Page 151 of The Vampire's Mercy

“The pier collapsed, preventing boats from landing,” he said. “No one bothers to come here.”

“Awesome.”

He turned, fixing his eyes on me. “Sorry. Are you cold?”

I nodded, shivering. “We’re not all built with internal central heating.”

He chuckled, gesturing to the door. “Come inside. It’s warm.”

As I took a step, another memory hit me. Brief, vague, the sounds of something collapsing, the feel of ice on my skin.

And a familiar face.

A light brown face with copper mer scales and bloodshot eyes.

“The mermaid?” I said, losing my balance.

Silvanus caught me. “What happened?”

“I saw… I saw…” I sawhim. I saw his scarlet gaze, his natural heat enveloping me. The power of his blood echoed inside me, a chime of temptation not part of the broken thrall bond.

I stared, my breath hitched.

“Paris?” he whispered, his breath a soft breeze.

He’s not the bad guy…

Shit. I couldn’t do this. I couldn’t shift gears. He was the bad guy.

Not anymore.

Maybe not. But how did you unpick a mind set in concrete? I’d been bred to kill him and his kind, not to feel these…things.

Pearl wouldn’t like this. Pearl wouldn’t change her mind.

Erm, no. My sister wouldn’t carry on in Aidan’s name. She’d… She’d…

I wish I could talk to you…

“Are you alright?” Silvanus questioned.

I was trapped in whatever spell brewed between us outside this house, years of hate and unshakable faith collapsed. Undone by a set of gorgeous red eyes.

Vampire eyes.

Fuck everything else. Fuck the mermaid creeping into my mind just now. I was so done for the time being, so ready to escape from the questions for a while.

I let it all fall away, only seeing Silvanus. A man I’d been so entangled with, so drawn to, so disgusted by.

Get away from him…

Don’t do this…

Without another thought, I grabbed the back of his head and brought his lips to mine. My flesh ignited with exquisite heat as he met my kiss, his lips melding with mine.

His hands found my head, fingers sliding into my hair drawing me closer, losing himself in me as I lost myself in him.

Whoa. What the hell was I doing? And why did his lips have to feel so damn good?

It didn’t matter. Nothing did. We both needed comfort, to be distracted by something else for a while. The hate melted away, everything changing beyond repair.

The old ways were dying, giving way to something new.

To hell with the rules of an executioner. Sometimes you had to find joy in strange places. And nothing was stranger than a shared kiss between the vampire king and the elf who’d tried to kill him, on a remote island in the middle of the ocean.

Wow. What an interesting left turn.

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