He only sighed at the verbal jab.
“So there’s a good chance that Max won’t offer you more. If that happens, I think he’ll come to regret it. Maybe not so much straight away, but eventually he will. I’m just hoping it won’t be a case of ‘too little, too late’ for you.”
I doubted it would be, because I doubted he’d ever have any regrets. But I did think Sam was correct in believing that the right person might make Max step out of his comfort zone—I’d had the same thought myself earlier.
I couldn’t lie, it would be hard for me to see him with aforementioned right person. He deserved to be happy, though. So I’d be happy for him. Eventually. To some degree. Deep, deep, deep down. Or so I told myself anyway.
God, this whole thing sucked.
CHAPTER EIGHT
(Paige)
Feeling Max’s gaze on my face, I kept my eyes closed. Not faking sleep, just … well, hiding. Hiding that I was way too comfortable lying here on his bed as his fingertips ghosted over my bare back.
We weren’t snuggled together. There were a few inches between us—inches we’d both put there as we rolled onto our sides to face each other. That small space was always there, and it always felt like a massive gulf. The only time we ever closed the distance was when we were getting hot and heavy.
“How did you become a vampire?”
Surprised by the question, I opened my eyes.
“I know about your Sire, Langley,” Max added. “And I’m glad the fucker’s dead. But I don’t know how you came to be Turned.”
I twisted my mouth. “When I was twenty-five, I was diagnosed with cervical cancer. The doctors said there was nothing they could do. I blurted it out to a bartender that night, finding it easier to talk to a perfect stranger. Turns out he was one of Langley’s vampires. Langley came to me with an offer. Of course, I didn’t believe he was a vamp at first. Not until he lowered his fangs and let his irises glow. Then I near pissed my pants.”
Max’s lips twitched. “I can imagine.”
“He made it sound like vampirism was the best thing ever. He didn’t tell me about a lot of things—the intense bloodlust in the early days, the struggle for control, the work he’d want me to do for him, the control he exerted over his nest, or the psychic blood-link that would prevent me from escaping him. I also hadn’t known that Langley would set it up to look like I’d taken off with a guy. I didn’t have anyone around who’d care to question that. I doubt my sister even batted an eyelid at hearing I was going away.”
Pausing, I swallowed as an ache began to build in my chest. “I fled countless times. One of his flunkies would always find me and bring me back. Then I’d be punished before the entire nest, but not because Langley was angry. He didn’t care when anyone fled. He thought it was amusing, and it gave him an excuse to do what he liked to do most: hurt people.”
The hand on my back flexed, and then Max was dancing his fingers over my skin again. “Asshole. Why did he send you to retrieve Imani when he knew you were a flight risk?”
“He’d promised me that he’d free me from his hold if I brought her to him. But I couldn’t do it. I didn’t know why he wanted her, I just knew I couldn’t subject her to whatever fate he had in mind. So I warned her about him, gave her money, and told her to run. She asked me to come with her. I pointed out that I couldn’t; that Langley could use the blood-link to find me. She then told me that she could snap the link. You can imagine how quick I was to accept her offer.” I doodled a circle on the bedsheet with my fingertip. “How did you become a vamp?”
“A woman Made me. Her plan was to build a line big enough to overthrow her nest in retaliation for banishing her. I didn’t stick around to help her. After I’d learned to control both my bloodlust and my gift, I left. She never tried to find me. I’d merely been a tool that didn’t work well enough to do the job she wanted, so she went and found herself another.”
What a bitch. “Sadly, until Sam and Jared made it punishable by death, it wasn’t uncommon for vampires to randomly Turn people.” There were some who stupidly still did it, and they always paid for that. “Do you wish you’d never been Made?”
“I did for a while. But I’m not the type to have a pity party. I figured this was my new reality and that I’d just have to deal with it. So I did. I came to like being what I am. I like the added strength and speed and my gift. I feel more comfortable in the legion than I ever did anywhere as a human.”