AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ronan slid a hand onto my arm. Not the special hypnotic touch…just his touch. “Emma wasn’t your fault. ”
“I know. ” I shifted away, quickly changing back to a subject that was no less heartbreaking. “Yasuo, when I saw him, he was acting funny. Not like funny ha-ha,” I clarified. “He was off. ”
“Yes,” Ronan said, and there was a heaviness in his voice, a heaviness that told me he knew exactly what I was talking about. “I’d hoped to find you myself, to warn you. I’ve been growing concerned. But I suppose you’ve seen for yourself—?”
I did see, but it didn’t mean I understood. “Will he be okay?”
“No, he’ll never be okay again. Yasuo is becoming Draug. ”
Draug. Even though I’d guessed, hearing the word made it real. My stomach dropped. “Why? How?”
“I don’t know,” he said, sounding suddenly angry. “There is much I don’t know about the vampiric transition. I know what I’m told, and I’m not told much. Something happened to derail the transformation. I’ve seen it before. Many times. ” His anger collapsed into sadness. “He’s gone, Annelise. You must give up on him. ”
“On Yasuo? No way. I can’t. ”
“You can,” he said sternly, “and you will. ”
How could I mourn Yas when he was still here physically? And more than that, there’d been something left of him, something more than just that shell of bones and fangs and wild red eyes. He’d had some memory—he’d spoken of Emma. The last remnants of him were in there somewhere.
Did that mean he still had a soul? Was it leaving his body? Would it eventually leave him completely? I hoped so. I hoped there was a heaven for kids like us. Who knew, maybe there was a big juvie in the sky.
Or was that what ghosts were? These Draug, bearing wisps of memory of a life lived, but cursed to walk the earth. Would Yasuo haunt me?
Tears burned my eyes.
“I’m sorry, Annelise. Truly I am. ”
It was an easy, standard sentiment to say, but from Ronan, I appreciated it. I’d lost roommates, friends, and was now watching Yasuo devolve into some mindless monster, and yet I got the sense Ronan understood the desolation I felt.
Could it have been mere pity that drove his words? Did he simply feel bad for me because I was ditched by my vampire boyfriend?
/> I’d had a million questions about why Ronan was all of a sudden around at just the right times, but oddly, just then, the reason didn’t matter. Whatever his motives for seeking me out, there was one thing I knew: Ronan had lost people, too. He understood my grief.
Which meant he’d understand my need for vengeance.
I decided to take a risk. “Ronan, I found something. Something crazy. ”
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
“Crazy?” Ronan looked thrown by the strange direction the conversation had taken. “What have you been up to, Annelise?”
“Nothing,” I protested instantly. Must he always think the worst of me? “I was on the cliffs, near where Trinity—”
“What were you doing on the cliffs?” he interrupted angrily.
“I wasn’t doing anything bad. ” I rolled my eyes, but he’d narrowed his. “Okay, fine, nothing that bad. Anyway, I found some runes, like old Viking graffiti. I took a rubbing and translated them. ”
I paused, waiting for him to look impressed, but apparently it took a lot more than that to impress Ronan, so I went straight for the punch line. “The runes read: Sonja, ruler of vampires. ” I gave a weighty pause. “Like there’d once been a woman. ” Another weighty pause, this time with brows raised. “In charge. ”
He only nodded quietly.
Nodded.
“What do you mean?” I mimicked his nod. “Did you already know that?”
“No…not that specifically. Not Sonja. But I’ve had…suspicions. ”
“Suspicions? What on earth would make you suspect that? I mean, this is huge, Ronan, and you suspected, and you didn’t tell me? Or anyone,” I quickly amended, because really, why would he have told me anything?
