet to be done. Hell, you can't even cry on his shoulder over the fact that you can't do what's yet to be done. In short, you can't do anything. Or at least not with each other. Because if you do, Damen will die."