Page 104 of Burn Falls

“Wait, what?”

“It’s been almost two months. You know as well as I do that Renzo doesn’t like to wait.”

“Maybe he’ll send another vamp and not himself?”

“I can’t take the chance.”

“What are you going to tell Calla?”

“I don’t know.”

I left Athan and went to my room, having every intention of waking Sleeping Beauty. This was going to be the last time I’d ever lay eyes on her because it was better to walk away now and hope I could pursue Renzo to forget about Burn Falls. The problem was, I wouldn’t be able to tell her face to face because she’d change my mind. I knew it.

Because I loved her.

It hit me as I stared at her—Iwasin love with her. I’d do anything she asked of me. I could deny it all I wanted, but as I looked down on Calla while she slept, I knew without a doubt that I was in love with her—in love with a human. I thought about her all the time, and it wasn’t only because I wanted to keep her safe.

I honestly couldn’t imagine a world without Calla O’Bannion in it.

And now I knew what it meant when people said that if you loved someone you needed to set them free. I’d lived long enough, and she had a lot of life left. Plus, getting married and having children. I couldn’t take that from her. I told her that I would never let anything happen to her, and that meant giving my life for hers.

It was better this way.

After crawling into bed with Calla, I woke her with my mouth and then I wished her a good day at work after she was satisfied, knowing full well that it was the last time I’d see her beautiful face.

As the moon shined on the water of the lake in the distance in my backyard, I took one final look around at the house that was starting to feel more like me than any other place I’d ever lived in. My plan was to call Martin on the road and let him know what was happening. I didn’t have time to see him and tell him goodbye because the clock was ticking. I had to intercept Renzo before he could do any more damage. No one else knew except Athan that I was leaving after my shift, but it didn’t matter. Sure the hospital would be understaffed for a while, but I didn’t care. I’d never practice again because I was either going to die or give myself back to Renzo to control. In ’32 I’d warned Malone to not sell his soul to Renzo because he’d never get it back, but that’s exactly what I was going to do.

I was selling my soul to the devil.

For Calla.

There’s the saying, “An eye for an eye.” I was going to propose a life for a life. My life since I was immortal should count for the four that had Renzo’s blood. I planned to tell Renzo that I killed Donovan when he came for Miles because I’d thought he came for me. Then, I would tell Renzo that Miles was dead and leave it at that, hoping he knew nothing about Calla and her siblings. I wasn’t going to worry about the grandma. She was in her nineties, and if Renzo really wanted a ninety-year-old to be a vampire, that was on him. I was taking a big gamble because there was a chance Renzo already knew about Calla because if he could find Miles, then he could know Miles had children.

During my shift, I thought about Calla. Even though I’d never see her again, I felt as though I needed to tell her what I was doing. I loved her too much to just leave without telling her the truth.

“Hey,” Calla greeted.

“Hey.”

“How’s the ER tonight?”

“It’s slow.”

“Well, that’s good.”

“Listen, after work, I’m going to Chicago.”

“What? Why?”

“I need to cut Renzo off at the pass.”

“What do you mean, you need tocuthim off at the pass?”

“I’m going to go there and tell him that I knew Donovan was sent for me.”

“Sent for you?”

“Yes. I’m going to tell him that he found me, and if he asks about your father, then I’ll tell him that he got in the way and was killed. He shouldn’t need to come to Burn Falls unless he knows about you and your family. Then I can do something to stop him. I don’t know what yet—”