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“Well, I would like a ring to seal our vows. One that matches my cuff.” She lifted her hand so she could admire the gold bracelet I’d given her. The diamond chips caught the moonlight, twinkling like tiny stars.
“It’s yours. Hell, I’ll buy you a ring for every day of the month. And a necklace and earrings to match.”
She brought her arm back to her side. “I just want the one ring. But that’s not what I meant.”
“Anything. Just tell me and it’s yours.”
“Promise?” She stopped and looked up at me, her eyes dark pools in her face.
I faced her, my back to the ocean. A spike of wariness made me add, “If it’s within my power to give it to you, then yes, I promise.”
“It’s within your power.” She drew a breath, then said the rest in a rush. “I want you to turn me.”
“Turn you.” My insides chilled. Behind me, the surf surged toward the shore, sucking at my ankles. “Into a vampire?”
“Yes,” she said. “And yeah, I know it’s risky, but I want this. I want to be a true mate to you. Otherwise, when I’m an old lady, you’ll just be hitting your prime.”
“Twilight. Itisrisky. You might not make it through.”
“But if you don’t do it, I’m going to die hundreds of years before you. Do you really want to live that long without your mate? If you stay sane, that is. Look what happened to your fa—”
She broke off, but we both knew she’d meant Jules.
My hands came to her shoulders. “I can’t lose you.”
“You won’t. I’m young, strong. People like me almost always make it through, don’t they?”
I hesitated. “Yes. But not all of them.”
She put her hands on my chest, her eyes moving between mine. I knew my expression was stony, but inside, fear clawed at me.
It was too soon. My mate was human. I knew I wouldn’t have her for long—not as a vampire counts years. But this, this was too soon. I couldn’t risk losing her now, not when I’d only just found her.
“Listen to me,” Twilight ordered. “Are you listening?”
I reluctantly lowered my chin in a nod.
“Ineedto do this. It’s not a sudden decision, if that’s what you’re worrying about. I was thinking about it even before I accepted your blood bond—almost since I came here, in fact. Clarisse Dumas was right. I am weak, and that’s not what you need.”
“Clarisse was a liar and a traitor. Don’t let that bitch push you into doing something you don’t want to do.”
“Yeah? What about the tattoo on my back? You think I wanted that?”
“Of course not.” I caressed her shoulders. “I know that was forced on you.”
“Because I couldn’t stop them.” She huffed a breath. “It’s not the tattoo so much. It’s that it’s a symbol.”
I furrowed my brow. “Of what?”
“That I’m a human. Even in SI, I was one of the weaker ones. Yeah, I worked my ass off to make up for it. But most of them were dhampirs, and no matter how hard I tried, I could never be as fast and strong as someone who’s even a quarter vampire.”
I was starting to understand. “I see.”
“So, believe me when I say I want to do this.” She swallowed, then added, “SI is going to come after me, Brien. You can’t just leave like I did. I’ve been AWOL for two years—and at least one person knew I staked my alpha. As soon as I resurface, they’ll put out a kill order on me.”
My back teeth clenched so hard my jaw hurt. “They’ll have to go through me to get to you.”
“But if I was a vampire, it would make it a helluvalot harder for them. In fact, we could make sure Karoly Kral knows. The Krals owe me a favor.”
