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We’ve both lost people we love, but where I’m alone, he still has Law. I’d give anything to have my sister back.
Julian turns me to him.
“You’re in pain. I can feel it.” My eyes squint as I try to understand how he’d know that. Is it that obvious? “What can I do to help? Name it. I’ll give it to you,” he promises.
I stare at him for several moments, not knowing what to say. Why is he being so kind to me? How long will it last? Then something occurs to me.Stacey.
“Can Stacey stay here with me?”
Julian frowns, not appearing happy with my request.
“That isn’t something I can give you, Marina. If I could, I would.”
“He’s evil, Julian. He will kill her. She’s my friend. The only one I have,” I channel every ounce of sadness into my words, hoping he’ll take mercy on me.
He sighs.
“It wasn’t always like that. Over the centuries, a lot has happened to him. His heart has hardened.”
The shift in conversation isn’t to my liking, but it has me wondering what did happen to Marcellus to make him what he is today.
“He’s lost much over the years.” His eyes are sad as he relays his brother’s story. His hand is at his heart, as if he’s trying to stave off his own pain.
“Someone he loved?” The question comes to me out of nowhere. What else could turn someone so cold?
“Yes. The one person who would’ve held his heart for a lifetime.”
That kind of love is foreign to me. I’ve never felt anything stronger than lust. At twenty years old, I have less experience with the opposite sex than most. Love has always seemed unthinkable.
“I’ve never been in love. I wouldn’t know what that’s like,” I admit.
“Love can be harsh. Especially for vampires.”
The pain that crosses over his face forms a pit in my stomach. What has he been through over the centuries? That kind of pain can only be from personal experience. Who has he lost?
“The brother I loved is lost. This Marcellus wants to overthrow me. He’s protested my standing to the Council.” He brushes his hand back through his blond hair. “I’m under a microscope these days.”
“Can he do that?”
“He has.”
I wonder what that all means. Who does the Council consist of and what can they actually do to Julian? In the end, I don’t ask. It doesn’t matter in the scheme of things. My only focus for today is to secure Stacey’s safety.
“Is there any way to keep Stacey here, Julian?”
He grunts.
“Outside of demanding it, no. He hardly agreed to one month.”
My hands clench at my side. “Then demand it. Please.”
“Is it worth a war, Marina?” he asks harshly. “Do you know her enough to potentially put millions of humans at risk?”
“You think that by demanding she stay, you’d start a war?”
“Marcellus is looking for a reason. He’d turn it around and make it appear to the Council that I’m going soft on humans. He’d convince them that I’d jeopardize our race for one girl.”
A tear drips down my cheek at the realization that I can’t save Stacey. No matter how much I promised, I can’t deliver.
