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Pressing a finger to his mouth, he tilts his head toward the stable. We move silently, crossing the grounds, not even talking once we enter the building.
Alaric leads the way, stopping at the second to last stall where a large black horse with a white blaze on its face. The same one we rode together at Windbury when we thought we could fool everyone into believing he marked me.
He opens the stall door, and the horse walks out, stopping in the center of the aisle, obeying a silent command.
My pulse races, and I bite down hard on my lip to keep from asking questions.
Without a saddle or bridle, Alaric leaps gracefully onto the animal. He leans forward offering me a hand and pulls me up in front of him. One arm wraps tightly around my waist. His other grips the mane. Then we’re off. I let out a surprised squeak, clasping my hands over my mouth.
Within minutes, we are riding down a side road away from the castle and the city.
“Are we leaving?” I ask, hopeful even though he said a few hours.
His fingers flex, pressing into my hip. “No,” he says.
Disappointment silences all other thoughts.
We ride for what feels like an hour before stopping near a rocky area. Trees sprout between rocks, roots clinging to them as they would dirt and wedging themselves in the deep crevices. Water from a stream or river burbles soothingly somewhere nearby.
“Will there be any demons out here?” I ask as Alaric dismounts behind me.
“No, there are far too many vampires in Nightwich for them to bother haunting these lands.”
He grips my waist and lifts me. Bracing my hands on his shoulders, he gently lowers me to the ground. I step sideways and drink in our surroundings.
It’s beautiful. My mouth drops open as I take in the thick cover of trees to the east, the tall, looming peaks of the mountains to the far west, and the endless black sky filled with infinite stars that glitter like broken glass overhead. The night is clear without a cloud in sight. I’ve never dreamed of standing out in the open after sunset, far away from shelter and without fear of demons.
Wood smoke brings my attention back to Alaric as he crouches around a pile of stones and sticks, building a small fire. Flames catch with a whoosh.
Another shiver skitters over me and I hurry to join him at the fire. Alaric’s arm snakes around my waist and pulls me closer. The warmth of his body is more comforting than the fire. Resting my head on his shoulder, I close my eyes, wishing this could last forever.
“How are you?” Alaric asks tentatively.
Pressing a hand against his chest, I lean back and frown. “I’m all right,” I say slowly then ask, “What do you mean?”
He twists to look me in the eyes. “Your mother… It’s been a week, and you haven’t said a word.”
Oh.
That.
“How did you find out?” I ask, digging at the dirt with a finger. I take a deep breath and think for a moment, afraid that if he finds me cold and callous, he’ll want to take back his earlier words.
“Cassius told me.”
Of course he did.
“I… I am numb to it,” I say honestly, peeking up at him through my lashes and expecting a look of disgust or disapproval. But his features remain neutral, so I go on. “I don’t know if what happened hasn’t hit me yet. For most of my life I believed she was already dead—I’ve been mourning her since I was eight.” I pause to take a breath then continue, twisting and untwisting the edge of my sleeve around a finger. “The woman I met here was nothing like the mother I knew. It’s almost as if nothing changed… This version of her was a stranger with a familiar face.”
When I finally stop talking, a heavy silence settles between us. The fire snaps, and a piece of wood shifts, sending embers into the air that fade against the night sky.
Holding my breath, I wait for him to hate me for not feeling as I should, for being heartless and unworthy of his affection.
“I understand,” he says.
I release a sigh, grateful that he hasn’t condemned me. Wanting to move the conversation to anything else, I turn the question back on him. “How are you doing… with Elizabeth’s demands?”
The deep, blue sapphire of his irises darkens to nearly black. “I hate every hour of it, loathe every minute I’m forced to be at her side, and despise every second I am away from you.” The vampire at my side shrinks in on himself. “I can feel my freedom slipping away every night. It’s the one thing I’ve always feared.”
