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Calla
“Ican see by the look on your face that wasn’t the answer you were expecting.” Selene’s voice is laced with amusement as she leans back, keeping her eyes on me.
I stare at her, unable to make my lips move to form a word let alone a sentence to respond. This woman turned Gabriel into a vampire. Even the guys don’t know about how Gabriel came into his immortality—Lex had told me that much the night I went with him to the tattoo shop—and I’m sitting across from her.
“No,” I finally say, quickly licking my lips to combat the dryness.
She nods. “I turned Gabriel, siring him to me for the duration of our immortal lives. Mind you, our connection runs far deeper than the silly little blood oath you’ve wound up in.”
Is… is shebragging?
I’m so fucking confused.
“H-how long ago was that?” I ask.
She presses a shiny, manicured finger to her lips in thought. “Hmm… It’s hard to say. Time is a little different once you become a vampire, Calla. Years and decades are mere blips of time when you live forever. Surely you’ve considered that by now.”
The knots in my stomach tighten. “Considered living forever? Not really. I’m just trying to make it to graduation.” School is the least of my concerns considering my current situation, but still.
Her lips twitch. “Youarea naive one, aren’t you?”
“Why am I here?” I blurt, shifting in the chair and glancing around. “Where ishere, anyway? Clearly you have some way of blocking the connection between me and them, otherwise they would have come for me by now, and you would be dead.”
I have to believe that. If they knew where I was, they would be here. There has to be a reason—something that is keeping them away. The only vulnerability I’m aware of is white ash, though I don’t know if it can be used to block a vampire’s tracking capability. If so, maybe this place has it in the walls, making it impossible for them to find me. That would mean their adversity to white ash is stronger than their connection to my blood. But I truly have no idea. I can barely think straight at this point.
The hint of a smile fades from Selene’s lips, though her tone is still light. “Is that right?”
Fear and anger go to war in my chest, kicking up my pulse as the fire crackles in the fireplace next to me, making my cheeks and chest flushed. “Why am I here?” I ask again.
“I was curious about you,” she says simply, as if the reasoning behind my kidnapping should be obvious. “You’re involved in Gabriel’s life, so naturally, it was important for us to meet.” She smooths her hands down the front of her dress, not that there was a single wrinkle in it to begin with. Selene seems like the type to have her clothes dry cleaned and steamed prior to wearing. “I had a friend of mine put a protective barrier around my property to ensure the two of us wouldn’t be interrupted by your entourage of vampires.”
My brows tug together, and I choose to skip over the wholeprotective barrierthing. I don’t think I have the mental capacity to dive intothatright now. “You don’t get a piece of me just because he does and you’re his sire or whatever.” I shake my head and add dryly, “This isn’t a pyramid scheme.”
When she smiles at me this time, I get a flash of her fangs. “Perhaps not, but I am prepared to offer you a deal. One I think you’ll be very interested in hearing.”
“What are you talking about?” I pick at the skin around my thumbnail, avoiding her sharp silver eyes. The weight in my gut tells me I’m not ready to hear what she’s offering, but I don’t see that I have much of a choice.
“Don’t worry,” she says in a smooth voice, “this is very simple and straightforward.”
I force myself to meet her gaze. “What do you want?”
Selene’s lips curl into a slow smile. “I want Gabriel.”
My stomach plummets, and I feel as if my ribcage is closing in tighter by the second. I clench my jaw, fighting the urge to snap at Selene, despite knowing full well I wouldn’t stand a chance against her. I wasn’t expecting to feel so… possessive over Gabriel. But the thought of this woman getting her claws in him makes me want to scream.
“What does that have to do with me?” I ask in a strained voice. I need to tread lightly, choose my words carefully. If her response to Dante is any indication, this woman doesn’t give a shit about others’ lives.
“Gabriel cares very deeply for you.” Her tone makes it clear she isn’t sure why. “If anyone can help me get him back, I would imagine you’d be the one.”
“Get him back,” I echo, desperately trying to find my way through her web of history with Gabriel. “What… what happened after you turned him?” There’s a reason they aren’t together anymore, and considering whatever it is wasn’t something he would tell the guys he sees as brothers, it has to be pretty twisted. And she wants me to help send him back to her.
“That’s ancient history. What matters now is us finding our way back to each other.”
“Is this the part where you tell me you love him?” I ask, an edge to my voice.
Gabriel made it very clear from the night we met that I belonged to him and the others. That shit is a two-way street, and I’m not about to let this vampire screw with that. Yeah, I’m pissed as hell at all the guys for keeping me in the dark for so long, and they’re going to hear about it plenty once we’re together. But this woman trying to lay claim to Gabriel has my hackles standing straight.
“Something like that,” she muses, continuing to twirl a curl around her finger as her eyes flick between mine. “You see, having a sire means many things. One of which is that when Gabriel is close it makes me stronger. Especially when I’m drinking his blood.”
