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“Once the truth is out, it can’t be undone. Don’t turn your back on my mother again,” Diana begs, drops of bloody spittle staining the dirty clothes she’s wearing. Her hair is matted to her forehead, her stench reaching me where I sit on a throne made for a king—solid gold with a crest embedded into the velvet cloth covering the seat. “Gabriella isn’t one of us. She’s never belonged in our world.”
Theo shakes his head, a cruel smile on his face. “Why don’t I tell you a few things you didn’t know, Miss Veltross.”
“This woman isn’t your mate. She can’t be.”
“Did you know your mother thought herself so smart, her plan so solid, that she never once questioned who Gabriella’s benefactor/uncle was all this time?” A gasp escapes me at his words, but Theodore doesn’t look at me. Instead, he lightly squeezes my shoulder in a show of comfort.
“It was you,” I say on a shaky whimper, my heart breaking all over again. “So I really had no family, not a single person that wanted me?”
“I’m sorry, love. But I’ve been protecting you since the day of your rebirth.” His revelation doesn’t shock me. Being honest, it gives me a bit of relief to know someone cared. “But it was when your painting of a warrior’s death crossed my desk, you were about eight at the time, that I had the proof I’ve been waiting for all along.”
“How? Why is...Christ, this makes no sense.”
“And yet deep down you know it’s true.” I do. Every cell in my body is begging me to accept him, while my fight or flight is demanding I run. “The original of that painting sits in our home back in—”
“Italy,” I answer for him, and he nods.
“Italy.”
“How did I know that?”
“Because it is who you are. Our life.” The small smile on his gorgeous face falls, and I’m once again greeted by the monster in him. His expression is hard and his muscles coil, his anger palpable as he turns to look at Diana. “You have sixty seconds before I rip your head off and feed your blood to the vampires standing guard.”
“Theodore, please,” Diana cries out, her desperation mounting. She fights against her bindings, the metal digging into her wrists, and rivulets of blood fall down each arm, creating a puddle on the ground. Is that the human side of her? “She will never be good enough for you. For our kingdom.”
“There has never been an ‘our,’ Miss Veltross.”
“Don’t do this.”
“Do what?” I ask.
“You’re willing to end a pure bloodline for her? A priestess?”
“Yes.” Walking behind me, Theodore grips my ponytail and wraps the long strands around his fist. He gives one sharp pull to the side and I’m left exposed, at his mercy. “I’m sorry, my love.” With the tip of his nose, he skims the length of my neck before placing a chaste kiss over the juncture before exhaling roughly. “I’ve missed you and can’t live another day like this. In a world where you don’t walk beside me.”
“You’re scaring me,” I say, my eyes closing to avoid meeting anyone’s eyes. Too many are witnessing my death, and the joy on their faces breaks my already fragile mind. “Please don’t kill me.”
At those words, an animalistic snarl leaves him, the sound pained and angry. “Out.”
The people in the room don’t hesitate and run out; they too are afraid of his wrath. And when the last person exits, he releases his hold and comes back to my front, squatting down to meet my tear-filled eyes.
I look away.
“Please don’t. Not you, Gabriella.” His emotions are my own. I feel him in that moment, and the anguish nearly makes me fold into myself. The depths—the yearning causes me to shiver and cry out, teeth chattering as a painful iciness seeps into my bones. “In this world, you are the only person who is safe from me. The only person with the power to kill me, and I’d let you. No questions asked, my wife. If it’s my life you want, I’d die with honor knowing it made you smile.”
“Don’t,” I say without hesitation. The mere thought of him not standing in front of me brings on a different level of pain—of anguish—and while I don’t understand it’s meaning; the other choice is unacceptable to me. “Don’t say that.”
“It’s my truth.”
“But not one I can accept.” Tears fall, running down my cheeks while his hand cups my jaw. He’s trying to comfort me, to soothe me with his touch, but fear is a dominating emotion, and right now it’s clashing with its direct counterpart. Theo is my comfort, while King is a killer.
He’s my Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, and one doesn’t exist without the other.
“I’ve loved you for over a century, Gabriella Moore. It has always been and will always be you for me.”
“What will happen to me?”
At my concern, Diana scoffs, her chest vibrating, and the look on her face is one of disgust as her dark orbs meet mine. “You were weak then too, you know. Even with all the power you held, the curse your kind looked upon as a gift, you were a disappointment.”
