Page 46

Nico's POV:

Khloe's mood hasn't changed for a couple of days.

She still just been ridiculously quiet and avoidant.

Normally I would just think that this was something that would just blow over, or that she would get over whatever was bothering her.

But it was still evident, even more so than before.

And I was becoming more and more worried about her.

She wasn't even eating all of her food during any of the meals and would eat slowly as if she was forcing herself too. Not to mention that she was taking exceptionally longer to fall asleep and stay asleep.

I turned my chair so that I was facing her.

She was sitting in her signature spot on the window sill. Not drawing, not reading, just sitting there, looking down at the world silently.

She's been doing that for hours, just thinking about something.

I sighed silently, all hope of her bringing up what was bothering her disappearing.

I'm going to have to ask her what's been bothering her myself.

Even though I know that she won't like it. I gave her this long to tell me herself, and she hasn't so I'm going to have to get it out of her myself.

I quietly stood.

I just hope that whatever it is isn't my fault

Khloe didn't even budge as I made my way over to her.

She did, however, look at me once I sat across from her on the window sill, setting my feet upon it near hers.

I could see her tense up as the seconds passed, her eyes slowly straying from mine.

She brought her knees closer to her chest.

Wow, I haven't even said anything yet and she's already nervous.

I laid my arms on my knees, leaning forward ever so slightly.

"I gave you plenty of time to bring this up yourself, " I began, "but you haven't, so we're gonna talk about it now."

I heard her heartbeat pick up the pace as soon as I spoke.

Interesting.

She subtly shifted her head down, making it so that her hair fell in front of her face. I knew full well that she did it on purpose.

She cleared her throat, "What do you mean?" She asked, almost convincing me that she really didn't know what I was talking about.

Almost.

"I mean that you're not acting normal and I don't know why," I told.

Her hands drew back towards her body, as did her knees.

She was subconsciously trying to make herself seem smaller, something that I've realized she does whenever she felt uncomfortable.

Not to mention the fact that her eyes were pointed down.

It seemed like she didn't know what to say.

"Khloe, just tell me what's wrong." I finally said, trying my best to keep myself calm.

Her hands closed into fists for a short moment before they relaxed again.

"It's nothing." is all she said.

My jaw clenched.

The first response I get from her in days and its a lie.

I quickly took in a deep breathe, trying to calm myself down before I could get angry.

I couldn't get angry. Not at her.

But the fact that she denied that anything was wrong was quite frustrating.

"Lying to me isn't going to get you anywhere."

She stiffened up at that, her eyes growing wide in panic.

"I-I... I just," She paused for a long moment, trying to fit together the right words, "Nothing is wrong, I've just been... thinking."

I rose a brow. Well, at least we were finally getting somewhere.

"About?"

I certainly couldn't fathom anything she could be thinking about that would make her act like this

"Something that you said a couple days ago." she finally admitted.

I felt myself freeze as my eyes grew wide.

Oh God. This was my fault.

"What did I say?" I questioned.

I was wracking my brain, trying to remember if I had said anything to her lately to make her feel like this.

She sucked in her bottom lip, hesitant to say whatever her response was.

" When you said that you planned on having me for a long time, what did you mean by it?" She asked, her eyes longing for an answer as they finally met mine through her hair.

Really? this is what had been bothering her so much?

It seemed ridiculous, yet I couldn't seem to find an answer that I thought would make her feel better.

I meant exactly what I said, but she seemed to have taken it a different way.

"There's a lot of ways that I can answer that question, Khloe. I'm going to need you to be more specific."

Her eyes looked away from mine as she thought.

"Did you mean that you'll have me until the day comes that Ill be taken away?"

The world seemed to slow down as the realization of what she finally meant dawned on me.

I had actually forgotten what happened to pets once they reached a certain age.

At age 25 they were taken from their masters and either forced into breeding or slaughtered for their blood to make sure that their population stayed level. The younger the host, the richer and healthier the blood.

I didn't understand this law at all, but that's how it was.

The pets were just that. They were just things for us to use until we either got tired of them or used them as long as we could.

I had never had a pet long enough for that rule to take effect, but Khloe...

My eyes darted to the side.

I've seen first hand what happens to the pets that get taken away. The vampires there have almost no restrictions on what to do with those girls before they get slaughtered, and well, they take advantage of that.

The thought of having Khloe go through that kind of thing...

My hands tightened into fists.

"I did." I finally said.

Somehow my answer seemed to make her feel worse.

Her bottom lip began to quiver.

"T-then... can I ask you a favor?"

I paused for a moment before giving her a single nod.

I had no idea what kind of favor she would want from me concerning this, but I'd try to do it if it would make her feel better.

A knot formed in my chest the moment I saw tears swimming in her eyes, threatening to fall.

"The night before my 25th birthday" her tear stricken eyes met with mine once again, "Can you kill me?"