Coveted [New/Revised Version]

DESTRUCTION OF THE DRAW

     Valentine's palms were flat against the cool stone of his balcony's balustrade as he looked out into the autumn night. The air around him was silent and calm. The only sounds were the beating of his heart and Sky's down the hall. He bit the inside of his cheek when the day's previous events reran in his mind. They were so close to ending it all. So close then Zairian had to go and become insusceptible to decapitation.

The Terminator of villains, his mind whispered.

Valentine dragged in a long breath, almost like he had when he saw Iris decapitate Zairian. Of course, he cared for her wellbeing but he had an ulterior motive. He came to the realization the more time he spent around her, the more he was drawn to her.

The more he wanted her.

Every compulsion training session together was torture. Veneers weren't his forte. He was used to feeling all that he was in that moment and expressing it. However, it couldn't be that way with her. She was a witch, a hunter, and Coveted. She was a walking time bomb that would only burn him to the heart when she went off. So he focused on everything but the pull they had toward each other. He focused on the task entrusted to him—teaching her.

She was an excellent student and a quick study. He still couldn't decide if that should make him happy or not. If their sessions were about to conclude soon enough. Did he want them to? No. Yes. No?

"Oh hell," Valentine groaned, hanging his head low.

Moments like these he was grateful Anna couldn't feel him as strongly as he felt her through their bond. Actually, he managed to suppress a good majority of his own emotions from leaking through. Emotions he knew would hurt her and it was wrong. All of it. It was a betrayal to her but he couldn't help it.

The effect Iris had on him that was instantaneous and intense—incontestable. Yet, it didn't matter. He didn't want it to. Whatever the case may be, he was with Anna. He had her so he shouldn't desire something else with another he'd never attain. At least, he repeated that mantra every time he saw her—was with Anna instead.

Valentine lifted his head and peered out into the darkness again. Zairian had to die. Not just for Iris but for him and Anna too. Once he was out of the picture, there would be no reason for him and Sky to have a part in the witch's life. Iris would go on and forget about them and them about her. It would be an adventure to reminisce about in the distant future out of sheer boredom.

As for he and Anna... well, Valentine didn't know. It only grew more complex with Iris around. She clouded his mind and he couldn't even let that show. Couldn't let anyone see how utterly enraptured he was whenever she got riled up or smiled. Those were a rare sight these days—Iris's smiles. Rare and positively Heaven.

He shook his head. No, he couldn't be trekking down this line of thinking. He had Anna and they had approximately a year to figure out their relationship. A year before Sky started his wild goose chase up again. He briefly considered whether he was forcing it with Anna.

No, there was no way. What he felt for her was so strong. Or was it what she felt for him? Sometimes, it got too confusing. All their feelings intertwined as one.

It was one of the reasons he was so reluctant to let her go. Without Anna, he was nothing. A broken half to a whole. She offset his better half in a way he would have never imagined. The more they were together, the more in control he became.

He hadn't had a single slip up since strengthening their connection and didn't need to feed as much. She provided him with stability with her presence. Iris, on the other hand, unhinged him. She made him reckless and irrational. He couldn't count the times he came close to killing her on all of his fingers.