The Blood Debt

To need a monster?

I swallow down the lump in my throat.

“I know what you want to say,” he says. “Don’t.”

“But—”

He plants his finger on my lips. “Some things don’t have to be said.”

I know he feels it too.

But we’re both choosing to ignore it.

He drags me closer and presses a kiss on my back. “I just want to enjoy this moment. Forever if I could.”

A blush spreads across my face. “Liam …”

“I mean it,” he says. “If I could have this for the rest of my life, I would choose this a million times over.”

I turn to look at him. “But could you sacrifice the one thing you want the most to have it?”

He furrows his brow. “I want nothing more than you.”

I look him in the eyes as I say, “We will always let each other have what we want. No matter the cost.”

His jaw clenches. “You want me to—”

“Stop chasing my sister for revenge,” I fill in.

He knew.

He always knew.

This was the cost of my heart.

The one price he was never willing to pay.

And the reason for my misery.

He sighs, lying down on his back to face the ceiling, his long wet hair slick against his face and the pillow. I lean up too, trailing my fingers across the wound on his wrist. The blood has crusted, but it must still sting.

“You made me promise not to hurt myself, but who will stop you from hurting me?”

His hand reaches for my face as he grabs a strand of my blond hair and tucks it behind my ear. “You’ve figured it out, haven’t you?” he says. “My only weakness … You.”

Tears well up in my eyes, but the second the palm of his hand touches my cheek, I still lean in, desperate, yearning.

“You’re willing to sacrifice your freedom for your sister,” he mutters. “You must love her deeply.”

“She’s my sister,” I say. “And she didn’t—”

He places his finger on my lip. “I don’t need a reason. If this is what you want … How can I ever say no?”

My eyes spill over with tears, and he picks each and every one of them up with his thumb. “Really?”

“For you, I will,” he says, and I fall into his arms, hugging him tight.

“Thank you,” I say. “That’s the only thing I want.”