Total pages in book: 119
Estimated words: 112849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 112849 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 564(@200wpm)___ 451(@250wpm)___ 376(@300wpm)
I look down at the tiled floor. “I’m sorry.”
“No,” he says quickly, coming over to me. He takes my hand in his, puts his fingers under my chin and raises it to look at him. “I’m sorry, my dove. I…” He closes his eyes and sighs, licking his lips. Gives his head a shake. “I’m really sorry. What I said to you was uncalled for and undeserved, I just don’t know what to do.”
I honestly don’t know what he’s talking about. I know that part of it must stem from the fact that he’s a vampire and he thinks I’m a human and that there’s danger in our relationship because of it. And that might be true. But there’s something else there. Something else that happened recently that made him pull away like this.
I’m scared to find out it has something to do with the book.
With the demons.
With the murders and disappearances in the city.
“Then why don’t you try telling me the truth,” I tell him. “I told you my truth. I told you I loved you.”
His expression crumbles at that. “And I’m completely undeserving of it,” he says, raising my hand to his lips and gently kissing my knuckles.
Well, he hasn’t said it back to me. But I didn’t even know I was in love with him until like an hour ago. How the hell that snuck up on me I don’t know. It’s fast, I know it’s fast. Too fast. But I haven’t been in love before so I have nothing to compare it to. All I know is that it comes from some place deep inside of me, like it was always there, just waiting and biding its time, like a once-dormant volcano that’s been holding back for too long.
Now that it’s been unleashed, I just want to revel in it, dance in it, say it all the time. Even if he doesn’t quite feel the same way about me.
“Valtu,” I say, reaching up and placing my hand at his cheek. “You are deserving of it.”
He gives his head a sharp shake, eyes pleading. “Not if you knew who I really was.”
“Then you’re going to have to take the risk and tell me, because if you don’t I’m going to start jumping to some crazy conclusions.”
His eyes darken. “Sometimes there’s nothing crazier than the truth.”
Then he leans in and kisses me softly on the lips, sweet and tender.
“Okay,” he whispers, leaning his forehead against mine. “How about we have some tea and I’ll tell you something you won’t believe. I’ll bring some whisky too, in case you need it.”
He moves over to the kettle, pours the hot water over the teabags in the mugs and then brings it over to the living room. The fire is roaring—he must have put it on while I was taking my time freshening up after the shower, though it is strange that it got so hot and big so fast.
We sit down on a dark green velvet couch, an odd choice of furniture but it suits him just fine. Vampires can be eclectic and Valtu is no different.
I cup the tea in my hands, the steam rising from the mug, and patiently wait for him to talk. Outside, the rain continues to patter against the windows, making the room feel extra cozy, even though I know what he’s going to tell me will be anything but.
“You know, the city feels different lately,” he comments, sipping his tea and not seeming to be affected at all by its scalding hot temperature. He has to tell me, his vampire mask is slipping every day.
“I’ve noticed. First those people go missing, then that woman gets killed by a boat, but boat engines don’t mutilate like that.”
He nods grimly. “Yes, there’s that. For sure. But there’s also a change in the air. Can you feel it? A darkness. Something more than what resides in you and me. A darkness that wants to eat and consume and spit out the bones after. I feel my city is changing and that the people here are at risk…”
I lean forward slightly. “At risk of what?”
His eyes flick to mine. “People like me.”
We stare at each other for a moment. He’s gauging my reaction and I’m trying to react how a normal person would. “What do you mean, people like you?”
He sighs heavily and adjusts his position on the couch, a long leg tucked under the other, and I do my best not to stare at his package, because hello, a big dick and gray sweatpants are as subtle as flashing neon lights that say “Get Your Cock Here!”
“There are things you don’t know. An underbelly to this city. A dark one. A grim one. There are secret societies here that operate under everyone’s noses, going completely unnoticed except by a select few. And while those societies operate in peace, there are some people who don’t care for peace. Who want chaos and violence and power. And those people, those are the ones that are dangerous.”