Twenty-six years of love, ripped away in a single night.
“What happened?” I ask, even though I already know the answer.
“Hunters.” The word comes out flat. Hard. “A coordinated attack in Vienna. 1878. They came for all of us—Julian, Margaret, Katya, me. But they were clever. They separated us. Made sure we couldn’t help each other.”
He turns to look at me. His eyes are ancient. Hollow.
“Margaret was trapped in their apartment. Four hunters with silver and blessed blades. Katya was at the concert hall when the fire started. And Julian—” His voice cracks. “Julian had a choice of which one to save.”
“And he chose Margaret.”
“He may have killed the hunter and saved the woman he loved.” Damien takes a deep breath that I know he doesn’t need. Maybe it’s for dramatic effect or the pain he feels; I’m not sure. “But by the time he reached the concert hall, Katya was ash.”
The pool party continues around us. Laughter. Splashing. The clink of glasses. All of it suddenly feels very far away.
“I’m sorry,” I say. And I mean it. Even knowing what he is, even knowing what he wants to do to me—I mean it. “I can’t imagine losing someone like that.”
“I don’t want your sympathy.” His expression hardens. “I want you to understand what’s coming.”
“What’s coming?”
“Tomorrow. At the reception.” He leans closer. “I’m going to reveal what Julian is. Not to the world—that would bring theCouncil down on all of us. But to your family. Your mother, your sister, everyone you care about. They’ll know exactly what kind of monster you’ve been sharing a bed with.”
My hands clench around the edge of the lounge chair.
“And Julian will have to watch,” Damien continues. “He’ll have to see the horror on their faces. Watch you try to explain how you could love a monster like him.”
“You want him to suffer.”
“I want him to feel what I felt.” His brow furrows as he clenches his jaw. “To feel the loss and pain of losing someone he loves because of the monster he is.”
I think about Julian’s face when he told me everything. The fear in his eyes. The certainty that I would run.
I think about how I didn’t.
“Here’s the problem with your logic: I already know what he is, and I stayed.” I keep my voice steady. Force myself to hold his gaze. “Why do you think I’m a naive victim you need to rescue? Just like Katya, I’m in love with him—vampire and all.”
Silence.
Around us, the pool party continues. Madison-or-Morgan shrieks as someone splashes her. A server walks past with a tray of drinks. The sun beats down on paradise while a monster processes the fact that his grand plan just hit a wall.
“And you’re still here,” he says. Not a question.
“I’m still here.”
Damien studies me with an expression I can’t read. Calculating. Reassessing. Trying to fit this new piece into whatever puzzle he’s been constructing for a hundred and forty-six years.
“Interesting,” he says. “Most humans run when they learn the truth. Or break. Or become obsessed with immortality. You are none of these things.”
“I made a spreadsheet.”
He blinks. “A what?”
“A spreadsheet. Pros and cons of dating a vampire. It helped me organize my thoughts.” I shrug. “Coping mechanisms vary.”
For a moment—just a moment—something like surprise crosses his face. Then his expression hardens again.
“It doesn’t matter,” he says. “You know, but they don’t. Your mother, your sister, your ex-boyfriend and his annoying crystal-loving girlfriend—”
