Page 46 of Blood as Sweet as Roses

“No, it’s not worth it,” I answer, my fangs retracting back into place as the earthy smell of shifter blood dissipates from the air.

“Then I’ll take my leave,” Celine says. She gives me a knowing look before she exits.

It’s only us and the bartenders now. All the other guests fled during the tense exchange between us and the shifters. I can’t blame them.

Kai eyes me anxiously. There’s still a line across their wrist where they were burnt by the silver.

“Crimson, I’m…I’m so sorry,” they say. “I never meant for the shifters to find us!”

“You got married,” I say, with a shake of my head. But my voice is more weary than angry, my fury all burnt out. “Kai, what were you thinking?”

“I love him, Crimson,” they reply in a whisper, taking the merman’s hand in their’s. “And if…if you want to punish me, I’ll accept it. But I don’t want to exist in the shadows anymore. I want everyone to know about us, even if that means…”

They wince, and cast their gaze downward.

The mermaid squeezes their hand, and gives me a beseeching look. “Please, don’t hurt them…”

But I raise my hand to stop him. I’m not interested in what he has to say.

I step toward Kai, and I take their chin in my hand, raising their eyes to meet mine.

“I’m disappointed in you,” I tell them, firmly. “You kept a secret, and married without my permission.”

Their nose twitches, but they don’t reply. I steel myself for what I’m going to say next.

“But…you did it because I gave you no choice. It’s clear that you care about this merman, and that he cares about you.

The shifters know of your relationship now, and there’s no putting that cat back into the bag.

” I heave a heavy sigh. Kai looks at me in complete surprise. “I’m not going to punish you.”

The young vampire blinks several time. “You’re…you’re serious?”

“Yes,” I answer. “I only regret that…I wasn’t there to see you married. You’re my only surviving progeny, and I wish I had been there.”

Kai stares up at me in disbelief. “But…what about the wolves?”

“I’ll deal with Nella and the eastern shifter alliance. They were going to find a reason to break our alliance regardless of what you did. They’ve been suspicious of vampires since long before you were created. And I can handle them.”

“I can handle them, too,” Kai says, a fierceness in their bright eyes.

“Thank you, Crimson. This means the world to me. And I promise, I’ll help you more with the shifters and the witches.

I’m sorry that I’ve been distracted, since you ascended to the throne.

But you can count on me! I give you my word. ”

“Good,” I reply.

Then I hear the inimitable pitter-patter of a human heart, and a tantalizing floral scent fills my nostrils.

“Good evening, Paige,” I say, turning around to find her standing in the doorway, looking nervously at Kai and I.

“I’m sorry to interrupt, my king,” she replies. “I heard that there was something happening with the wolves, and I came right over. Are you both all right?”

The genuine concern in her voice prompts a guilty tinge in my stomach. Suddenly, the way I spoke to her earlier in our crypt seems overly harsh and unnecessary.

“Leave us, Kai, and take your husband,” I tell my progeny. They nod, and take the merman by the hand.

Now Paige and I are alone in the lounge. The bartender goes to the back of house, whistling a lilting melody as he counts the till for the night.

Paige comes up to me, tucking a flyaway strand of ink-black hair behind her ear.

“Did you say husband?” she asks. “Did Kai…?”

“Yes. They secretly married him last night. Asked one of the northern vampires to officiate.”

Paige swallows nervously. “My king, please go easy on them…”

I put a finger to her lips, and shake my head. Her brow furrows, but she pauses, regarding me with confusion.

It takes me a moment to collect my thoughts. I don’t have many words for occasions such as this.

“I gave them my blessing,” I say, simply. “It’s too late. The shifters know of their union. But it’s nothing I haven’t dealt with before.”

Her eyelashes flutter as she takes a lilting inhale. “You really gave them your blessing? After all of that?”

“Kai is my progeny, a member of my clan. They have the right to marry whoever they choose.”

Paige’s eyes darken. “And what about you, Crimson? Do you have that right?”

My words fail me. Perhaps I’m older than I realized.

So instead, I bend down, and capture her lips with mine. Our kiss is tender, slow. It might be a mistake, but it’s a delicious, wonderful mistake.

And I can feel her hesitation, her uncertainty, in the way her lips tremble, in the sadness wafting off her skin like the scent of moonlight.

It’s hard not to carry everything into this moment with us. Everything that’s happened to me, everything I’ve done, the prophecy that threatens to destroy us both…

But for just a second, it’s only the two of us here. No past. No future. Just this precious, infinite moment.

Although it takes everything inside of me, I break our kiss, and I gaze down at her.

Slowly, I trace the lines of her lips with my finger, as though memorizing her face.

As though I’m remembering it. Keeping it with me like a precious gift. Like a rose that’s destined to wilt, to crumble to ashes as time separates us.

It’s impossible to comprehend.

“I know you want more from me,” I tell her. “And you should have it. You should have everything you desire, sweet one.”

She takes a shaky inhale, her eyes glistening with the promise of tears.

“But I don’t know what I can give to you. I don’t know if I…if I have it in me.”

To my surprise, my voice catches. Overwhelmed by the sudden rush of emotion, I close my eyes tightly, turn my face from her’s.

I’m not sure how to move forward, but I don’t need to be sure right now. I feel her fingers reach up, thread themselves through my hair. She pulls my face down to her’s, our foreheads touching.

I’m so afraid she’ll say it. I don’t know what I’ll do if she says she loves me.

But she doesn’t say a word. The soft caress of her breath is enough.

I can’t lose her…

I can’t lose someone again.