Page 18

I pull Grayson close and hold him until he protests that I’m squashing his ribs. All the time, his pulse and mine beat in my ears, the confused swirling emotions taking me away from where I am, intense, as if I were with Grayson and Josef when this happened.

“You could’ve died, Grayson.”

“Nah. Josef wasn’t ready to let me go yet.”

“I meant temporarily died.” My voice muffles into a clean patch on Grayson’s shirt, my nostrils filling with his skin’s scent and detergent rather than his blood. “That would’ve been unpleasant.”

He chuckles. “Dying is never pleasant.”

Dorian’s words. His threats. I can’t lose any of the people I love, and Grayson is the most at risk .

“Nobody will ever kill you permanently.”

Grayson gently pries me away from him. “Because you’ll kill them first? Not smart, Violet.”

“Nobody. Not even my father,” I continue.

He smiles dryly. “That’s impossible, and, if I’m a realist, I’d say inevitable.”

“When I died at the lodge, you wanted to give me blood. Leif told me.” He nods. “I didn’t need blood, and I’m glad you didn’t do such a thing. However, if I see you dying at somebody’s hands, I would.”

“Take my blood? I suppose it would be a shame to waste it,” he says with another smile.

“No. I’d give you mine.”

Grayson goes completely still, arms dropping to his sides as he stares. “What?”

“Which is why I need consent to intervene in your death. In Dorian and Eloise’s situation, he never had the chance to ask her.” Grayson remains stiff and mute. “I need permission to give you my blood, if you lose yours.”

“Blood loss won’t kill me permanently. You don’t need consent for anything.” He turns his head away. “I’d survive.”

“Grayson.” I splay my fingers across his cheek and turn his face back to mine.

“Somebody could kill you permanently. Josef is careful. He wants you to suffer but not die. Yet. If you’re attacked in the right way and unable to fight, you could bleed out everything in minutes.

You’d die even before an attacker removes your heart and burns your body. ”

“Violet, I’d need to lose almost all of my blood to reach that state. And I’d need a lot of yours.”

“Yes, but if you’re in that position, I am prepared to give you blood. If you have hybrid blood you won’t bleed out quickly or completely and fire doesn’t harm us. Nobody could harm you .”

“By hurting yourself?” I don’t reply, and Grayson shakes his head. “No. Violet. Dorian told me your blood could kill me.”

“He’s lying.”

“Is he?”

“Probably. He’s Dorian.”

Grayson sighs and steps away. “Your father would tear me apart if I became a hybrid.”

“With much more difficulty than in your current bodily form. That’s the point.”

“Right.” Grayson stares at me. “You know Dorian would try harder than ever to kill me? A Petrescu hybrid? Oh yeah, I can see my life being real easy then.”

“Josef will not kill you. Dorian will never kill you,” I repeat. “I cannot allow somebody I love to die.”

His hands cradle my face, fingers soft but firm. Grayson’s breath is warm against my skin, his body solid where it presses against mine, but I don’t move. I can’t. The weight of what I just said hangs between us, and not in a good way.

Talking about giving Grayson my blood triggers more than a possible future—it’s with us now. The pulse in his throat beats faster, echoing in my ears as the space between us becomes non-existent.

Grayson shifts just enough to see my face. “I don’t need saving, Violet.”

“Then stop putting yourself in ill-advised positions where you might. I won’t accept anybody taking you from me.”

Grayson’s mouth twitches, but the usual smirk doesn’t come.

Instead, something in him breaks, and his lips crash onto mine with a desperation that steals my breath, and I respond instinctively, pressing into him.

His fingers tangle in my hair, his touch rough, unsteady, control fraying at the edges.

I hold Grayson and dig my fingers into his taut muscle as I fiercely kiss him back, tongue tangling with his. His taste and scent coil around my senses, but I’m pulled into other desires intensified by his absence.

His blood.

No.

Not tonight.

Not after everything that’s happened to him. I squeeze my eyes shut, focusing on the heat of his skin, the sharpness of his breath between kisses. I’ve almost lost control once tonight; I can’t again. I wrench my head away, hands braced on his shoulders, breathing hard.

“Stop.”

Grayson drags in a shaky breath. “Do you want me to leave?”

“If I wanted you to leave, I would’ve ejected you after the first kiss.”

“So Violet, and so true.”

I place a hand on his hard chest.

“I want you to stay, Grayson.”

“I won’t leave the academy, don’t worry.”

His heart against my palm beats as hard as mine does. “No. Here. In this room. Tonight.”

His gaze dips to my mouth, his lips parting slightly. “Why?”

“That’s a rather ridiculous question.”

The world shrinks, the question hanging unanswered but understood. His lips brush the edge of my jaw, feather-light at first, then lingering. My fingers curl into his shirt as the touch presses against his restraint too.

“I still need an answer,” he murmurs.

“If you have to ask, you’re not paying attention.” I pause and catch his teasing smile. “Good grief, Grayson. I’ve resisted your blood, but I want you.”

He trails fingers along my face, watching the movement before placing an index finger on my lips. “Then I’m not going anywhere.”

Grayson’s mouth touches mine again, and the power he’s fought to contain collides with mine, each touch and kiss pulling us toward a closeness I once never accepted.

And toward a truth.

Although we try to conceal the worst of ourselves from others, we could never fool each other.

The darkness in our souls matches, two individuals created by the corrupt parts of our world.

The moment we met, this match led to the inevitable.

Us. I lied to myself when I swore I could resist what we are, and even more so when I swore I could resist Grayson.

Grayson pauses and grips my face in both hands. “I love you, Violet.”

“I would hope so considering what we’re intending to do.”

“Now who’s being obtuse?”

His glittering eyes search mine.

“I did not cope with your absence because I love you, Grayson. I would like you in my bed.” He arches a brow. “But not to hold hands.”

“And no blood,” he says softly.

“Not this time.” I pause. “I still need an answer, too, and not regarding whether you stay tonight.”

He doesn’t answer, instead engulfing me in his arms again. But instead of losing ourselves in the touch and kiss I’ve ached for he holds on to me as if I’m the only thing keeping him in this world.

One day, I just might be.