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“I’ve had a bath drawn for us,” he said and held out his hand.
When I sat up, my head swam, and I accepted his help as I rose to my feet. I looked down at my body and then back at our bed—it was all stained with blood.
Adrian offered a small smile. “New vampires are messy.”
He walked with me to the metal tub, and I was glad for it because I did not feel completely stable on my feet.
I lowered into the water, steam curling around me as I did. Adrian followed, settling behind me. We spent a few moments cleaning the blood from our skin before I leaned against his chest, his arms crossed over my body, protective, comforting—and then he spoke, his voice soft and serious.
“Tell me what happened. Every detail.”
I took a few moments to gather my thoughts, to decide how I would present the story of Sorin’s betrayal. I was still confused by his actions. He had saved me from the vârcolaci only to stab me with his own sword. Had he had second thoughts? What about when we were in the woods on the night of the full moon? Had he hoped the villagers would do the job he ended up executing?
“I think I am responsible for the vârcolaci entering the castle,” I said, pausing, but there was no change in Adrian’s body, no hint that he was upset by what I was saying. “I…summoned Ravena via the mirror in my room, and when I broke it, I think I allowed the creatures in somehow.”
“You don’t know that,” he said. “Ravena could have sent them on her own.”
I did not acknowledge his comment, though what he said could be true.
“I realized what had happened, and Sorin came with me to my chamber. He fought beside me, even after I shifted into my aufhocker form.”
At the mention of my change, Adrian’s arms tightened around me.
“He saved me from one of the vârcolaci…and then…he stabbed me, and even after, he did not leave.”
I was so confused, so tired of crying over everything that had happened to my people and to me. I hated that my mouth quivered now.
“He held me and tried to tell me it was for the greater good.”
Ihatedthose words.
You would be renowned, not just in Lara but all of Cordova, my father had said as he tried to convince me to die for something he’d called thegreater good, which only meant a world where Adrian and I did not exist.
And apparently, Sorin believed the same.
Which hurt because I’d spent time with him as he’d recounted his trauma. I’d held him on the floor of the training room and mourned that his life had changed just as suddenly as mine. Maybe the most horrifying part of it all was that no one seemed to want me to die as much as they wanted Adrian to die—but I was the easiest target.
Well, no longer.
“What is the greater good?” Adrian asked.
“A world without you,” I said, quiet and sad.
I gripped the side of the metal tub and turned around to face Adrian. He drew me close, my knees on either side of his waist.
“What is it that you want?”
“You,” he said, trailing his wet fingers over my lips.
“Adrian,” I whispered. “You know what I am asking.”
“And I am answering,” he said. “My goal has never changed. I will rule Cordova with you at my side.”
“That is the destination. How are you getting there?”
He stared at me for a long moment and then answered, “You.”
I jerked my head back, surprised by his answer.
