He snorts—a sound I’m surprised to hear from him. “I won’t turn to dust in daylight, if that’s what you’re asking. Actually, most of the things you’ve heard are probably untrue. I’m just like you, except I need blood to survive.”
“Human blood?” I grimace.
“Yes. Human blood.” He nods. “There is a group of humans who knows of my kind, and they—” He looks away briefly. “—they make themselves available when it’s time to feed.”
Nausea and jealousy at the idea of him feeding off a woman fills my stomach.
Somehow reading my thoughts, he states, “It’s not sexual, not for me. For others of my kind, it can be, but—”
“Not for you?” I finish his sentence, cutting him off rolling my eyes. Part of me doesn’t believe him, but somewhere inside me, I understand he’s fed to survive, fed off willing humans, because he’s had to.
He drags his fingers through his hair. “The act of taking has never been sexual for me. I’ve never even thought of where it could lead, until you.”
6
Cameron
I study Isabel’s beautiful face as I attempt to read the thoughts in her head. As much as I feel I know her, she’s a mystery to me. I listen to the sound of her beating heart grow faster as I get closer to where she’s sitting in bed. I hate the small amount of fear I can smell and see in her eyes. I cannot imagine being her, being human and having everything I thought I knew erased.
As much as I want to protect her from the truth, she has to face it. I cannot protect her unless she accepts what I am and who she is to me. As obscene as it is, I know she’s my beloved Isabel brought back to life. There’s no other explanation for the way I feel for her, and I know she feels things too, things that would be impossible without the connection we’ve always had.
“How is this all possible?”
I sit on the side of the bed and take her small, fragile hand in mine. The night she died was the same night I was turned. I tried to fight off her attackers, but there were too many and I lost her and my life in the process. I would have been happy to die that same night, but as my blood soaked the ground, the choice wasn’t left up to me.
Samuel, who is now King of the Vampires, came across us, and knowing Isabel was gone and that he could not save her, he did what he thought was right and gave me his blood. For years, I despised him for his actions, and my only joy came in the form of revenge, in taking the lives of the men who stole the one person I ever loved. But as years turned to decades, I accepted what was left of my life, accepted the monster inside me and the constant pain in my chest.
Until her. Until she showed up at my home and fought me to stay.
“I don’t understand how this is possible.” Her softly repeated words pull me from the painful memories and I look at her once more, vowing to protect her this time.
“I don’t know, love. The only thing I know is that I’m yours, you are mine, and we have somehow been brought back together.”
“I’m not her,” she states, holding my hand tightly and looking into my eyes. “I remember her, but I’m not her Cameron.”
She’s wrong. She looks just like Isabel, except for her honey eyes and golden hair. “You remember me?”
“Yes.” Her eyes close. “I somehow remember you, and I remember her, but the memories I have of us together are like a dream. None of them are solid. None are a clear picture. I’m not her, the woman you love, Cameron. I’m so sorry.”
I wipe the lone tear from her cheek then lean toward her and wrap my hand around her soft jaw. Studying her face and eyes, I wish I could take her pain. When she melts into me, I place my lips against hers. Just like in the kitchen, I watch visions of us together spark to life, visions of our happiness, of our time together. When she gasps, I know she saw what I did and hate that she had to witness it.
“You fought my father for my hand in marriage. You… you tried to protect me from those men who killed me.” A sob rips from her chest, and I pull her tightly against me.
“This time, little one, I swear nothing will harm you.”
It’s a vow, one I will fulfill no matter what it takes. I don’t care who I must go up against, who I have to fight. I will keep her with me. I will keep her safe. I will give her the life we wanted and the happiness I promised her.