Arwen tossed it aside like it was scalding hot and said, “Someone named Cassia found me at the café after Zara left. She told me you know her.”
“Cassia…”
“So, you do? You know her?”
“Arwen, whatever she said to you doesn’t matter.”
“That she’s your wife. Yourwife, Iro! You’re married?”
“What?” Iro said, sounding confused.
“She told me that she’s your wife; that you’re married.”
“She’s not my wife.”
“She’snot? Because she seemed pretty convinced that she was. She even had some kind of red stone on her ring that she showed me and said thatyougave it to her.”
“Arwen,” she said and took a breath. “Love, can we sit down, please?”
“Love?” Arwen said, looking confused and hurt.
“Yes.”
“No, I’m not sitting down. You can talk to me here.”
Arwen crossed her arms over her chest.
“Cassia is not my wife. We aren’t married.”
“You’re–” Arwen stopped. “What about the ring on her finger, Iro?”
“I gave that to her, yes. I gave it to her a long time ago.”
“Then, youaremarried?”
“No, we–” She tried to take Arwen’s hand again but was rebuffed. “We never officially married.”
“What exactly doesofficiallymean to you, Iro?”
“We never stood in front of friends and family and said, ‘I do,’ Arwen. We were together for a long time, though.”
“That’s a really interesting way of avoiding the fact that you’re, apparently, a vampire.”
Iro took a step back and swallowed. Being confronted about her relationship with Cassia was one thing, but Cassia had always wanted to keep their secret unless she could be assured that a human wanted to turn and wouldn’t tell anyone about the existence of vampires. Now, Cassia had shared that with Arwen, and Iro didn’t know what to do.
“So, it’s true?”
“Whatever she told you–”
“Don’t tell me it’s a lie. She showed me her fangs, Iro. She told me that you’re hundreds of years old and that you two have been together the whole time.”
“Arwen, please…” Her heart pounded. “I don’t know what to say. I didn’t want you to find out this way.”
“You’re a vampire? You’ve killed people, Iro?”
“Yes,” she admitted. “I am not proud of it, but I also don’t do that anymore. I don’t feed on human blood, Arwen. I haven’t in years.”
“Cassia said you two killed people all the time.”
