Page 61 of The Vampire Debt

I understand now why she hates me, and why she killed the first vampire she came across. I do understand. It is the same reason I lived by Rosalie’s rules.

“You are not at all what I thought you were, my dear Clara,” I whisper.

Eventually dawn breaks, lighting the room with a soft glow. I inch away as gently as I can and place a blanket over her.

* * *

In the study, I find Cherno hanging before the fireplace. Their large shadow is thrown across the room.

I pour a glass of blood from the carafe set out on the desk as I sit. Cherno drops, swooping up just before hitting the floor, and lands on the desk before me.

“I believe I have found the cause of the increase in lesser demon activity,” I say. “There was a higher demon in the forest—”

“That is impossible,” they say.

“I was able to fight it off and get Clara and myself away before it did much damage.”

Cherno flaps their wings, sending papers everywhere. I make an attempt to catch a few but give up quickly. “You would have died without my help, you fool.”

I glare at the insult but instead of responding, I take a sip of my drink.

“Who was it?” they demand.

I set my glass down and run a finger along the rim. “I don’t know. They shifted constantly, refusing to take their true shape.” Standing, I pick up the scattered papers Cherno had made a mess of and pause when I get to Elizabeth’s letter. “You don’t think the Queen Bitch sent it, do you?”

Cherno hisses. A strange sound coming from something that looks like a bat. “No, but she will want to see the first human you have decided to claim. Though if you leave the girl as she is, Elizabeth will kill her.”

My hand tightens around the letter, crumpling it. “I will not force that on Clara. She will make the choice herself.”

If it were anyone else, Elizabeth wouldn’t give two shits about the human claimed. But since the day I was turned, she has attempted to dig her claws into me, and now Clara will pay with her life because I had thought I wanted revenge.

“They still don’t know about Rosalie… no one does,” I admit after a long silence.

“Then it is even more imperative that you mark Clara. Unless you wish to see her dead.”

I pace the room. After several strides, my muscles feel weak, threatening to give out on me. I almost say I wouldn’t mind seeing her dead—but that is no longer true.

Stumbling, I manage to catch myself against the wall. My breathing grows ragged and labored.

Healing, even with Cherno’s added power, has drained me to levels I have never felt before.

Cherno flies over and lands on my shoulder. “I am sorry, Master. I gave you what I could, now you must feed and rest.”

I nod. “Find one for tonight, bring her to the atrium, and make sure she is willing. And,” I add as an afterthought. “Clara’s ankle is twisted—if you could take care of that. It shouldn’t require much power.”

With that, I straighten and head out of the office to my room down the hall.

The matter of Clara has grown complicated. I feel as though I am losing my mind when I am near her. Even after knowing what she did, I still can’t seem to keep my distance. Touching her is like a drug. Though my heart and body are at war.

When I first traced Rosalie’s blood to her, I thought she was nothing more than another cold-blooded killer, trying to justify her crimes so she could feel vindicated. But then she had saved that human girl, a child she didn’t even know… and last night.

There were a thousand chances for her to cut me with that dagger and win her freedom, or outright kill me as she claimed was her want so many times. And yet she had my unconscious form and used that very blade to protect me.

Clara must be marked… I’ve thought to let her draw blood so she can leave, or just breaking our bargain and sending her away, but even the thought of doing so is impossible. I am too selfish, too weak.

I don’t want to let her go.

And despite the roaring fire along the far wall of my room, making shadows dance as it warms the air, it feels cold and empty in here.