the vampire’s
sick plan if everything else failed her.
“NO!” She
wasn’t sure if she was screaming at August or at the man who pushed
her against the stone wall, his mouth on her neck, kissing her like
she was his lover. A second later, all she felt was air as August
pulled the man off her and flung him out of the cage.
The vampire made a
sound close to a roar and pounded at the wall until his hands bled.
But they healed almost instantly. “Goddammit!”
She let out a
relieved breath. He can’t bring himself to do it. Thank God. But
that was now. What would he bring himself to do in another week or a
month?
August leaned
against the wall and sank to the ground, his head in his hands.
Nicole moved as
quietly as she could toward the cage door.
“Don’t,
Nicolette. Don’t make me chase you. I don’t want to hurt you,
whatever you may believe. We must seal the bond between us. Then
things will be better. I promise they’ll be better.”
How could she
trust him? How could she give herself to a monster in the most
irreversible way? What he’d shown her so far had been imprisonment
and desperation. Locking herself into eternity with that wasn’t an
option.
She edged closer
to August and knelt beside him, pulling his hands from his face. He
looked up, so broken that a small part of her wished she could do
what he needed, that things were somehow different. That her life was
different. That her heart was different.
“Please,” she
said. “I’m sorry for what’s been done to you, truly I am. I
believe you when you say you were a good man before the curse. But
what you’re asking… I can’t give it to you. I love Dominic so much. I just want him back. Please, I beg you, let me go.
Won’t you feel remorse for the things you do to me? Am I not of the
same value as those you kill each night? Does this crime against me
not matter?”
She tried not to
pull away when his hand brushed her cheek.
“You’re of far
greater value. But I know at the core of my being that you’re the
only train coming. I can’t bear the thought of an eternity like
this with no hope of the reprieve of death to make it stop. I will do
whatever is necessary to have you. Please don’t make me pile more
brutality onto my history. Please, Nicolette.”
Nicole wiped the
tears from his face. “I can’t. What will make eternity of being a
blood sacrifice stop for me? How can you ask or expect or think that
I could or would… ”
“Stop,”
he said. “Just stop.”
A
long moment passed between them, then something lit his face. A new
idea?
“I
will make a bargain. I’ll undo the thrall on your husband and let
you return to him, if you consent to becoming my mate. I will come
to you and feed from you each night, but you can have Dominic back
for the foreseeable future.”
Nicole
searched his eyes for the lie, but she couldn’t find it. She looked
down at the diamond bracelet the vampire had allowed her to keep even
though he knew what it meant to her. He could have taken it away, but
he hadn’t. Did it mean she could trust him?
She could have
Dominic back. He could love her again.
“I-I want to be
with him until he dies,” she blurted, still transfixed by the
sparkling diamonds at her wrist. “A-and… he will die of natural
causes, not by anything you do, or I will find a way to make you
pay.”
August sighed.
“Fine.”
The man from the
other cage had been unconscious since August pulled him off her.
She’d thought he was dead, but he stirred and groaned.
“Come here,”
August said.
Obediently the man
rose and went to the vampire.
“Look into my
eyes.”
He got that glazed
zombie look about him again. Nicole was grateful that could never
happen to her—one of the few things that couldn’t.
“You will leave
this place and return home. You will not remember anything that
happened here or me.”
The man nodded and
left them in the cellar. August released the other prisoners and
erased their memories as
sick plan if everything else failed her.
“NO!” She
wasn’t sure if she was screaming at August or at the man who pushed
her against the stone wall, his mouth on her neck, kissing her like
she was his lover. A second later, all she felt was air as August
pulled the man off her and flung him out of the cage.
The vampire made a
sound close to a roar and pounded at the wall until his hands bled.
But they healed almost instantly. “Goddammit!”
She let out a
relieved breath. He can’t bring himself to do it. Thank God. But
that was now. What would he bring himself to do in another week or a
month?
August leaned
against the wall and sank to the ground, his head in his hands.
Nicole moved as
quietly as she could toward the cage door.
“Don’t,
Nicolette. Don’t make me chase you. I don’t want to hurt you,
whatever you may believe. We must seal the bond between us. Then
things will be better. I promise they’ll be better.”
How could she
trust him? How could she give herself to a monster in the most
irreversible way? What he’d shown her so far had been imprisonment
and desperation. Locking herself into eternity with that wasn’t an
option.
She edged closer
to August and knelt beside him, pulling his hands from his face. He
looked up, so broken that a small part of her wished she could do
what he needed, that things were somehow different. That her life was
different. That her heart was different.
“Please,” she
said. “I’m sorry for what’s been done to you, truly I am. I
believe you when you say you were a good man before the curse. But
what you’re asking… I can’t give it to you. I love Dominic so much. I just want him back. Please, I beg you, let me go.
Won’t you feel remorse for the things you do to me? Am I not of the
same value as those you kill each night? Does this crime against me
not matter?”
She tried not to
pull away when his hand brushed her cheek.
“You’re of far
greater value. But I know at the core of my being that you’re the
only train coming. I can’t bear the thought of an eternity like
this with no hope of the reprieve of death to make it stop. I will do
whatever is necessary to have you. Please don’t make me pile more
brutality onto my history. Please, Nicolette.”
Nicole wiped the
tears from his face. “I can’t. What will make eternity of being a
blood sacrifice stop for me? How can you ask or expect or think that
I could or would… ”
“Stop,”
he said. “Just stop.”
A
long moment passed between them, then something lit his face. A new
idea?
“I
will make a bargain. I’ll undo the thrall on your husband and let
you return to him, if you consent to becoming my mate. I will come
to you and feed from you each night, but you can have Dominic back
for the foreseeable future.”
Nicole
searched his eyes for the lie, but she couldn’t find it. She looked
down at the diamond bracelet the vampire had allowed her to keep even
though he knew what it meant to her. He could have taken it away, but
he hadn’t. Did it mean she could trust him?
She could have
Dominic back. He could love her again.
“I-I want to be
with him until he dies,” she blurted, still transfixed by the
sparkling diamonds at her wrist. “A-and… he will die of natural
causes, not by anything you do, or I will find a way to make you
pay.”
August sighed.
“Fine.”
The man from the
other cage had been unconscious since August pulled him off her.
She’d thought he was dead, but he stirred and groaned.
“Come here,”
August said.
Obediently the man
rose and went to the vampire.
“Look into my
eyes.”
He got that glazed
zombie look about him again. Nicole was grateful that could never
happen to her—one of the few things that couldn’t.
“You will leave
this place and return home. You will not remember anything that
happened here or me.”
The man nodded and
left them in the cellar. August released the other prisoners and
erased their memories as
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