concealed a thick scar.
Had it all changed that night a decade ago?
His stomach clenched with the memory and he couldn’t tear his gaze away, couldn’t stop the images from flooding his mind and dragging pain and fear in their wake. Sophis with a dagger in her gut, poisoned blood pouring from the wound and covering his thighs as he held her in the middle of the cemetery surrounded by graves that stank of death and waited for the medical team to arrive, praying they would make it in time.
Tears had streaked her pale cheeks, her ashen lips working silently to tell him things he couldn’t hear because the ringing in his ears had obliterated them.
He had known it then, sitting there with her, watching her die from an encounter that never should have happened because he never should have signed off on her training and allowed her to join the ranks. He should have put an end to it then, told their former commander that she wasn’t cut out for the guard and that she should remain a civilian.
Why hadn’t he?
Vivek closed his eyes.
Because she had been young enough at the time that her sire would have whisked her away.
She would have left Saint Petersburg.
“This isn’t like you.” Her softly spoken words wounded him and desire to defend his actions leapt into his heart but he couldn’t put voice to it. He kept his eyes closed, hiding in the dark and pretending that he hadn’t heard those words leaving her lips and felt them cutting into his heart.
That he hadn’t just had an epiphany.
“Seth was right... Ella has gone to your head and—”
“Now wait a minute.” His head shot up and he fixed her with a glare. Ella was nothing to him. The woman had come into the room and sat on his lap. She had been chasing him, not the other way around. He had tried to make her get off, had known that Sophis would come and see her best friend close to him, and that it would wound her worse than any cruel words he might have said or anything he might have done to her.
Sophis swept her hand out to silence him. “I’m taking the lead. If you don’t like it, deal with it. When we get back to the mansion, I’m going to file a report and then you’re going to speak to my men and tell them the truth. If I see them with you again, I’m reporting you to Commander Tynan. We’ll see who drops a few ranks then.”
The steely edge to her eyes screamed that she would go through with that threat. She turned on her heel and strode on ahead through the haloes of the lights on the quiet pedestrian street.
There was no imminent threat on his senses but Vivek followed her anyway, remaining a few steps behind her to give her some space. He could still feel her anger and knew that if he dared to walk any closer that she would unleash it on him again. Instinct told him to move closer, whispering insidious words about not being able to protect her should she come under attack. He tamped down his need to take the lead in order to keep her safe and swept the area with his senses, trying to remain alert even as his focus kept flicking back to Sophis.
If vampire hunters attacked, he could easily move in front of her and take them head on. She would hate him for it, but at this point her opinion of him couldn’t get much worse. He would rather take the hit on her dire view of him than have her injured again. She might not want to admit it, but he had seen it in her eyes enough times in the past to know that she was aware that he was stronger than her and faster, and better skilled at fighting.
Sophis stopped at a crossroads ahead.
Vivek came up beside her, risking her wrath. She jerked her chin left, towards the broad glittering swath of river at the end of a gently sloping road. He nodded and she turned and walked on, taking the lead once more. The world around them was still, all of the windows in the buildings that edged the pavement dark and not a single car moving nearby. A chill wind carried the hum of distant vehicles in the busier
Had it all changed that night a decade ago?
His stomach clenched with the memory and he couldn’t tear his gaze away, couldn’t stop the images from flooding his mind and dragging pain and fear in their wake. Sophis with a dagger in her gut, poisoned blood pouring from the wound and covering his thighs as he held her in the middle of the cemetery surrounded by graves that stank of death and waited for the medical team to arrive, praying they would make it in time.
Tears had streaked her pale cheeks, her ashen lips working silently to tell him things he couldn’t hear because the ringing in his ears had obliterated them.
He had known it then, sitting there with her, watching her die from an encounter that never should have happened because he never should have signed off on her training and allowed her to join the ranks. He should have put an end to it then, told their former commander that she wasn’t cut out for the guard and that she should remain a civilian.
Why hadn’t he?
Vivek closed his eyes.
Because she had been young enough at the time that her sire would have whisked her away.
She would have left Saint Petersburg.
“This isn’t like you.” Her softly spoken words wounded him and desire to defend his actions leapt into his heart but he couldn’t put voice to it. He kept his eyes closed, hiding in the dark and pretending that he hadn’t heard those words leaving her lips and felt them cutting into his heart.
That he hadn’t just had an epiphany.
“Seth was right... Ella has gone to your head and—”
“Now wait a minute.” His head shot up and he fixed her with a glare. Ella was nothing to him. The woman had come into the room and sat on his lap. She had been chasing him, not the other way around. He had tried to make her get off, had known that Sophis would come and see her best friend close to him, and that it would wound her worse than any cruel words he might have said or anything he might have done to her.
Sophis swept her hand out to silence him. “I’m taking the lead. If you don’t like it, deal with it. When we get back to the mansion, I’m going to file a report and then you’re going to speak to my men and tell them the truth. If I see them with you again, I’m reporting you to Commander Tynan. We’ll see who drops a few ranks then.”
The steely edge to her eyes screamed that she would go through with that threat. She turned on her heel and strode on ahead through the haloes of the lights on the quiet pedestrian street.
There was no imminent threat on his senses but Vivek followed her anyway, remaining a few steps behind her to give her some space. He could still feel her anger and knew that if he dared to walk any closer that she would unleash it on him again. Instinct told him to move closer, whispering insidious words about not being able to protect her should she come under attack. He tamped down his need to take the lead in order to keep her safe and swept the area with his senses, trying to remain alert even as his focus kept flicking back to Sophis.
If vampire hunters attacked, he could easily move in front of her and take them head on. She would hate him for it, but at this point her opinion of him couldn’t get much worse. He would rather take the hit on her dire view of him than have her injured again. She might not want to admit it, but he had seen it in her eyes enough times in the past to know that she was aware that he was stronger than her and faster, and better skilled at fighting.
Sophis stopped at a crossroads ahead.
Vivek came up beside her, risking her wrath. She jerked her chin left, towards the broad glittering swath of river at the end of a gently sloping road. He nodded and she turned and walked on, taking the lead once more. The world around them was still, all of the windows in the buildings that edged the pavement dark and not a single car moving nearby. A chill wind carried the hum of distant vehicles in the busier
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