Brett’s hands rose in front of his chest, not in a motion of self-defense, but in a pleading gesture. “No. Sonia, God no! I didn’t know what I was then. I searched for you. For him. I was willing to do anything to avenge you.”
The tears that began to flow over his cheeks did nothing more than fuel her rage. “What part did you play? You are not innocent.”
“Sonia, I didn’t know.” Brett too motioned toward the trapped monster. “He was following me. He wanted my blood. I didn’t know why. I didn’t know he wanted me.”
She sneered at him. “Liar.” She swept her hand across her bloodstained gown, then flicked her fingers toward her fangs as she snarled at him. “I am a vampire, fool. There is nothing a vampire would want with a demon’s blood.”
“It’s the other part of me. The mer part that he wanted.”
“The—” And it all clicked. Her viselike mind slammed the impossible puzzle pieces together to form a picture that shouldn’t have existed but left no other explanation. The scent of him confirmed his claim.
He took a step toward her. “Sonia, I’m so sorry. I’m so very sorry.”
She lurched toward him but stopped at the warning scent of the demon blood. She curved her lips over her fangs and hissed. “If you say that again, I will kill you.”
Brett opened his mouth, and for a second she was certain he was going to insult her with his platitudes again, but then, seemingly, he thought better of it.
They inspected each other. Gazes traveling over so-familiar, yet alien bodies.
When he stepped toward her again, she only stiffened. Despite his scent, she detected no threat.
He raised his hand, nearly touching her cheek, but stopped short at her warning growl.
“Are you in there?”
She laughed. A genuine laugh. Her first since becoming a vampire.
The sound answered his inquiry more than any words she could speak.
His blue eyes grew even sadder. “I loved you.”
This time her nostrils flared in anger.
Before she could respond, a noise pulled their attention toward the front of the cave.
The bones covered in the thin, blackened flesh writhed and strained against the stone clamps that secured them in place.
Brett raced around her, knelt by the body, and placed both hands on the withered chest that arched upward.
She understood instantly. Sonia darted forward, swiping Brett away, sending him crashing into the wall.
He looked up and rose partway from the floor. “Sonia. I know he’s your sire, and I love you, but I will not let you protect him.”
For the second time in her new life, she laughed.
Brett flinched back from the sound.
“Protect him? Were you always such a fool, or was I simply too foolish myself to notice?”
He didn’t answer her, only stared. Part in confusion. Part in sadness.
“Iwill be the one to destroy him. Not you.”
Dawning understanding lit his eyes. “Oh.” He glanced at the skeletal body in a possessive manner but only nodded. “That makes sense. That would be right.”
Sonia turned to focus on the trapped vampire. He was nothing more than bones and thin layers of skin. Even the tissue covering the holes of the nose and eyes was sunken in, having yet no form.
She searched for the monster of her nightmares. She smelled him. Sensed him. But it wasn’t enough. She needed to see him. To be sure. When she killed him, she needed to be sure. For it to be final.
