“The sunrise.”
Dorian offered a sympathetic smile.
“But after the driver dropped me off, I realized I didn’t have a key. And I didn’t want to wake anyone inside, so I just came around back.”
While Sasha was occupied with Dorian and Charlotte, Gabriel moved Aiden’s body to the edge of the pool, trying to find his pulse. A heartbeat. Any signs of life at all.
But everywhere he touched, there was only ice. Only death.
One day, Gabriel Redthorne, you’re going to wake up, and I’m not going to be here…
A wave of fear slammed into Gabriel’s chest, stealing his breath. His heart hammered so hard he swore it would shatter his ribs.
You’ll miss me terribly…
Aiden wasn’t dead. He couldn’t be dead. He was still here. Present. Solid.
Dead vampires weren’t solid. They were ash.
Dead vampires werefuckingash.
He repeated the words like a mantra as he hopped up onto the heated wooden deck that surrounded the back edge of the pool and pulled Aiden out, desperately trying to rub some warmth back into the man’s ice-cold hands.
He was fully dressed, just like Sasha. Coat. Boots. All of it.
Dead vampires are ash… Dead vampires are ash…
“When I got here,” Sasha continued, “I realized I forgot the coffee. I’d told Aiden I’d have the driver run me into town on the way up—I wanted to pick up some donuts too. The powdered sugar kind?”
Dorian nodded. “Aiden loves those.”
“Yeah, but I totally spaced it. I pulled out my phone, thinking I could order delivery or something, but then I saw him.”
“Aiden?” Charlotte asked.
“He was coming from the direction of the guest house. I called out for him, and he looked up, and we saw each other and we both smiled and I forgot about the coffee and the stupid donuts because it was just this… I don’t know. This perfect moment, you know?”
Dorian forced another smile, but Gabriel’s heart cracked in half, the fucking girl and her fucking story and everything about this fucking scene making him ache with a loss he simplyrefusedto acknowledge. It was ridiculous to even consider it. Therewasno loss, no reason to ache, because there was nofuckingway any of this was actually happening, and as soon as Aiden stopped fucking around and admitted this was nothing but a twisted prank, Gabriel was going to kick his wet vampire arse from here to hell and back again.
“What happened next?” Dorian asked.
“Then he just… I don’t know. He gave me this really weird look like he didn’t even recognize me anymore. And I started walking toward him, but he just…” She sucked in a breath, her voice breaking. “He fell face-first into the pool. And he never came back up.”
Dead vampires, Gabriel reminded himself.Ash.
He pressed an ear to Aiden’s chest.
No heartbeat. No rise and fall of breath. Nothing.
“I jumped in and when I touched him his skin was so cold. Like, ice-cold, which made no sense. He wasn’t in the water that long, and the water’s warm, and… Oh, God.” She looked over at Aiden and Gabriel on the deck, and her face crumpled. “He’s dead, isn’t he?”
The quiet agony in her voice worse than her violent screams. Worse than any sound Gabriel had ever heard in his life.
“He’s not dead, love,” Dorian said. “Vampires can’t drown.”
“Then it’s hypothermia or a head injury or a heart attack or poison or—”
“We can’t freeze,” he continued. “We don’t have heart attacks. And when we die—no matter how it happens—we turn to ash.”
