Beth merely grunted at that. It still annoyed her to think of the way he’d interfered in her being an Enforcer over the years.
“So, he must know,” Matias decided, and then frowned and said, “But if so, why has he not yet claimed you? Most immortals would have claimed you right away, yet he has not.”
When he peered toward her in question, Beth lowered her head and concentrated on petting Chico as she finally gave in to the truth. Scotty had known they were life mates for over a century and done nothing about it. There was only one reason she could think of for that, and it was both simple and obvious.
“If I had to guess, I would say because he doesn’t like me,” she said softly.
“What?” Matias shook his head and blew a raspberry. “Impossible! You are beautiful, and charming and strong and smart! You are a goddess among women!”
“And yet he doesn’t want me,” Beth said wearily. “He hasn’t claimed me and usually, at least until this visit, he’s been cold as a witch’s tit to me.”
“I have not seen this cold tit,” Matias assured her solemnly. “In fact, I would say from the looks I have seen him give you that the witch’s tit is on fire.”
“Yes, well, that’s only this time,” she assured him. “In the past he treated me like I had the plague. He even wanted to have my mind wiped in a three-on-one.”
“What?” Matias’s eyes widened incredulously and she couldn’t blame him. A three-on-one was when three immortals worked together to invade and eradicate another immortal’s memories. They erased each memory over and over again to prevent the nanos repairing them, until the individual was as blank as a clean chalkboard. It was a drastic measure, used as a last resort.
“Yes,” Beth assured him firmly. “When he and his men saved us from Jamieson, he pulled Dree aside and said the Council would want me put down, but he thought I should be given the three-on-one and have my mind wiped,” she told him. “In fact, if not for Dree, I’m sure he would have done it. But she refused to allow it and got us on a boat headed for Spain that very night.”
“Thank God for Drina,” Matias said with a shake of the head. “I cannot imagine life without you in it as . . . well, as you.”
“Apparently, that’s what Scotty would have preferred, though,” Beth whispered miserably.
Matias’s mouth tightened. “Well, screw him and the cow he rode in on. He is out of luck. We will find you another life mate, and Scotty can go wipe someone else’s mind to have a pickle for a mate.”
Beth’s lips twitched at the words. “A pickle?”
“Well, what do you think is the result of a three-on-one?” he asked grimly.
She shook her head. “Marguerite Argeneau’s husband did a three-on-one on her, and I’m quite sure he didn’t wipe all her memories, leaving her a pickle.”
“Then she is lucky. From what I understand, that is very hard to do. It is easier to just wipe the memory completely, and when that happens, the person is no longer themselves. They are a tabula rasa. A blank slate. Their personality gone.” Matias snorted and added, “That is probably what he wanted, a blank slate to turn into whatever he wishes.”
“Or just a woman who wasn’t a prostitute as a mortal,” Beth said quietly.
Matias turned on her sharply. “That was not your choice. He cannot blame you for that,” he said with outrage. “Your father sold you to those disgusting purveyors of flesh! And they in turn sold you to Danny after your chastity was stolen.”
“But I stayed in the business after Dree killed Danny and I was free,” she pointed out solemnly. Matias had known her life history for years. He’d asked her and she’d told him. Beth didn’t hide it. Secrets were never a good thing. They tended to give others power over you if they learned of them. Besides, she wasn’t ashamed of her history. At least, she hadn’t thought she was. But now she wondered if she shouldn’t be.
Sighing, Beth leaned back against the headboard and closed her eyes. It was far too early in the day to have to deal with this. Or was it? Opening her eyes, she turned to her cousin and asked, “What time is it?”
“Nearly two o’clock,” Matias answered, and then raised his eyebrows. “Since you are awake, can I take you to breakfast?”
“Breakfast?” she asked with interest.
“It will get you away from the house and . . . him,” he said apologetically. “And it will give you a chance to clear your head.”
Beth smiled crookedly and shrugged. “That’s not necessary, Matias. I’ll be fine. I mean, I’m not the one who’s been running around aware that we’re life mates all this time. I thought I just had the lusties for him, so didn’t become emotionally involved. I’ll just continue to think of him that way.”
“Lusties?” Matias asked with amusement.
“That’s what Mary and I used to call it when we were attracted to a man,” she said with a small smile that faded as she recalled her friend Mary’s fate. These last ten years since the arrival of Ruff in her life, Beth had made a practice of finding the bright side of every event. For Mary, she’d told herself that at least her friend enjoyed a couple of years of her retirement before Jamieson had killed her, that at least her death had been quick. It might not seem like much, but Beth knew it was. She’d seen many mortals die slowly over the last century, fading away, suffering terribly over a long period of time as they struggled to live a life that no longer offered them anything but the pain of cancer or some other ailment. She was glad Mary hadn’t had to go through that.
“I will take the dogs and go so that you can dress,” Matias said and started to get off the bed, only to pause and turn to hug her tightly. “You are a good woman, Beth. If he cannot see that and accept you the way you are, it is his loss.”
“Thank you,” she murmured, hugging him back. “And you’re the best cousin a girl could ask for, Matias. The day Dree and her brother welcomed me into your family was the luckiest of my life.”
Matias squeezed her a little tighter, and then released her and got up.
“Chico, Piper, come,” he ordered, patting his hip as he headed for the door. The dogs immediately leapt off the bed and followed him out into the hall.
Nine
The moment the door closed behind Matias and the dogs, Beth threw her covers aside and got up as well. But then she just stood there, momentarily overwhelmed by all she’d learned. She was a possible life mate for Scotty, but he didn’t want her. How deep must his loathing be that he would pass up the chance of a life mate just because she was that life mate?
Wow. She had lived fifty years as a mortal, and only one hundred and twenty-five more as an immortal. That wasn’t even a quarter of his life, but Beth would have jumped at the chance of a life mate. Yet he didn’t want her.
For a moment anger and pain tried to drag at her, but she pushed it away and took a deep breath. As Matias had said, it was Scotty’s loss. She was a good woman, and she would make a good life mate . . . to someone else.
“They should have dating sites for immortals,” she muttered under her breath as she dragged a fresh pair of jeans out of her bag and began to pull them on. Maybe she’d start one. She could hire Marguerite, or someone like her, to interview all the immortals who joined and match them up.
Or maybe young Stephanie, Beth thought as she tugged off her overlarge T-shirt and then grabbed a bra from the bag and donned it. Drina said the kid had some skills in that area. Hell, she could hire both of them and halve the work for each. And she could call it iHarmony for Immortal Harmony.
The thought made her grin as she pulled on a clean T-shirt, but Beth shook her head. That sounded too much like an Apple product.
Immortally Yours, maybe? That one wasn’t bad. She’d have to think about it. Actually, she didn’t know why someone else hadn’t thought of it already. There were so many lonely immortals out there, waiting for a life mate.
Shaking her head, Beth rooted through the bag she’d collected from the bathroom on her way to her room last night and gathered her weapons belt and the small arsenal of weapons she’d brought with her. She made short work of fastening the belt around her waist and quickly filling all the custom holders. Her sword, knives, and a dart gun were quickly tucked away, and then she headed for the door, mentally preparing herself to face Scotty now that she knew the man was aware of the dreams she had about him.