InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 5: Phantasm ❯ Sydnie's Request ( Chapter 42 )

~*~*~*~*~*~Lemon warning~*~*~*~*~*~

 

There is no clean version of this chapter. You've been warned.

 

-OoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoOoO-

 

~~Chapter 42~~

~Sydnie's Request~

 

Sydnie slipped out of the bathroom and shivered slightly. Stretched out on the bed without his shirt, Bas was staring at the ceiling. He'd wrapped his bicep with a clean bandage while she was bathing, and the lacerations on his neck seemed to be healing nicely. Slipping onto the edge of the bed, Sydnie drew up her legs and held onto her ankles, resting her chin on her knees.

 

“So you called him?” she finally asked, breaking the silence.

 

Bas sighed and nodded absently, letting his gaze linger on the ceiling before slowly shifting his eyes to the side, pinning her with a serious expression. “Yeah.”

 

“And?”

 

Bas pushed himself up on his elbows, grimacing as his injured arms contested the movement. “And he said that Jeb Christopher was the last . . .”

 

Trying to ignore the sense of giddy relief that surged through her, Sydnie closed her eyes for a moment and pressed her hand to her chest. Hard to fathom, the idea that there would be no more bounty hunters coming after her—coming after them. She wouldn't have to sit back and watch as Bas fought to protect her. Standing so tall, so strong, legs askew, clutching the cumbersome youkai blade . . . hair blowing around him as the fiercest light blazed in his eyes . . . in those moments, she'd seen it, hadn't she? She'd borne witness to the future tai-youkai, and she understood why he'd always grumbled about people finding him intimidating. She wasn't intimidated, exactly, but the unmistakable pride that surged through her was something that had taken her breath away, and she understood at last, this thing he had been trying to tell her.

 

“I'll protect you, kitty . . .”

 

No, it was more than that, wasn't it? It wasn't simply that Bas was obligated to protect her because he was ordered to bring her in. He protected her because he felt compelled to do so, just as she had felt compelled to take the hit from Jeb's energy blast, to save Sebastian and to give him a few precious seconds to recover his composure . . .

 

The tears on his face, the misery writ in the depths of his gaze . . . Sydnie had hated to see that. The proud hunter she knew so well, reduced to quiet tears as recrimination dug at his very soul because of her . . . all because of her . . .

 

`Mates,' she mused, the heat of a light blush suffusing her cheeks at the mere thought of being with Bas. `He's said it, hasn't he? But he can't . . . he really, really can't . . .'

 

`He could be . . . you could be . . . He wants to help you. He said his father understood why you did why you did. It might not make it right, but given the circumstances, don't you think it is something that you can be forgiven? Bas believes . . . Bas believes in you.'

 

Sydnie scooted closer to Bas, slowly, hesitantly lifting her hand to push his bangs out of his eyes. He looked so lost in thought that she had to wonder whether or not he realized that she was touching him at all. “What are you thinking about, Bas the Hunter?”

 

He blinked and shook his head to clear his gaze as he forced a half-smile. “The last group of hunters . . . how'd you get rid of them?”

 

Shifting uneasily, she shrugged and tried for a nonchalant air. “I told you, puppy: I scared them away with your sword.”

 

He narrowed his eyes, regarding her carefully for several minutes before slowly nodding. “Really.”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You could barely heft it over your shoulder,” he pointed out reasonably enough.

 

“Maybe,” she agreed carelessly. “Call it adrenaline.”

 

“Why do I get the feeling that you don't want to tell me what happened after I was knocked out?” he asked, stroking her hair with an idle hand.

 

Sydnie smoothed the dark green comforter and shrugged. “Isn't it enough that I got you away from there?”

 

Bas heaved a sigh and sat up. “Thing is, if there are still some of the Onyx still around, I'm not so sure you are safe. Just because their leader was killed doesn't mean that they won't still want the paycheck.”

 

She grimaced at his choice of words and bit her bottom lip. Lying to him didn't sit well with her, but telling him the truth just wasn't something she could do, either. For reasons she didn't understand, the hanyous who had been following them didn't seem to want Bas to know of their presence. Though she was almost certain that they were family—his grandfather and uncle, she supposed—they'd made it clear in their actions that they didn't want her to tell Sebastian anything at all. “We're safe here, though, aren't we?”

 

Gazing around the room, Bas slowly nodded. “As safe as we can be,” he allowed. “My father's house . . . my father's land . . . then again, Jeb found a way in, didn't he?”

 

Sydnie nodded. “What about that?”

 

“Dad said that he thinks Jeb must have killed the guards at the back gate. Anyway, there are a couple new ones in place now. Don't worry, okay?”

 

Sydnie stood up, restlessly pacing the floor. The lump on her head still ached, but she felt much better after Bas had finally left her alone to sleep for awhile. Waking her up every couple hours, he'd been so gentle with her that despite the irritation of the interruptions, she hadn't been too upset with him. It had been obvious to her that he was simply concerned, and that concern was enough to temper her irritation over the disturbances. Wandering over to the small desk near the windows, Sydnie picked up the football off the stand that held it upright. “You've even got a football on your desk?”

 

He stood up and came to her, turning the football in her hands so that she could see the scrawled signatures on the reddish-brown pigskin. “Not just any football, kitty. This one was signed by most of the Bears after they won the Super Bowl a few years ago.”

 

“Oh, so it's a special ball.”

 

“Yep, a very special one.”

 

She let him take it from her and watched him carefully set it back in place. “You're such a funny puppy,” she decided.

 

Bas made a face and shrugged, his expression darkening as his brow furrowed in a show of grim determination. “I told Dad, you know.”

 

Sydnie shot him a curious glance. “Told him what?”

 

“That you're my mate.”

 

“Sebastian—”

 

He shot her a stubborn glower—a no-nonsense, `Don't-Fuck-With-Me' sort of expression. “No, Sydnie, I mean it. You're the one—the only one, no matter what you say, you know it's true.”

 

“I know you want it to be true,” she said softly, unable to meet his gaze. “You understand, right? They'll never let us be together . . . I'm not good enough for you, even if I wanted to be.”

 

Glowering at her for a moment, Bas clenched his teeth so tightly that his jaw ticked. He opened his mouth to say something, but must have thought better of it. Whipping around on his heel, he stomped over to grab the cell phone, dialing a number and holding the device to his ear as he stared at her out of the corner of his eye.

 

“It's me,” he said tersely, crossing his free arm over his chest. “Yeah, everything's fine . . . I was wondering . . . those pictures of Mom? The ones you sketched before you were married? Yeah . . . can you send those to me? E-mail's fine . . . something like that. Thanks, Dad.”

 

Snapping the phone closed, he dropped it back onto the nightstand before brushing past Sydnie to boot the laptop on his desk.

 

“What pictures?” she asked as he flopped down in the desk chair.

 

“Proof.”

 

“Proof?”

 

“Yeah, proof. Proof that I'm right. Proof that no one is going to tell you that you can't be with me.”

 

Sydnie rubbed her arms while Bas opened up his email. It didn't take more than a minute for him to open the pictures his father had sent. “Look.”

 

Scowling at his no-nonsense tone, Sydnie leaned to the side to take a look. What she saw made her grimace, and she couldn't help the harsh little sound that escaped her. She recognized Bas' mother's face from the paintings and pictures she'd seen, but the frail little hanyou in the sketches didn't seem like the woman at all. Cheeks sunken, body wasted away, she didn't resemble the smiling mother in the pictures. Bas wasn't looking at the images. Staring at her, willing her to acknowledge what he was trying to tell her, Bas' gaze didn't leave Sydnie's face. She blinked and shook her head, not wanting to understand what it meant.

 

The pictures—sketches, really—were hideous, frightening. The painful thinness of her hands . . . the gauntness of her face . . . she looked completely lost in the folds of the blankets that covered her bed; this tiny being—Sebastian's mother. “Sebastian? But they were mates, right?” she murmured.

 

Bas shook his head slowly and heaved a long sigh. “No . . . See, Dad almost lost her before they were real mates. He thought he owed his life to his first wife because she'd died having my half-sister, Belle. Mom didn't tell him that her youkai blood had chosen him, and Dad . . . didn't really know how it worked. His parents died when he was young, and no one really explained all that to him. See . . . All my life, I've been told to listen to my youkai. It doesn't matter if you argue it or not. In order for me to know that you're my mate, you've got to know it, too. There's no choice involved. Don't you see?”

 

“But . . . I . . .”

 

He shook his head; poked a finger at the images as he slowly let out a deep breath and glowered at her. “Sydnie . . . I don't want this to happen to you. Please, baby . . . can you understand?”

 

“You're going to be the next tai-youkai . . . you should be with someone who's all the things I'm not.”

 

He caught her hands and gently pulled her into his lap, locking his arms around her waist and kissing her forehead as he held her close. “I think you're everything I'm not,” he mumbled. “You're my kitty.”

 

She leaned away from him to stare into his eyes. Begging her to listen to him; pleading with her to understand, there was something else in his gaze; something far more frightening than she could credit. He was daring her to hope, wasn't he? Willing her to understand that maybe it would be okay to dream.

 

And yet . . .

 

Swallowing hard, she pursed her lips together and cupped his face in her hands. “I'm a murderer, Sebastian. I can't change that.”

 

“You're not a murderer, Sydnie.”

 

“And I have to do it again.”

 

“Not if you give me the other name.”

 

She shook her head, closing her eyes, struggling desperately not to cry. “No one will let you be with a murderer.”

 

“Do you think my father has never killed anyone? Or my uncle, Sesshoumaru—the Inu no Taisho . . . the old man has killed countless youkai—even my grandmother has! Uncle Ryomaru is a youkai hunter, and I . . .” he trailed off with a rueful smile, “I've killed, too. Do you think I'm a murderer? Do you think they are?”

 

“That's different . . . you were doing what you needed to do, right?”

 

“It's no different. You were doing what you needed to do, too. Thing is . . . you never should have had to do that, in the first place. It was my father's job to protect you . . . and it is mine, too. Let me do that? Let me protect you?”

 

Grimacing at the gentle pleading in his voice, Sydnie slipped onto his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck as she buried her face against his shoulder. “Stop talking?” she pleaded quietly. “Please . . . please don't talk anymore.”

 

“I'm sorry, baby,” he told her, holding her close, rocking her gently as the chair creaked in an entirely soothing way. “You have to understand,” he pressed. “You have to listen to me . . .”

 

She gripped his shirt, claws poking through the thin fabric to stab the palms of her tight fists. “I'll stay with you,” she agreed, trying not to think about just what she was promising. “I'll stay with you if . . . if they'll let me.”

 

He seemed to relax then, his body slouching in the chair as a sense of overwhelming relief infiltrated his system. Nuzzling her cheek, kissing her time and again, he murmured things that she didn't really hear. Fighting for control over the overwhelming sense of fear that she couldn't ignore, Sydnie squeezed her eyes closed, concentrating on the feel of his lips, the warmth of his embrace. As if she could take his power, his resolve, and make it her own, she tried not to dwell on the things that she couldn't understand. Future tai-youkai . . . hunter . . . lover . . . he was all those things, wasn't he? And yet he meant so much more to her, as well . . . Losing him . . . Sydnie whimpered.

 

Gently rubbing her back, he held her impossibly close—closer than his own heartbeat. “Stay with me,” he whispered, his lips brushing over her temple in the softest of caresses. Bas trembled under her fingertips; his body seized by emotion that she was starting to understand. In that moment, that instant, he was as afraid as she was—frightened of losing something so very precious that the very thought was enough to wring a gasp, a sob as Sydnie squeezed her eyes closed a little tighter.

 

“I . . .” She trailed off, leaning away far enough so that she could look into his eyes, studying his face, imploring him to give her the reassurance that she so desperately needed. `Beautiful things . . .' she thought fleetingly, dizzily, `they can't last . . . can they?'

 

A million emotions were there in the depths of his gaze. The ferocity that she knew so well . . . the intuitive belief that he belonged with her . . . even his compelling desire to protect her . . . it was all there, wasn't it? Lost in the flickering burn of something far headier, Bas' golden eyes seemed to penetrate her very skull, leaving her stripped bare, bleeding, raw . . . and yet completely cosseted and sheltered, too.

 

Slowly, he brought his hands up, cradling her face in his palms. He was asking her, wasn't he? Demanding answers to questions that she wasn't sure if she could answer. Too long a time spent alone, maybe . . . too many nights spent in shadows and fear . . . and somehow Bas had driven the demons back into the recesses of the darkness, hadn't he? Somehow, he'd managed to set her free . . .

 

Sydnie uttered a low whimper, a quiet entreaty. Bas nodded just a little, stroking her cheeks with the pads of his thumbs. He understood her, didn't he? Knew her better than she knew herself . . . It didn't have to make sense. In her heart, she knew . . .

 

His lips were gentle on hers; a loving touch, a whisper, a flutter of breath. The image of him, of his tears, flickered to life—a poignant memory . . . something she'd rather not remember. Bas kissed her with a restrained tenderness, a hesitance that cut her deep down. There was something entirely beautiful in his touch; a swell of feeling that transcended the physical. Unable to lend voice to the tide of emotion that rose inside her, Sydnie slipped her arms around her neck, held him tight, kissed him back with all the feeling that she just couldn't put into words.

 

Her actions lent him the reassurance he had needed, and he moaned softly, deepening the kiss with an urgency that she felt in the depths of her soul. Her lips parted, his tongue tracing the contours of her teeth, accepting the caress of his tongue. Reverberations shot through her, giving rise to a conflagrant heat that surged and welled, a throb of need tempered by the fanciful wish to show him the things that she wanted to tell him.

 

Sydnie leaned against him, her flesh erupting in a riot of goose bumps, as though her skin were trying to reach out for his touch. His hands slid down her shoulders, her sides, slipping under the hem of her tank top, pushing it up with agonizing slowness, the heat of his hands scalding her. She leaned away long enough to lift her arms over her head. The stretchy fabric slipped over her breasts. They sprang free, the cooler air welcome on her overheated skin. Bas groaned as he tugged the shirt off her and dropped it onto the floor. Sydnie shifted her weight, straddled his thighs, her legs dangling by his sides, tips of her toes brushing the thick carpet below.

 

Slipping his arms around her to offer support, he lowered his mouth over her hardened nipple. The consuming heat of his ardent attention wrenched a loud moan from her, and she let her head fall back, her arms encircling his neck. Pure sensation surged through her, culminating in a tumultuous ache as Bas' tongue bathed her flesh, the insistent draw of his desire reaching out to her, willing her to submit to him.

 

She held onto him, clung to him as he continued his slow inspection. His touch was electric, shooting straight through her to the throbbing pulse that was growing stronger by the second, the startling burn that plagued her. He kissed his way between the peaks of her breasts, suckling the flesh, teeth grazing over her sensitized skin as she shivered in his arms. He growled low in his throat, the predatory sound of the inu-youkai—a sound only ever heard by the youkai's mate. Sydnie mewled softly, the noise more of an instinct than a conscious thought. Bas must have understood it, his growl escalating into a far more visceral snarl. His erection pressed against her, rubbed her through the flimsy barrier of her panties. His jeans chafed her inner thighs, unforgiving fabric harsh yet somehow welcome. Undulating her hips, grinding her pelvis against him, she panted for breath as Bas groaned out loud. “I want you,” he mumbled, his voice husky, rasping.

 

Struggling for a semblance of control, Sydnie forced her eyes half open, her gaze alight with a smoldering burn. “What are you waiting for?” she purred back.

 

His answer was another predatory growl as his mouth descended on hers again. Fierce, demanding, he was relentless, taking no prisoners as he took then gave, his kiss unrelenting, his need feeding hers. Crushing her against his body, he gasped as her scent filled the air, the rise of passion in the gathering dusk.

 

The dizzying flow that precluded her thoughts left her mind reeling. The taste of him, the feel of his hands gliding over her back . . . those things culminated in her mind, swelling into the insistent demand for something much more intoxicating, much more necessary than breath. He scooped her up, carried her to the bed. She uttered a proprietary little growl when he relinquished his hold on her to step away.

 

She opened her eyes, scowling at the wide expanse of his back as Bas rifled through the suitcase for a condom. Reveling in the way his muscles moved just below the surface of his skin, she rose up on her knees, pushing her panties down before dropping back and lifting her legs to finish removing the last of her clothes. Bas turned in time to see her lower her legs, her knees bent, feet askew. Slowly, deliberately, she let her knees fall open, and her breath caught as the heightened glow in his eyes ignited in a haze of fire and light. He stared unabashed at her, gazed at the secretive folds of moist skin and shadows. He stumbled toward the bed, the condom slipping from his slack fingers as he fell to his knees, grabbing her ankles and jerking her toward him. He let go of her long enough to slip his hands under her bottom, lifting her pelvis off the bed as the back of her legs rested on his shoulders, her feet flattened against the small of his back.

 

Another primitive growl issued from him as he buried his tongue deep inside her. Sydnie gasped, moaned, brought her hips up to meet his mouth. He squeezed her ass in response, lifting her higher, opening her further, delving his tongue deeper and deeper into her. His teeth grazed her scorched flesh. Her body trembled in his hands. Pressing his lips closer around the very core of her, he sucked gently, his low growl a constant that rattled through her body, igniting nerves that shot straight to her brain. Pushing with her feet, she tried to propel herself away from the rampant ache that tormented her.

 

She couldn't think, couldn't breathe, could only feel as he decimated every last bit of her will. He held her steady, surging forward as his broad shoulders forced her legs apart even further, lifting her off the bed once more, his tongue stroking in a rhythm that her body craved. The resurgent need built around her. He opened his mouth a little wider, closed it over the tiny bud that quivered, ached for him. Sucking hard enough to make her gasp before releasing only to do it again and again, Bas was relentless. Sydnie's fingers tangled into Bas' hair, holding him close as she rocked her hips against his voracious mouth. His tongue slipped out of her only to stroke her gently, flicking over the swollen nub of flesh that he'd discovered.

 

Her cry echoed loudly in the room. Her body convulsed as she arched her back, eyes closed, as absolute pleasure washed over her in wave after sinful wave. His finger slipped into her, prolonging the sensation as he continued to assault her with his tongue. She felt the shift on the end of the bed but couldn't gather her wits enough to even attempt to make sense of it. Moments later, she cried out, a plaintive little whine as he pulled away from her.

 

Opening her eyes long enough to watch him suck his finger, she uttered a soft whimper as his gaze locked with hers. Unfastening his jeans, he pushed them down and stepped out of them before retrieving the condom and making quick work of opening the packet and rolling it into place. Holding his twitching penis in his hand, he stroked it a few times as he tilted his hand to the side and slowly brought his eyes up to meet hers once more.

 

She opened her mouth to call out to him. Her throat was too dry to speak. Raising her arms, parting her legs, she beckoned him silently, and he groaned in response, catching her behind the knees once more and pulling her to the edge of the bed. Her eyes slipped closed as the thick tip of him slipped inside her, as he slowly eased himself deep into her. The sensation was too beautiful; too magical . . . She felt the warm moisture of his lips pressing kisses against the soles of her feet. His teeth raked over the curve of her instep, and he groaned softly as he throbbed in her. She moaned, whimpered, tried to get him to understand. He was too far away for her to reach, intent on driving her mad . . .

 

With agonizing slowness, a lethargy that pushed her to the brink of her sanity, he slid out of her, keeping only the head of his cock inside her. She whined, digging her heels into his shoulders in an effort to make him understand. Pulling her toward him, sheathing himself deep inside, Bas growled. He supported her completely, used his position as leverage as he teased her with the slow stroke of his body inside hers. Half off the bed, Sydnie dug her claws into the blankets beneath her, lifting her shoulders as her head fell back, her breathing coming in abbreviated pants and harsh gasps. Bas caught both her ankles in one of his hands, held onto the bedpost with the other, gradually increasing the tempo and strength of his thrusts, burying himself in her repeatedly, almost savagely, with a measured brutality that sent her tumbling over the edge. Her breasts lurched with every thrust. The bed creaked as he slammed into her. Grunting, growling, body taut, rigid, he drove into her hard and fast with an insatiable need, a primitive desire.

 

Too many sensations warred for domination in her muddled head; too many conflicting emotions . . . giving herself up to the complete control of sheer lust, she reveled in the strength of the man; of Sebastian. Plunging into her with a force so hard that she could feel his balls slapping against her ass, Sydnie's abbreviated purr became something more of a half-growl. Every nerve in her body centered on Sebastian and what he was making her feel. The insistent stroke of his shaft sliding in and out of her so quickly that she didn't have time to complain before he buried himself inside her once more drove her further, goaded her passion as it fed his own. The feel of completion surged into something more powerful. She felt as though she were dying only to be reborn in him—the rise of the phoenix complete . . . and maybe in him, she really could be reborn . . .

 

She heard his voice as though from a distance; the agonized entreaty to God and to heaven. He throbbed inside her, thicker, harder . . . the temerarious hold she had on the last strands of her sanity snapped. Her body constricted almost painfully as her need broke wide, as pure sensation exploded deep inside her. Laughing, crying, soaring, falling, and somewhere in the haze of her pleasure, she heard Bas calling her name. He slammed into her once more, his body racked with tremors. He let go of her ankles, dropping to his knees at the end of the bed, his cheek resting on the tangle of damp curls between her legs. Turning his head, he kissed her gently, tenderly, before pulling her off the bed, cradling her against his chest as he collapsed back against the end of the mattress. He let his head fell back, his eyes closed, with Sydnie snuggled closer than his own heartbeat.

 

She didn't notice that he'd pulled the blanket off the bed, covering her carefully as he struggled to breathe. She opened her eyes and slowly leaned away, stroking his cheek with her quivering fingers. He didn't open his eyes right away though he did manage a weak sort of smile. He caught her hand, kissed her knuckles, and pulled her against his chest once more. “Baby . . .”

 

Sydnie winced as the realization finally sank in. She needed him desperately, blindly, and yet . . . the tiny seed of doubt remained. She knew what he'd said, knew that he believed it, too. As much as she wanted to, she couldn't. Being pragmatic was a hard thing to shake. Still, the one fear she held to wasn't logical, wasn't rational. The one fear she'd always had despite the path she'd chosen for herself . . .

 

“Bas?” she whispered, blinking back the tears that gathered in her eyes. He still had his eyes closed. He didn't see them, and with any luck at all, he never, ever would.

 

“Hmm?”

 

She swallowed hard, wishing that she could force her question out of her mind but knowing that it would just continue to plague her. She sighed and let her cheek fall against his chest once more, selfishly allowing herself to revel in the warmth of his embrace, in the safety he offered her, before drawing a deep breath and finally giving voice to the one thing she desperately needed to know. “Will you . . . do it?”

 

He stroked her hair, pulled her a little closer as he shifted to make himself more comfortable. “Will I do what?”

 

She cleared her throat. “If the tai-youkai says I have to die . . . will you do it?”

 

He stiffened, hand stilling as he sucked in a sharp breath. “What?”

 

“It'd be okay,” she whispered, refusing to meet his gaze. “If you did it . . . I'd want you to.”

 

Bas pushed her aside and staggered to his feet, stalking across the bedroom to drop the used condom into the small metal trashcan beside the desk before raking his hands through his hair as he erupted in a fierce growl and continued to pace the room. “Sydnie! What the . . .? Fuck, no!”

 

She sat up, wrapping her arms around her ankles and resting her chin on her knees. “Please, Sebastian . . . Don't you—?”

 

“How the hell can you ask me something like that? I told you, damn it! There's no way in hell my father will order any such thing! Kill you? Are you insane?” he bellowed.

 

The tears she'd been trying to stave back filled her eyes, slipped down her cheeks. “You don't understand,” she whispered. “I knew when I went after Cal Richardson . . . I knew . . .”

 

He stalked over to her once more, and for a moment, Sydnie wondered if she'd pushed him just a little too far. Heaving a sigh, he dropped to his knees, grasping her shoulders and pushing her back against the bed, forcing her to meet his fierce gaze. “How could you ask me that after what we just did? How could you possibly think I could . . .?” he trailed off with a grimace, ducking his head for a moment as though the very words he'd been about to say had hurt him. Maybe they had. When he lifted his chin once more, his eyes were burning with an intense fire, but masked in the depths of his gaze was the underlying pain she'd caused him, and she slowly shook her head. “I could never hurt you, Sydnie—and I won't let anyone else do it, either: not my father . . . no one . . .”

 

“The penalty for murder—” she recited in a monotone.

 

“—Does not apply to you! You didn't murder him! You avenged your sister, and that is completely different! You did it because no one else would . . . But to ask me to . . . to kill you . . .? How could you ask something like that of me?”

 

“It's only . . . it's just . . . you . . . care about me, right?”

 

Bas heaved a sigh but nodded. “Yes, damn it, I do, which is why—”

 

“That's why I knew . . .”

 

“Knew what?”

 

She sniffled, dashing the back of her hand over her misting eyes. “You'd make sure it didn't hurt, wouldn't you? You'd make sure that . . . that death wouldn't . . . hurt . . .”

 

“God,” he rasped out, falling back as his hands dropped away from her. Skin pale, eyes bright, he slowly shook his head as a look akin to complete horror surfaced on his features. “Oh, my God . . .”

 

“Please, Sebastian, I—”

 

“No,” he growled, casting her a pained glance. “No! You're not going to die, damn it!”

 

“How do you know?”

 

“I just do!”

 

“How?”

 

“Because! Can't you leave it at that?”

 

“No, I can't!”

 

Bas smashed his hands over his face as he struggled to contain his turbulent emotions. “Because my father will never, ever condemn me to die with you!”

 

Sydnie flinched and shook her head. “O-of course he wouldn't,” she allowed. “That doesn't matter when—”

 

“After everything I told you,” Bas interrupted, rising to his feet and wandering toward the window, “and you still don't get it . . . My youkai blood has chosen you. It's told me as much, and that means that if I know it, then on some level, you do, too, and that means that your death means my death, and that mine would mean yours. My father knows this, too. Do you understand me now? Do you believe me?”

 

“But . . .”

 

He slowly turned around, pinning her with a sad sort of expression—an apologetic little half-smile. “That's what it means, and . . . and that's how I know.”

 

Sydnie grimaced, squeezing her eyes closed for a moment as she tried to deny his claims. It made sense to her, didn't it? Despite what she wanted to believe, it all made sense . . .

 

`Mates protect each other, don't they? Because if they didn't, it would . . . it would mean death . . .'

 

He turned away, staring out of the window, arms crossed over his chest and a faraway sadness in his gaze. Sydnie swallowed hard, pulling the blanket closer around her shoulders as she got to her feet and slowly made her way toward him. He didn't look at her as she stood there, but he did catch her, pulling her into his arms in a fierce hug when she had finally turned to go.

 

“That's how I know,” he allowed quietly, staring over her head at the falling night sky.

 

Sydnie stared out the window, too, but didn't see anything; not really. Too lost in her own misery, in her own disjointed thoughts . . . Everything and nothing made sense, and everything and nothing led back to him . . .

 

With a strangled sob, she turned slightly, burying her face against his chest. He heaved a sigh but held her close: the only thing he really knew to do for her.

 

The ignoble pain . . . the sense of desperation . . . the flickering, stuttering desire to believe . . . Sydnie shook her head, held tight to Bas' shoulders. `Oh, Sebastian . . . what have I done . . .?'

 

 

~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~ *~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~

A/N:

== == == == == == == == == ==

Reviewers

==========

MMorg

OROsan0677 ------ DarklessVasion ------ camintmier ------ serendith ------ RisikaFox ------ Simonkal of Inuy ------ Shadow_Within ------ Lennex ------- Rawben ------ inu_lvs_kag ------ Kitcat99 (It's okay … it happens to the best of us. Lol, and yes, the second review can be removed.) ------ IfICouldMarryInuyashaIwould ------ Kurisu no Ryuujin ------ Sess_2005 ------- artemiswaterdragon ------ Aishiteru148 ------ ColShaLin ------ JasonC ------ InUyAsHaRlZ

==========

Final Thought fromBas:

…She has got to be joking …

==========

Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Phantasm): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

 

~Sue~