Page 67 of The Vampire Curse

A violent shiver racks my body as the feeling slowly returns like a thousand needles. I don’t have the energy to fight.

“Okay,” I agree.

“Take off your clothes,” he orders.

I don’t even question his motivations. I have never known any man who would say that to a woman without the intent to touch. But even in my current state, I see the logic. I need to get warm, and I can’t do that while drenched in icy lake water.

Cherno flutters in, or maybe they’ve been here the entire time. They land on my head and lean forward to look me in the eye, blinking several times before flittering to the hearth.

Alaric turns, grabbing the folded blanket off the foot of the bed. The second my nightgown hits the floor with a sopping thud, Alaric wraps me up. I think how familiar this situation feels. But unlike last time, he doesn’t leave the room. And, Otherworld take me, I can’t find it in me to mind.

He leads me to the bed, laying me down before going to change in the bathing room.

A fire roars to life. Weeks ago, I would have thought it impossible for a bat to start a fire. But Cherno isn’t exactly as they seem.

Alaric emerges and sits in a chair in the corner of the room. I don’t know if he plans to sit there all night, but who can sleep with someone watching them?

I reach out to him, and Alaric stands without a word and comes to my side.

“I don’t need you to stare at me all night, I’m not going to evaporate,” I say. “Now sit.” I wriggle over, making room for him and pat the mattress.

He does, and like the night before, I sit against his side. He rubs his hands over my arms, trying to warm my icy skin.

For the second night in a row, I curl into his side like we are old friends, as if we always have been, as if it is perfectly normal for an unmarked human and the vampire that claimed her to be… whatever it is we are.

I sigh. I don’t know why I am plagued with such horrible night terrors, but I am glad Alaric is here to help me through them.

Eventually, the shivering lessens. I am still cold, but not painfully so.

“Do you regret staying?” he asks after a while. His warmth seeps into my body. It feels good. His scent, subtle and woodsy, is comforting.

“No,” I say without having to think. “Regret is useless, it changes nothing. Besides, I chose to stay because I wanted to. I’m not so fickle as to change my mind at the first sign of difficulty.”

“Difficulty?” he asks with a laugh. “Isdifficultwhat you’re calling this?”

I shrug with one shoulder and press closer into his side.

A warm glow leaks in through a break in the curtains—dawn is coming.

“You should get some sleep while you can,” he says.

I close my eyes and control my breathing, trying to force myself to sleep. What feels like hours later, I am still awake. I sigh in frustration and sit up a little further, bringing the blanket with me.

I tilt my head up and study his face. Alaric’s eyes are unfocused as he looks straight ahead. I can almost see his thoughts churning. Something weighs heavy on his mind. I want to ask him what it is, but I think he will tell me. When he’s ready.

I know very little about this man, yet I know he’s a good man, and I trust him with my life. The deal he offered me, knowing of my crime, keeping it secret to protect me, and what he did for Kitty—have all proven he is not the monster I once assumed.

I know he loved his sister, but he has hardly spoken of her to me. I don’t blame him. She was important to him. Knowing the kind of man that he is makes me wonder what kind of person she was.

“Tell me about your sister,” I say.

I feel him stiffen at my side. He is silent so long I don’t think he will respond at all.

“Rosalie was sweet, gentle, warm… Everyone who knew her, loved her, even if she was considered weak for a vampire.”

I cringe. I had once accused her of being weak—he had compelled the confession from me—but I had said it all the same.

“I—I—” The words stick in my throat as I twist my fingers in a corner of the blanket.