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“A vampire is stronger, faster. You will live longer, be more powerful.”
I gave a firm shake of my head. “Gabriel’s a dhampir, isn’t he? If it’s good enough for him, it’s good enough for me.”
“Mm. Of course, as a dhampir,” he pointed out to Gabriel, “she will be able to bear your sons more easily—and to give you more than one.”
Gabriel’s look was livid. “You think I give a fuck about that?”
His father moved an elegantly clad shoulder. “When you’ve lived as long as me, you’ll find that life has a way of making you change your mind. You say that now, but later…”
“Just shut up,” Gabriel gritted.
“Please, Gabriel.” I set a hand on his chest. “You know this is the only solution. I don’t want to live my life afraid. I’ve had my fill of that. I want this. If I stay human, I’ll always be the weak one, the one you have to protect.”
Gabriel’s jaw worked. He pulled me aside. Karoly rummaged in a sideboard for a glass of blood-wine, giving us space, although we both knew he could still hear us.
“I never meant for this to happen,” Gabriel said in an undertone. “Never meant for you to become a target. I—”
“Hey.” I set my hand on his lips, stopping his self-recrimination. “We can’t go back now even if we wanted to. And I don’t want to go back. Iloveyou. And if this is what I have to do to have you, then I’ll gladly do it.”
“We can leave.” He gripped my shoulders. “I have my own money. We can hole up in Montauk. Or go to some fucking island in the Pacific a thousand miles from anything else.”
“And do what?” I scoffed. “Work on our tans?” Actually, that didn’t sound bad right now. “It might even be fun…for a year or two. But for the rest of our lives? Sooner or later we’d have to come off that island, and I’ll still be a human.”
“But I’d have you.”
I cupped his face. “Listen to me. I’m. Not. Going. To. Die.”
He scrutinized me. “You really want to do this? You’re not just offering because you think it’s what I want?”
“No. I’ve had three years to think this over. And I told you, I choose you.”
“Even this so-isolated island might not be safe,” Karoly murmured in his cool voice as he strolled back to us. “It seems someone wishes to ensure I leave no heirs.”
“Hell.” Gabriel’s breath scraped from his lungs. He raised his eyes to the ceiling as if looking for an answer there, then looked back at me. His expression was taut, the muscles of his neck corded with tension. But he gave a curt dip of his chin. “Fine. You have my permission. But if you change your mind…”
It was my turn to take a deep breath. But my mind was made up. When you’re backed into a corner, sometimes the only way out is to restart the game.
“I won’t,” I said firmly and glanced at his father. “I can ask anyone I want to take me through the transition, right?”
“That’s correct.”
“Then I request that you, Primus Kral, turn me into a dhampir.”
Beside me, Gabriel’s body went rigid, but he remained silent.
Karoly’s smile was small but approving. “I accept. Name the date.”
“A week from now. I want to go home first, spend some time with my family. Just in case—you know.”
In case I didn’t make it.
Karoly nodded. “You’ll make the arrangements?” he asked Gabriel.
“I will.” His expression was grim. “And I’ll take her to Maryland myself.”
“Then I will see you in one week,” Karoly told me.
I gazed back calmly. Now that the decision was made, I felt oddly serene. Whether I lived or died, I believed I’d made the right choice.
