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“Indeed.”
“She killed Gideon?” Will’s voice turned up with hope.
“Not yet, but I believe she will. I believe it is even possible Gideon will welcome that death.”
“Why would he do that?”
“He has been alive forever. That’s a curse not even the oldest of my kind can fathom. Gideon is lonely in a way I cannot explain, William. That is why he destroys connections. That is why he had to take you from me. There are no others of his kind. He may appear human, or vampire, but he has never been either one of those things. That is what makes him powerful, what makes him dangerous, and what makes him absolutely deeply miserable.”
“Am I supposed to feel sorry for him?”
“No. I am telling you this so you might understand him. And in understanding him, understand why I could not fight him for you. I could sooner put out the sun than defy him. I did what I could to safeguard you, and I know you suffered pain and humiliation. By staying away from you, I kept you alive until a time such as this. I knew our time would come.”
“I’m not the person you knew,” Will said. “I swore when I left prison I’d never go back, but being with you sent me right back to a cage. And Henry. We didn’t know when we would get out, or if we would ever get out alive. I promised myself if I ever did escape, it would be properly, in every way. I wouldn’t just never go back to a physical cage. I’d never go back to any cage. Not the cage of laws. Not the cage of men. Not the cage of love.” His blue eyes flashed with something like sorrow. “I promised myself I’d take care of myself. And that’s what I’m going to do.”
“If you keep murdering your way across the state, eventually you will be imprisoned or killed. You have to know that.”
“It’s not murder, what I do. Beasts need to feed. And that’s what I am. A beast. Nothing more, and nothing less.”
“You are much worse than a beast. When you kill, you express your pain. You create tragedies. Animals might do that from time to time by sheer chance, but what you have been doing is deliberate and calculated, even though you may be completely unaware of it.”
“Says you.”
“Indeed. Says I.”
They stared at one another, ancient brown eyes meeting a fierce blue gaze. These two forces could easily neutralize one another if they were allowed to do so, but for now they remained in a state of unresolved chemistry, hate, love, and fear all in play.
12
“You impress me,” Gideon said. “I am beginning to understand why your mother is so powerful. She bore two fascinatingly strong boys.”
Carter looked blankly at Gideon, though not with a complete lack of understanding. The rumors of his mother being alive had percolated through the mansion, of course. The coven had no secrets.
“So it’s true. My mother survived what you did to her.” Carter bit out the last of the sentence, his fangs snapping with the effort not to call it what it was. Murder.
“In a manner of speaking.”
“Is she a vampire too?”
There was an adorable level of hope in his voice. He was just eighteen years old, still very much a baby. He wanted his mama. Gideon could not relate to the desire. He had been created from forces of pure evil and therefore had no corporeal mother.
“I do not believe so.”
“And my sister?”
Gideon had almost forgotten about the little female. She had been a tasty morsel.
“There was nothing left of her to save.”
Carter’s blue eyes flashed black, just for a moment. Gideon was not foolish. He knew that Carter’s rage was tremendous, his grief profound. No vampire gained the gift of eternity without paying the toll of misery.
“She did not suffer,” Gideon said. “And I can assure you, that was a mercy. She was not aware of her passing, and she was never subjected to the great human curse of growing old. Your sister never knew what it was to become adult, to be burdened by responsibilities and cares, to be betrayed by her body, and to eventually pass. I ended her swiftly before she knew I was there. It was the greatest mercy I was capable of bestowing.”
“You expect me to be grateful for that?”
Gideon’s eyes were dark with compassion. “You should be. Look at your own pain, this torment you are suffering. In the years to come, you will watch the young and the strong, your current contemporaries, become the weak and the old. Only time will give you the perspective necessary to appreciate the gifts I bestowed upon your family.”
“My family. Including the wolf you imprisoned here. My brother.”
