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I don’t remember.” He looks away, frowning slightly. “We were at war with Belvedere and… Father wouldn’t back down. We knew we were surrounded.” His hands tighten into fists. “I need to see Father.”
Instinct drives me to place a hand on his chest, but I retract it immediately. “Your father is dead. I’m sorry.”
He nods, looking resigned. “I thought so. Are… all…”
“Yes.”
The red veins flare back up then dissipate. “Anastasia.” The name comes out soft from his lips.
I remember the portrait of Anastasia, his beautiful sister. I can tell she meant a lot to him. “I’m so sorry,” I tell him. “I’m sorry my ancestors did this to you.”
“I bit you.” His fingers brush my neck, making a shiver of pleasure run down my spine. His touch is like the finest silk. “I fed on you without asking. I’m sorry I did that.”
“It’s okay.”
His hand slides from my neck down the length of my arm until he reaches my wrist and wounded palm. “Kira Belvedere. No wonder you tasted so good.” He lifts my hand to his lips and slowly licks the length of the cut.
I can’t help but moan. This boy could kill me right here and now as I stand, but his every touch is orgasmic.
“There,” he says, giving me back my hand. “You will heal now.”
“Thank you,” I manage.
I turn back to the room’s entrance. I should return to the recreation hall. The others will be wondering where I am. But first, Cyrus needs to understand the current situation. “You, um… I think you need to stay here in this room.”
He frowns. “But the castle is my home.”
I shake my head. “Not for a long time now. It’s actually where the auras are taught how to be Guardians.” I point to the open door. “Out there are a bunch of teachers and students who all think vampires don’t exist anymore. And I’m not sure what they’d do if they saw you.”
His expression crumples. Grief travels across his features like dark clouds across the moon. I wish I could console him. It’s unbearable to watch someone experience so much pain.
“None of this makes sense,” he finally says. “Why am I here? It should be Father in this tomb, not me. He should have been the one to be resurrected.” He turns away and begins to pace. “What am I supposed to do in here?”
“I don’t know, Cyrus. We’ll figure it out. But I’m not…” I pull in a deep breath and steady myself, solidifying the decision I’ve been slowly forming. “I’m not going to tell anyone. You shouldn’t be punished for what your father did over a century ago.”
“You think they’ll kill me?” His voice is heavy with fear. His jaw tightens, and his brow furrows as he waits for an answer.
“Yes,” I admit. “Or they’ll try. I don’t know. They’re powerful, but so are you, and I see things going pretty loco if you go out there. Maybe we can figure out a different way for you to come back into the world. One that people will accept.”
Cyrus shakes his head. He blurs across the room towardthe door but is suddenly propelled back, arms and legs flailing as he lands on his back.
Without thinking, I hurry over to help him up. “Are you okay? It was like you hit a barrier or a forcefield or something.”
The red veins are back around his eyes, but he still offers me his arm to help him up. Even in full vampire mode, he’s less scary than before. I guess I’m getting used to it.
“Magic,” he says, nostrils flaring. “Someone has an extremely powerful ward up around this room. And it seems designed to keep me in.”
Nineteen
By the timeI reach the study and close the door to the secret tunnel, my knees are shaking. I check the palm of my hand, but the cut is almost healed. On my way back here, I had to find my phone in the dark, and now I notice my fingernails are dirty. Oh well.
When my fingers brush the wound on my neck, they come back clean. Still, I arrange my hair so that no one will notice any bite marks.
That leaves just the bloodstain on my skirt. It’s big enough to be seen, especially in the recreation hall, where the candles seem to burn brighter. I walk over to the door that leads into the hall and listen as groups of voices chatter and laugh and bicker like normal.
No one appears to be looking for me. “Rude,” I whisper, but I know I’m lucky there isn’t a search party roaming the castle.
Quietly, I ease my way back into the hall. I keep my head down, rearrange my hair over my neck again, and stick to the back of the room. Hidden in the shadows, I check the roomfor Damien. I’m assuming red wine isn’t on the menu for students, but perhaps I can pass off the stain as fruit juice or cordial and ask him if I can go and change.
