Page 57 of Venice Vampyr: The Beginning

“I can’t let you go, Viola.”

She wrenched against his grip, and he eased off the pressure so he wouldn’t hurt her, but he didn’t let go.

“Please,” she begged, her eyes filling with tears.

“I love you.” He took a leap of faith with his next words. “And I know you love me too. So, why are you leaving me?”

She lifted her chin, her gaze colliding with his. Her lips trembled, but she parted them nevertheless. Her sweet breath drifted to him, and he inhaled more of her. “It will never work. Please let me go.”

He shook his head and clenched his jaw. She was keeping something from him, he could sense it. Jealousy reared its ugly head. “Is there somebody else?”

“No!” Her protest was instant and vehement. “Please, Dante, if you really love me then you have to let me go.”

“Why? Tell me why.” His voice bounced off the walls of the neighboring buildings.

Viola dropped her head and her shoulders at the same time. She was defeated, but he felt no joy, because with her spirit gone, she wasn’t the same.

Her voice was quiet and calm when she finally answered. “Because I’m dying, Dante. I have a brain tumor. In a few weeks, I’ll be dead. That’s why I can’t marry you.”

He loosened his hold on her, the shock of her revelation weakening him. She stepped out of his hold, severing her body from his. It was like a cold blast of air hit him. For an instant, he felt dazed and confused. But then his blood flowed to his brain, and it started churning wildly.

Now he understood. The foreign scent and taste of her blood—it indicated her illness. It had been her body’s way of telling him she was sick. And he hadn’t recognized it. But he had felt that he needed to protect her, that she was vulnerable. How vulnerable, he only realized now. But he wouldn’t allow her to push him away because of it.

“That’s the only reason you don’t want to marry me?” The step he was prepared to take demanded that he was sure of her feelings. If she didn’t love him—

“Isn’t that enough?” she whispered.

Dante drilled into her with his eyes. “Tell me the truth. Do you love me?”

A sob broke from her, but in the middle of it he heard her. “Yes, more than I want to.”

His heart rejoiced. “Are you prepared to spend the rest of your life with me?”

“Dante, don’t torture me.”

“Answer me, Viola.”

“Yes, I want to spend my last few weeks with you.”

He shook his head. “That’s not what I asked. I asked for eternity.”

“I don’t have eternity, Dante. Don’t you understand? I’ve come to terms with it. Really, I have. But if I had eternity, there’s nobody in this world I’d rather spend it with than you.”

Dante nodded. “That’s all I needed to know.” She would be his. Now that he knew she loved him, everything would work out. He’d reveal to her what he was: a vampire, a creature of the night—an immortal creature. And he could make her immortal too—by turning her into one of their kind. Any illness she had would vanish as he drained her of her blood and fed her his. She would be as near indestructible as he was. And she would live. And be his wife. Forever.

“Come, let us go home, and I’ll tell you about our life together. You’ll—”

“Watch out, Dante!” came Lorenzo’s scream from behind him.

***

Things happened too fast for Viola’s tear-stained eyes to capture everything. Lorenzo had followed Dante from the house, but there was another shadow too, one that jumped out of an entryway. She recognized him instantly. Salvatore—the man who would have bedded her had Dante not interfered.

The moonlight was sufficient for her to see that he was armed with a pistol, a pistol he aimed at Dante now. She wouldn’t allow it. She’d accepted her own death, but she couldn’t allow the man she loved to perish. Without giving it another thought, she jumped in front of Dante as a shot rang out.

She barely felt the pain when the bullet entered her back. It was a mere pinprick, a sting. Maybe that was what death was like—all pain vanished. More shouts in the alley drifted to her ears, more people came running. Some wrestled with each other, but all she felt was Dante. His strong body holding her.

His voice in her ear. “Oh, God, no!”