Page 37 of Awakened Light

“Me too. He’s a good man. He’d do anything for any of us, including give his life to save his sister. Thanks to you, though, that didn’t need to happen. Grizella never would have recovered. None of us would have.”

“Was she immortal when she met him?” I asked, wondering more about the connection between Lothaire and his stunning wife. It was as strong as the one I’d seen between Aiden and Emilia... and one I was glad I didn’t see between Thorne and someone else.

“She wasn’t. It was a few hundred years ago when he met her. She’d been taken as a slave, and Lothaire caught sight of her and tried to purchase her.”

“He wanted to purchase her? Humans can be sold?” I asked, shocked to hear a man who seemed as honorable as Lothaire would partake in such disgusting practices.

“They used to be able to,” he answered. “Luckily, humans have adapted, and times have changed.”

“Good. That’s awful.”

“It was. And for the record, Lothaire didn’t want to own her. He wanted to free her. But someone else wanted to purchase her badly and stole her from Lothaire. She ended up on a ship sailing away.”

“But he saved her?”

“Yes,” Thorne said with a smile. “He saved her. After one look into her eyes, he was in love, and nothing would stop him from being with that woman. We ended up on a journey to the Ottoman Empire to rescue her, but in the end, Lothaire succeeded. They’ve been together ever since.”

“Well, it certainly seems to have worked out for them. They are very much in love.”

Thorne snorted. “That’s an understatement. You’d think after all these years it would have dwindled some, but not for those two. Each day it seems they love each other more.”

I swallowed hard before I asked the next question. “And you? You’ve never... met a woman you wanted to make immortal?”

The car swerved and hit a bump on the side, but Thorne quickly righted it. After a long pause, he shook his head. “I haven’t. It seems that love like that wasn’t in the cards for me. After watching my father lose my mother, and then Aiden lose his wife—”

“Aiden had a wife?” I interrupted.

“Oh, yes,” Thorne confirmed. “And he loved her with all his heart. But she wanted to remain mortal, and he lost her to old age. Nearly killed him. And after that, I decided I wasn’t up for having my heart ripped out of my chest. Forever is a long time to long for someone.” His voice drifted off as his eyes flicked to me.

I felt equal parts relief and sadness as I stared into them. Relief that he’d never met a woman to love, and sadness at his long, lonely existence.

Not that it differed much from mine.

Love wasn’t an option for the heir to my mother’s throne, and I’d never even considered the notion...

Until now.

“So that’s my story,” Thorne said as he turned his gaze back to the road. “Just a six-hundred-year-old Scottish warrior who now drives a sports car instead of a battle steed. I’d say it’s an upgrade.” He arched an eyebrow and looked at me. “Though, you should have seen me in my battle gear. I had hair halfway down my back, and war paint like yours. I bet we could have made a hell of a team back then.”

The thought of him charging into battle with his long hair and exposed chest made my heart race... then one glance over at him proved the modern version beside me produced the same effect.

Thump, thump, thump, thump, thump.

When his lips pulled up into a smug grin, I had no doubt his exceptional hearing had picked up on my primal desires. Grateful he decided not to call me out on it, I sat quietly as he hit the gas and pushed the car up the last hill to the estate.

Thorne parked the car, and we hurried inside since the sun would rise soon. My mind still reeled from everything I’d seen and done tonight.

Riding in a car. Seeing the city. Fighting the bad vampires.

Spending a night with Thorne.

It was all a blur my brain struggled to process. Until yesterday, my life had been days filled with more of the same.

The same island. The same people. The same routine.

Practice my magic. Practice my fighting. Sit with my mother while I learned how to rule our tribe. Watch the sunset. Go to sleep.

Every. Single. Day.