Page 98 of Burn Falls

“I need a drink,” Draven stated and walked to a cabinet on the wall that led to the kitchen and opened it. He pulled out a decanter of amber liquid and poured it into two glasses. “One second.” Draven dashed off to the kitchen in a blink of an eye. A minute or so later, he returned.

“What’s going on?”

Draven handed me the glass, and after taking a big gulp of his, he started to pace in front of me. I noticed he had an erection, and I realized he’d drunk a blood bag to get his blood flowing so the whiskey would work.

“Will you tell me what’s going on? I think I can handle it given the situation that’s my life right now.”

He set his glass on the wood coffee table and then knelt in front of me, grabbing my hands in his cold ones. After spending four days and nights straight with him, I was getting somewhat used to the icy feeling. “The vampire that killed your father was just here.”

The glass I was holding slipped from my grasp, and before it fell onto the floor, he caught it. “What?” I whispered in shock.

“He explained the situation.” He set my glass on the table.

“What is there to explain?” I hissed. “Did you rip his heart from his fucking chest?”

Draven shook his head. “I wanted to, but he explained what really happened.”

I pushed past him as I stood and then started to pace. “Heexplained? What was there to explain other than he’s the reason my father’s dead?” A tear slid down my cheek.

“It was an accident.” Draven stopped me from pacing and cupped my cheeks as he looked into my eyes.

I laughed sarcastically staring back at him. “An accident? How was it an accident?”

“Take a few sips of the whiskey, and then I’ll explain. Just like the night you found out that I’m a vampire, I’ll tell you everything.”

“There’s nothing to explain, Draven. He killed my father and deserves to die.”

“It’s so much more than that, and while I agree with you, I think we need him.”

“Need him? Why do weneedsomeone who kills innocent people?”

“Let me explain.”

“You won’t sugarcoat it?”

Draven pressed his lips against mine. “No. You need to know everything.”

He dropped his hands, and I returned to the couch. After Draven handed me my glass, I downed all of it and not just the few sips he’d recommended. Once it was empty, he took the glass back and set it on the table. Like he had done before, he knelt in front of me and grabbed my hands.

“Don’t leave anything out.”

Draven smiled warmly. “I won’t, sweets.”

I took a deep breath and tried to prepare myself. “All right. Let me have it.”

“Renzo is your great-grandfather.”

“What?” I shrieked. “How is that possible?”

“Apparently vampires can knock up their true loves.”

“That can’t be true. She married my great-grandfather after that picture was taken on Valentine’s Day, and she had to be pregnant in the picture since my grandma was born in August. She wouldn’t have just met my great-grandfather and then married him almost immediately after.”

“Are you sure about that?”

I thought for a moment. “No. I don’t really know her story.”

“It’s possible—just like with Mary—that Gael got pregnant before she was married.”