An obedient human pet.
But that wasn’t what his words implied now.
“I mean the choice of how we proceed is yours, Ismerelda. I’ll respect your decision, even if I don’t like it.” His mind echoed that proclamation, causing my stomach to tighten with nerves.
This… this was all so different from the last few weeks.
How had so much changed so quickly?
Or had it been gradual and I just hadn’t noticed it? Maybe I’d been too lost in Cam’s cruelty to see it.
Too confused by this version versus the old version.
Who is this Cam?I wondered, hating that I even had to ask. It would be so much easier if his memories returned, ifhereturned. But he wouldn’t.He’s gone.
“It’s true. I don’t think I’ll ever be that man again,” he agreed. “But my former self was weak. That version of me chose a mission over you. Put the world’s fate before your own. I’m not that man anymore. I’m not altruistic. I’m selfish. Arrogant.Possessive. I’m the type to put you first, and that includes putting you before my own needs or desires.”
He held my gaze for a long moment, allowing those words to sink in. Then he pulled the suit out of his bag and went into the bathroom to change.
He must have sensed my inability to reply. Because I had no idea what to say to that. How to react. How tofeel.
Cam had essentially insinuated that if this version of him had been in charge of his decisions over a century ago, he would never have left me.
Because he would have thought about my needs first.Ourneeds. He wouldn’t have abandoned me.
What would we be today if he’d stayed?I wondered as I set my sweater on the bed.Would we even be alive?
Yes,he whispered back.But you would likely be a vampire, not a human.
I’d been in the process of grabbing the jeans when he said that, the fabric slipping through my fingers in surprise.A vampire?
You’re strong, Izzy. You would be formidable as a vampire. I’m not sure why I never turned you, but it’s another mistake made by my past version.
I blinked at the garments on the bed.You would lose your immortal blood source.
Yes, but I would gain a queen. That’s worth far more to me than blood.
The sincerity underlining his statements hit me right in the chest, making it difficult to breathe.
He meant every word.
And he showed me with his mind that he’d been thinking about this for the last week, not just today.
He’d been trying to figure out why he’d never turned me, because I was clearly made to be a vampire. Made to be his queen. His equal.
Cam had intended to talk to me about it, too. He’d been planning to lower the barrier between our minds.
Then I’d crashed through that barrier when Michael had left me to die.Under orders from Cam.
But it hadn’t been Cam at all.
My head spun while I dressed, my heart pounding in my chest.
Can I trust this Cam? Can I… love him?
He wanted to turn me. But only if I desired it. I heard that in his mind. He felt I was more than worthy of being a vampire, that I should have become one centuries ago.
My brain started down a trek of what our lives might have looked like today had Cam sired me.
