Page 8 of The Vampire Curse
My eye twitches.Master.My heart races for the second time today, but now it is for an entirely different reason.
I am not a thing to be owned.
“Then what is the point of this charade?” I hiss, motioning between us. “If you are my master and I must fall to your will, then why not bite me now and be done with it? If what I want means so little,why pretendyou are giving me a choice at all? Just force the mark on me already and be done with it. Or better yet, kill me.”
Baiting a vampire… not exactly a smart move on my part. One might actually believe Iwantto die.
His eyes narrow and he lets out a low snarl, fangs bared. I take an involuntary step back, but he advances, closing the distance between us until his chest is flush with mine.
“The point, dear Clara, is that the last thingIwant is to have a human unwillingly tied to me for the remainder of their life.”
My eyes widen at the venom of his words. I open my mouth to speak, but he holds up a hand, staying me.
“I continue to ask,” he says, his voice is soft and low. He looks exhausted. “Because I do not know of a better way to keep the others away from you.”
I’m not ready to let go of this argument, though there is little point in fighting for the sake of it when Alaric doesn't seem willing to continue.
“Fine,” I say, throwing my hands in the air. “Keep asking me if you must, but I can only promise tothinkabout it. I don’t understand why you are pushing this. We’ve already agreed to—” Now it’s my turn to hesitate. “To-to make them believe I am yours.”
My heart pounds at hearing myself say those last three words. They are words I can’t mean, and it’s not something I can want.Xander is still waiting for me.
I turn to face the window and wrap my arms around my middle.
The view of the property and the tangled forest beyond has become more familiar than the one outside my bedroom window back in Littlemire.
“At least it won’t be for too long,” I say. There is a silence at my back that has me turning on him, eyes wide. My voice raises an octave, “Willit be long?”
The answer is in his unwillingness to look me in the eye. “There is more to the situation than I said earlier.”
I drop my arms to my side, my hand bumps against the blade at my hip. I have half a mind to run him through with it right now.
“Why did you withhold information you knew I would want? You say you need me to trust you, but then you do this. How can I trust you if you keep things from me?”
He's not cowed by my anger, but neither is he upset. “I need you to trust me to tell you what you need to know, when you need to know,” Alaric says evenly. “This is a lot to take in. I wanted to ease you into it—to give you the chance to process it all.”
It irritates me that his reasoning does make sense. I can’t help the part of me that wants to fight. It isn’t about him, or whatever information he held back, but rather everything I am struggling to hold on to and come to grips with.
“Out with it then,” I demand.
“They will be staying here through the end of the season.”
Black spots form across my vision. “That’s… that’s…”
Two months…
He continues as if what he said wasn’t anything to worry about. “Then, they will escort us both to Nightwich.”
“Go to Nightwich?” I sputter. “What about—”
Alaric holds up his hand. “Our stay there will only be a week. Two at most.”
I press my hand to my head. My vision wavers and I stumble slightly as my legs threaten to go out from under me. I might as well walk downstairs with open veins and offer myself up for dinner.
Alaric steps forward and grips my elbows, keeping me upright. I cling to his forearms, unable to stand without his support. This ruse of ours might as be for an eternity.
I’ve never been skilled in the art of lying. My expressions always end up giving me away. I don’t know if I can pretend for so long. Days, maybe. But months?
Now his insistence on marking me makes sense. Finding my legs again, I take a step back.