Page 16 of Bewitched by the Fruit Bat King (The Bewitching Hour #3)
I’m a Coward
Kane
I watch her process the revelation about me being a fruit bat vampire, feeling her relief pulse through our bond.
It would be amusing if the next part wasn't going to be so difficult.
Centuries of carefully guarded secrets, and here I am, about to spill them over dinner.
My mother would be horrified. Then again, she was often horrified of my decisions.
"There's more." The words taste bitter. I get up and move away from the table, needing space to think. To plan. I've rehearsed this conversation a dozen times, but now that she's here, looking at me with those sharp eyes that see too much, all my carefully prepared speeches feel hollow.
"More secrets?" Her teasing smile doesn't quite hide her concern. "And here I thought we were just having a nice dinner in your secret underwater garden."
"The garden was meant to butter you up before the difficult conversations." I aim for lightness, but the bond betrays my tension.
"Kane." She stands, closing the distance between us. "Just tell me."
The bond thrums with her genuine concern, and somehow that makes it both easier and harder. "Some of our kind are... changing. Shifting from fruit bat to blood drinker. It hasn't happened for centuries, not since..." I trail off, centuries of secrets choking the words.
"Since when?" Her hand touches my arm, and the contact sends sparks through our bond.
"Since the original curse." The words hang in the air. "The one that created blood-drinking vampires in the first place."
Her eyes widen. "Curse? I thought it was just... how some vampires were."
"No." I move to the edge of our bubble, watching the dark water beyond. It's easier than watching her face. "We were all fruit bats originally. The blood drinking came later. From a curse laid by a very powerful witch."
"A witch?" Something in her tone makes me turn back. She's frozen, her mind clearly racing.
Clever girl. I shouldn't find her quick mind so attractive, not when it makes keeping secrets so much harder. "Hazel. Her name was Hazel."
Her sharp intake of breath surprises me. There's recognition in her eyes that I wasn't expecting.
"The missing pages," she says slowly. "Your family removed them, didn't they?"
"Some histories are better left buried." Even to my own ears, I sound too defensive.
"Not when they're repeating themselves." She gets up, steps closer to me, and I have to fight the urge to pull her against me. "Marcus changed. Others are changing. Why now? After centuries?"
This is the moment. I could tell her everything - about our bond, about how it's awakened something that should have stayed dormant. About how every time I feel her through our connection, I'm terrified I'm damning more of my people to this curse.
I'm a coward.
"It's complicated," I say instead.
“Not really.”
"You've been doing your research." I try to keep my tone light, even as my mind races to calculate exactly how much she knows.
"Found it in my family grimoire, actually." Her eyes never leave my face. "Though someone went to an awful lot of trouble to remove certain... details."
"Did they?" I force myself to meet her gaze steadily, though inside I'm cursing generations of Kane family secrets.
"Don't play coy, Kane. It doesn't suit you." She steps closer, and the bond crackles between us. "I know about Victor breaking their fated mate bond. About him choosing another woman."
The old anger rises, not mine but inherited through generations. "Then you know how it ended."
"I know it should have been impossible to break a fated mate bond." Her voice softens. "I know the pain would have been excruciating. Fatal, according to everything I've read."
"It nearly was." I turn to watch the dark water beyond our bubble. "For both of them. But Victor survived. Hazel..."
"Cursed your entire race," she finishes quietly. "Turned you into blood-drinking monsters. But you said most vampires don't drink blood anymore."
"The curse weakened after her death. Practically disappeared actually." I don't tell her why it's appeared again. Can't tell her that every moment our bond grows stronger, the curse grows with it. "Until now."
"Oh god. That's what was happening to Marcus? He was changing?"
"Yes." The memory of finding her in the field, of him trying to attack her, still makes me want to break something. "The change drives them temporarily insane. He wasn't himself."
"Are you..." She steps closer, reaching for me. "Kane, he bit you too. Are you..."
The concern in her voice undoes me. I catch her hand, pressing it to my chest where my heart beats steady and unchanged. "I'm fine. Fully healed. Still strictly a fruit bat, I promise."
"You're sure?" Her fingers curl into my shirt, and the bond floods with her worry.
"Very sure." I cover her hand with mine, unable to resist the contact. "Though I have to say, your concern for the big bad vampire king is touching."
"Someone has to worry about you," she mutters. "Since you're clearly too busy playing mysterious CEO vampire king with your secret underwater city and magical fruit garden."
I laugh, grateful for her ability to lighten even the darkest moments. "I'll have you know this garden is a very serious business venture."
"Oh really?" Her lips quirk up. "And what's the ROI on glowing pomegranates these days?"
"Wouldn't you like to know?" I tug her closer, enjoying how she pretends to resist even as the bond sparks.
"Actually, I would." She tilts her head, studying me. "I'd like to know a lot of things. Like why your family felt the need to tear those pages out of the book. Or why you're telling me all this now."
Because I'm selfish. Because I want you to understand, even if I can't tell you everything. Because every time you look at me like that, I want to tell you all my secrets.
"Because you deserve to know what you're getting into," I say instead. "Being connected to our world... to me... it comes with complications."
"Complications like cursed vampires and underwater cities?"
"Among other things." I brush a strand of hair from her face, allowing myself this small indulgence. "Though I should warn you, this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to Kane family drama."
"Hmm." She leans into my touch, probably without realizing it. "And here I thought dating a CEO would be complicated enough on its own."
"Dating?" I can't help but tease her. "Is that what we're doing?"
"Well, you did bring me to dinner in your secret garden. And it is sort of our third date?" Her eyes dance with mischief. "Though I have to say, most third dates don't involve quite so many revelations about ancient curses."
"I'm not most people." The words come out more serious than I intended.
"No," she agrees softly. "You're not."
The bond hums, full of possibilities and dangers I can't bring myself to voice. Not yet. Maybe not ever, if it means protecting her from the weight of what our connection has awakened.
"Tell me more about Hazel," she says suddenly. "What was she like? Besides, you know, the curse thing."
Of course she'd ask about the one thing I most want to avoid discussing. "She was powerful. Brilliant. And very, very angry when Victor betrayed her."
"Can't blame her for that." Something flashes in her eyes. "Though cursing an entire race seems a bit extreme."
If you only knew, I think, watching her. If you knew that history is repeating itself in ways I can't bring myself to explain.
"Extreme is what happens when fated mates are torn apart." The words taste like ash. "The bond doesn't just go away. It twists into something darker."
"Is that why vampires are so careful about fated mates now?" She's too perceptive for my peace of mind. "Why you keep so many secrets?"
"Something like that." I force a smile. "Though I'd argue we're not that secretive. I did just show you my underwater city."
"And what would happen if any other vampire was revealing these sorts of secrets?"
"I have my people to protect and a reputation to maintain." I pull her closer, needing to lighten the moment before I reveal too much. "Can't have people thinking I'm the kind of vampire who shows his secret garden to just anyone."
"Heaven forbid." But she's smiling, letting me direct us away from dangerous topics. "Though I have to ask - does your board know about the exotic fruit division of Kane Industries?"
"It's a very exclusive subsidiary." I lead her back to our table, where our dinner has somehow stayed perfectly warm. Magic has its uses. "Very need-to-know basis."
"And I need to know because...?"
Because you're my mate. Because your very existence is rewriting vampire history. Because I'm terrified of what that means for both of us.
"Because I like you," I say simply, letting that small truth stand in for all the ones I can't voice. "Despite my better judgment and several strongly worded memos from basically everyone in my life."
"Strongly worded memos?" She laughs as I hold her chair. "About little old me?"
"You did leave me unconscious on the boardroom table." I take my own seat, enjoying how the floating lights catch in her hair. "And are related to Hazel. That tends to raise some security concerns."
"I feel like that’s always your excuse. Find a new one you dramatic vampire." She says with a wink.
"Dramatic?" I press a hand to my chest in mock offense. "I'll have you know I am a very distinguished fruit bat."
Her laughter echoes through our bubble, and for a moment I can almost forget the weight of everything I'm not telling her. Almost forget that every smile, every touch, every strengthening pulse of our bond is awakening an ancient curse I don't know how to stop.
But as she steps so close our chests almost touch, I remember. And I wonder how long I can keep playing this game before everything I'm hiding comes crashing down around us.
For now, though, I'll take this moment. This laughter. This connection that feels worth any curse, even as it terrifies me.
"So," she says, eyes sparkling with mischief, "about those glowing pomegranates. How do I get them in my shop?"
I smile, letting her lead us back to safer topics. After all, what kind of CEO would I be if I revealed all my secrets in one night?