Page 47 of Devastation
“But you don’t want me,” Willow stated. Her tone hinted at something, but Jase couldn’t quite grasp what yet.
“Would you want your mate to be of a race that had destroyed and tortured your brothers and sisters? No. Would you wish to live with someone whose kind is destroying your world like they are mine? I’ve seen too much death and destruction, Willow, caused by your people. Did you think you were the only intelligent race on this planet?
“Humans weren’t; there were others before them. Those who fled and hid behind magic because of the human threat. Humankind has no tolerance for people of different coloured skin of their own race. What would they do when confronted by vampires or werewolves?” Jase asked.
“They exist?” Willow gasped. “No, I don’t believe it.”
“You just swam with Sea Dragons,” Jase pointed out, and Willow’s mouth dropped open and then closed.
“Damn, what am I missing?” Willow wondered.
“A lot,” Jase chuckled.
“Apparently so. You really hate humans,” Willow said.
“Yes. Without humans, other races would reclaim and share the world again. Humans were created by God in our image, irrelevant of who already lived here. I suppose someone could call it ego, but God believed humans would be the balance between the races. Initially, they were fine until the Sins arose. Then God removed the Sins and locked them up.
“And the Utopia he’d imagined took shape. Humans did become what he had envisioned. Until he was betrayed by one. Pandora. And then the Sins turned the humans back to their original personalities. The main thing to remember is these Sins weren’t born of God or his people. They were born of humans, and envy was the first and oldest sin. From that, the other Sins emerged.”
“We lack so much knowledge,” Willow confessed.
“Humankind doesn’t want to. How would your governments react to the truth? They war upon their own race easily enough. Give them a common target? The Vampires or someone else? They’d blow this world to smithereens.”
“Considering the individuals in power in influential nations, it’s highly likely they would. It is a scary idea. You think we’ll kill ourselves,” Willow stated.
“No, I know humans would commit genocide. Because the Sins are so far out of control, it’s unbelievable. The other races are helping each other, shoring up their magical walls and their boundaries. Once a nuclear war happens, they’ll make their move. Surviving humans will be gathered and confined to an island as we restore the world. Humankind will do it itself in because they don’t listen to the wise amongst them. It is a tragic and sad fact,” Jase said.
“Will your people survive?”
“Yes, and our mates, because we would have shared DNA. We can only be killed one way.”
“Head cut off and heart cut out, and all three parts burned,” Willow murmured. “What happens if the head is severed but not burned? And why would you tell me that?”
“Because you have the right to know. You’re my mate. In time, you’ll only be able to be murdered the same way. And should we be only beheaded, we can re-attach our head, but it is a rather nasty process,” Jase explained as he finally sat next to her.
Willow shifted in the sand and faced him.
“But you don’t want me as your mate, and I don’t want you. What happens next?” Willow questioned, and Jase noted the tremble in her tone.
“It’s not that I don’t want you, Willow. I desperately want a mate. I just didn’t want a human.”
“Because you despise us,” Willow murmured in a tiny voice.
“Wouldn’t you?” Jase asked gently.
“No. I probably would not forgive or help them out. However, I understand people differ. Like your people, I could judge them all as monsters, but I understand they aren’t. Now I know the truth, I can see what they have suffered. So no, Jase, I wouldn’t hate your entire race for the sins of a few,” Willow argued.
“And what if I told you Hunters murdered your great-great-grandmother? She gave birth to your great-grandmother and was hunted and killed by Hunters. And why? Because your family was what we call Saviours. Friends to Legendary Shifters. You are a threat to Hunters, just like us. Because you’re pure-hearted, the Sins might touch you briefly, but they roll off you like water off a duck’s back. The Sins can’t get a grip on a Saviour, so in the humans they inhabit, they drive them to find and kill Saviours. Because an untainted heart is a true danger to them,” Jase said. He didn’t bother to couch it gently. Willow needed to understand what she was up against.
“I can’t deal with that. That’s an information overload. I can only handle one thing at once. What do you want to do? At first, you wanted to break the bond, but now you’re saying keep it. Which is it, Jase?” Willow demanded. She leaned away from him as if bracing for a blow.
“I’ll never harm you. You will always be safe around me,” Jase said, reaching for her hand.
Willow yanked it back as she eyed him suspiciously.
“I want my mate, Willow.”
“How do we mate; does it involve sex?” Willow asked.