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The strange thing is that Valtu appears to be more than just a black smudge in the bright world—he’s like a black hole. There’s this dark energy about him, radiating from him and circling around him. People are walking past him, some giving him shy smiles, others glancing at him and keeping on their way, but no one seems scared or off-put by the darkness in his orbit. I wonder if only I can see it or if any vampires can. But Abe is looking forward, determined to stay in his role, and I know if I want this to work, I must do the same.
I feel like my life is bleeding back into Dahlia’s. At least I’ve been through this before.
Yeah. And it didn’t end well.
“Valtu,” Abe greets him in a commanding voice as we approach, and Valtu slowly turns to face us.
His dark eyes go to Abe’s first and I’m surprised to see he isn’t smiling. Valtu always had a smile for his oldest friend. Often cheeky or amused but that smile was always there and freely given. Now though, Valtu’s face remains completely impassive, even in his eyes.
Then his deep brown eyes move over to me and I suck in my breath because he finally sees me.
He sees me!
But then I’m only seeing what I want to, because his expression doesn’t change at all. He looks me up and down, I guess to get an idea of thegoodsbeing delivered, but there’s no recognition at all, only a hint of derisiveness.
“Doctor,” Valtu says, the sound of his voice, low, rich and melodic, sending shivers in waves down my spine. “It’s been some time.”
He doesn’t hug Abe, or shake his hand. Just continues to stand where he is, hands in his pockets, face blank. He doesn’t even glance at me again, it’s like I’m not even there.
Oh my god.
He really doesn’t remember me.
I’m just some random redheaded whore that Abe brought for him to play with, and I’m not even sure he finds me attractive enough for that at this point. He doesn’t seem that happy to have me there, then again he doesn’t seem all that happy about anything.
Valtu, I think pleadingly and before I can finish that thought, he looks at me sharply, narrows his eyes.
Oh no. He heard that.
“And who did you bring me here?” he says coldly, his gaze flitting over my features as his attention is purely on me now. My heart pounds a mile a minute and I’m torn between feeling absolutely heartbroken over the fact that he doesn’t know who I am, and completely smitten and joyous because he’s here, in the flesh, standing right in front of me.
My heart found his again.
But his heart doesn’t know mine.
“She’s a big admirer of yours,” Abe quickly says, and I know that’s my cue to tone it down, but I can’t. If anything, my pulse quickens, my nerves feeling shot and shaky.
I don’t think I can handle this.
Valtu sniffs derisively, his nostrils flaring as he takes in my scent. “And a vampire. You couldn’t find a human that was a big fan?”
“Vampires last a lot longer,” Abe says to him with a knowing look in his eye, and I can’t help but bristle at that, talking as if I’m just some cow on the auction block. “I know you don’t care for humans, Valtu, but using them and discarding them as you do, really puts out a lot of, how should I say, bad juju into the world.”
Valtu simultaneously sneers and grumbles and despite that, he’s still the most beautiful creature I’ve ever seen. He always will be, even when I catch a glimpse of those dark eyes and I see nothing staring back at me. Just this void where his soul used to be.
And just like that, perhaps a moment too late, I’m suddenly afraid.
No, not just afraid.Terrified.
Because I realize how much heartbreak I’m setting myself up for.
Valtu, my love, doesn’t know me. He doesn’t remember me. Remember us. And worse than that, he’s dangerous in a way that he never was before. Even when I was Dahlia and I was putting myself in harm’s way by going after him, I never really believed he would kill me, not unless he found out who I was. He was Professor Aminoff. He was respected and kind and while his sexual appetites were on the kinky side (to say the least) I never felt I was actually in any danger with him. If anything, he went out of his way to not harm others, hence the creation of the Red Room.
But I can see with this Valtu, standing before me like a dark specter amongst the frozen snow, that he wouldn’t hesitate to kill if he deemed it necessary—perhaps even if it wasn’t necessary. And he wasn’t one to feel remorse over it, or anything for that matter. I suppose it’s hard to feel remorse when it can be so easily erased.
Because that’s what I am.
So easily erased.
