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To me, she was the most beautiful sight in the world, and at that moment I knew she’d always be.
Twenty years from now.
Fifty years from now.
Forever.
So when I said she was what mattered—that she was everything—I meant it with every fiber of my being.
I’d almost lost her. Everything else paled—my honor, my blood oath, my position in the hierarchy—beside that single, heart-stopping fact.
I tightened my grip on her shivering body, face buried in her hair, and breathed her in, needing to assure myself she was okay, that we’d reached her in time.
“I didn’t…,” she rasped. She halted, shook her head.
“What? Tell me. Please.”
She lifted her gaze to mine. “I didn’t w-want to make that video. You know th-that, don’t you?”
I consigned the brief doubt I’d felt to the garbage bin where it belonged. Eden didn’t deserve anything but my unwavering support.
“Of course, I knew.”
“Yeah?” she asked.
“Yes,” I said firmly.
A couple of tears leaked from her eyes, leaving muddy tracks on her dirty cheeks. “I was so a-afraid you’d b-believe I wanted to go with them. Lemaire said… He kn-knew stuff about me.” She drew a ragged breath. “That I’d run from the s-syndicate before. He was sure you’d think I’d d-done it again.”
“Forget what he said.” I kissed each eye in turn, taking the salty liquid into my mouth. “It was all lies. He was fucking with you.”
Her soft mouth trembled. “That’s what I th-thought, but I was alone and I w-wasn’t sure…”
“Be sure.” I rubbed my lips over hers. “I trusted you. I ripped the island apart looking for you. I thought I’d go crazy when we couldn’t find you.”
“Oh.” Biting her lip, she gifted me a wide smile, followed by another hard shiver.
I withdrew deeper into the cavern to protect her from the wind. A flash of silver had us both turning to look at Lemaire’s boat. Brien had the other vampire on his back on the fiberglass deck. Both men were bloodied, their fangs extended.
Brien raised his blade above his head with both hands. The silver glinted in the moonlight. His lips peeled back in a feral grin.
Eden swallowed audibly. I immediately turned away, blocking her view with my body.
“No. I w-want to see him die.” She pushed at my shoulder, craning her neck to look around me.
I turned back; she had the right to see this through to the end. Together, we watched as Brien drove his silver blade into Lemaire’s chest.
Lemaire jerked and released his own weapon, pushing feebly at Brien’s hands, blood spurting from the wound. His flesh was already blackening. The sickening odor of burning flesh drifted to us.
Eden gagged and slapped a hand to her mouth.
“That’s enough,” I said, angling my body so I blocked her view again. Swamped by guilt, I nuzzled her temple. “I’m sorry you got dragged into this.”
“Not your fault,” she muttered.
I grunted, not so sure about that, but this wasn’t the time or place to discuss it. “Twilight should be here any minute now. Can you hang on a little longer?”
“Of course.” She removed the hand from her face and glowered at me. “I told you, I’m not fragile.”
