Attila nods and leaves the room.
All I wanted was to be left in peace with my mate. I growl at the paperwork before I turn to look out the window at the streetoutside. The snow was short lived, and instead the wet roads shine, glittering with the lights from vehicles as they pass. I feel the deep rumble of the metro as it passes beneath the road, the vibrations reaching me as the carriages rattle past.
The noises of the city, the ones I can usually filter out, creep under my skin. My senses are even more heightened because I know my brother is out there.
He will pay for his behavior. I’ve been too generous. When he threatened my hard fought truce with the werewolves, only brought about because of the respect I gained for and from Ferenc Kobór, I should have dealt with him.
Instead, I did what I’ve done since we were turned and indulged him, hoping there was some vestige of the brother I knew.
“Dominik?”
I turn at the sound of Lucy’s soft voice. She is wearing my robe and drowning in it. Her hair tumbles around her shoulders.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen a more beautiful sight.
“Galambom, you should be in bed. You remember what the doctor said.” I cross the room and put my hands on her arms.
“My need for rest wasn’t in your head a few hours ago when you were parading me around the National Gallery.” She looks up at me. “Anyway, I heard.”
“Heard what?”
“About Damek.”
“It is not for you to worry about,” I say, rubbing her shoulders.
“Except it is, isn’t it?” she replies. “He wants me to get to you.”
“We had an agreement.”
“And it would appear he has no intention of honoring it.”
“Then I will deal with him.”
She pulls away from my touch. “I agreed to go along with all of this.” She gestures to the office. “And you said you would protect me and my baby.”
This time her hand goes to her stomach.
I pull her back, pulling her soft body and the delicious swell of her belly against me.
“I did and I will. I know you’ve been told over and over vampires are untrustworthy, Lucy, but it is not true. You will not find another monster who you can trust more to stay true to their bond.”
“I know,” she says, not looking at me. “I’ve always known. But being a Van Helsing…it’s complicated.”
“What we are born does not define us.” I capture her chin and tilt it up to me. “I was born human, but I amvámpír.”
“Not by choice,” Lucy says, her eyes filled with fire.
“And you are not a vampire hunter by choice. Or a mother. But you can choose how it defines you.”
My beautiful mate stares up at me as time ticks by. I could stand here forever as long as she is here too.
“You are better than your family. You are the Van Helsing who chose to see what vampires really are.”
“What if I still think you are a monster?” she says.
“You don’t.”
“You’re very sure of yourself, Dominik Király.” Lucy lifts her chin higher but doesn’t pull it from my fingers.
