10
Declan
He foundRiley on the velvet chaise, the woolen blanket he’d carried with him for more than three hundred years around her slight shoulders. “Are you chilled?”
The pinkish tinge to her cheeks made her look younger than her twenty-nine years, and he found the embarrassment endearing. Then cursed under his breath for allowing himself to feel…anything for the human.
“A little. You don’t actually have central heat in this castle, do you?”
“No.” Moving to the massive fireplace in the center of the room, he dropped to one knee. “But the old methods are sometimes the best.”
“I thought—” she leaned forward, the wool falling away, “—fire was one of the things that could kill you. You don’t have to—”
“Fire can kill a human as well, Riley. And you still use it to cook food, burn candles, as…ambiance…” After he’d added four logs to the hearth, he added a starter brick and dropped a match onto the pile. Such wonderful inventions, those bricks. One of the few modern luxuries he’d embraced. In addition to his cars, technology, and the thousand thread-count sheets.
“I do not fear the end of my existence,” he said quietly once the flames had started to crackle. “There are days I think it would be a relief.”
“Why?”
Moving to the wet bar, he poured himself a generous four fingers of whiskey, then arched a brow at Riley.
“N-no. I’m fine, thanks. Just how much does it take to get you drunk, anyway?”
“A bottle? Two? It depends how recently I have fed. Tonight, I am not sure there is enough whiskey in the world.” Though as he downed half the glass, he began to feel the welcome buzz dulling his senses. Leaning back against the bar, he watched her. She was so beautiful. So…alive. He should not bring his darkness into her world. Yet, the compulsion to tell her everything…it was like she was glamouringhimand not the other way around.
“Declan? Why do you want to die? Or…end?” She snuggled deeper under the blanket. Waiting. Watching him.
“The vampire who sired me did not give me a choice in the matter,” he said after he’d emptied the glass and poured himself a refill. “I was studying at Trinity College. And like most young men, I suppose I was a bit wild. Staying out until all hours of the night drinking, carousing with my mates.”
The pain of that night flooded his senses, and he took another sip of his drink. If he wasn’t careful, he’d wind up on his arse.
“His name was Bastian. A predator in his human life as well. He glamoured me, dragged me into a dark alley, and drained me.”
Riley chewed on her bottom lip for a moment. “Drained…you?”
“To make another, a vampire must drain a human almost completely. Then in the last second before death, force the human to drink from their vein.”
“Ew,” she said, wrinkling her nose. “Why would anyone—”
“You would be surprised how strong the urge to live can be,acushla. Especially when you do not know the consequences of your actions.” He set the glass down and added another log to the fire. “I woke the next night, in this very castle. Locked in one of the cells. Along with a human. A terrified waif in hysterics, screaming in a language I’d never heard.”
“Oh, my God.”
Declan squeezed his eyes shut. “I was so hungry. My sire knew I would not be able to resist a…meal.”
“A person.”
“Yes.” Would she ask the next question? As he held her gaze, he saw the realization strain her features.
“You killed her.”
With a nod, Declan tossed back the rest of the whiskey. “A newly turned vampire has little to no control. Blood…it is like a drug. The first sip is pure ecstasy. And my sire was not interested in teaching me…restraint.”
Riley’s eyes flashed a deeper green, and Declan thought he saw streaks of amber in her gaze. “How many?” When he said nothing, she sat up straighter. “How many have you killed?”
“Too many.”
“Declan.” The single word escaped almost on a growl, a sound he had not thought her capable of making.
