Page 62 of The Vampire Curse

“I will.”

He will never come back. I had every intention of leaving and never seeing him again. It shouldn't matter, and yet hearing him say that leaves a sour taste in my mouth.

I lift my head to look at him, but he turns away. “What’s wrong?”

“Where will you go when you leave?”

“I don’t know,” I say honestly and rest on his shoulder once more. “I hadn’t thought past coming to tell you how furious I was.”

He chuckles at that, resting his cheek atop my head.

A long moment passes. Exhaustion tugs at me, and the lull of sleep eases its way through my body.

“I don’t want you to go,” he confesses, whisper soft.

“Then I will stay,” I mumble, snuggling further into his side.

Alaric shifts and leans away. I groan to protest the loss of warmth and sit up.

His face is deathly serious as he says, “You are always welcome by my side. You must understand that your life will be in constant danger if you stay—even coming back was a risk.”

I suddenly feel the urge to stay when just a few hours ago I was set on leaving. All it took to change my mind was him admitting he wanted me to stay… despite the danger.“Can you leave Nightwich if I go with you?”

The muscle in his jaw ticks, then he reluctantly nods.

“I’ve fared well enough so far. I thought I was going to die within hours when you claimed me—by all rights, we both know I should have.” He opens his mouth to protest, but I hold up a hand and continue. “Every minute I live from that moment on is a bonus, time I never should have had. And… I want to stay,” I add reluctantly.

Demons and saints.I am really going to do this. I’m willingly choosing to stay with a vampire.

But then, I only have to look into his eyes to know everything he’s done was with good intentions. For some reason, Alaric feels loyalty for me. I can’t leave him as if that means nothing, because everything in me is demanding my loyalty to him.

“Your life will be in danger from the moment we arrive until we leave.”

“That is nothing new,” I murmur. “I would rather die than live my life as a prisoner to fear and locked away.”

He frowns but, eventually, whatever he planned to say dies unspoken.

“Very well,” he says, then places a kiss on my forehead as he pulls me into him once more.

I nestle into his side, getting comfortable, and close my eyes.

“I have missed you, my dear Clara,” he whispers against my hair.

I smile. “You missed me?”

“Yes,” he says, his tone serious. “There is nothing about you I haven’t missed.”

“Even when I try to kill you?” Another yawn.

I feel his mouth turn up into a smile against my head.

“Especially then.” He runs his fingers through my hair in a move that is far too relaxing. “It is so dull here without a regular attempt on my life.”

Chapter Twenty-Three

Clara

Everything is exactlythe same as the night when I was first introduced to a room full of vampires: the same room, the same faces, the same atmosphere. Predators lounge, their prey at their sides, gazes downcast… and I am somewhere in between. Not exactly hunted, but far from being the hunter.