Now that I think about it, the only thing he’s probably ever confessed to was his being a vampire. And that took him long enough.
Finally, Santiago steps back, putting some space between us. “Has Lucian ever told you how he came to meet his little human girlfriend, Penelope? Or should I say Nell?”
I think back to the picture of a young Nell sitting on the beach, smiling in the sunshine.
“No.” I shake my head. I don’t want this. I don’t want to hear the story of how my sort-of boyfriend, my vampire master, loved another woman. I turn toward the bedroom, intent on grabbing my luggage and ending this conversation.
But Santiago’s voice stops me cold.
“I’m not surprised,” he says mildly. “Lucian is very good at keeping the truth close to his vest. I don’t think he even told Nell the full story.”
I turn back slowly. “What do you know?”
His smile thins. “Lucian wasn’t always the neat, precise killer you know. That came later. It took practice. Discipline.”
He steps closer, eyes never leaving mine.
“One night, he made a mistake. Sloppy. Emotional. An innocent couple—walking home from a movie. Wrong place, wrong time.” Santiago shrugs. “It happens. But when he searched the man’s pockets, in his wallet Lucian found a house key and a picture of a child. And inside that house…” He pauses, watching me. “There was a young girl waiting for parents who were never coming home.”
My stomach tightens.
“Guilt did something strange to Lucian that night,” Santiago continues. “Instead of moving on like he usually did, he lingered.He watched her. Made sure she was taken care of. Money appeared from nowhere. Doors opened. People looked the other way.”
“That doesn’t mean?—”
“He told himself it was kindness,” Santiago cuts in smoothly. “Even when those around him warned him that what he was doing was foolish, dangerous. But he didn’t stop watching. When she grew into a woman, he finally stepped out of the shadows. Inserted himself into her life. A guardian angel who never aged and she never knew he was the reason her life had been turned upside down years ago.”
My pulse starts to thrum in my ears.
“His guilt turned into fixation,” he says quietly. “He didn’t fall in love with Nell—heformedher. Shaped the world around her until she fit the space he’d already carved out for himself.”
“That’s not true,” I say sharply. “Lucian loved?—”
But the words falter.
Because I think of the way Lucian used to mesmerize me when I was human to make me second guess myself. How he plans around me. Anticipates my needs before I voice them. The way my life has been quietly, efficiently rearranged since the moment he stepped into it.
Santiago sees the hesitation. He leans into it.
“Do you really think Nell would’ve stayed with him if she’d known the truth?” His voice drops. “She thought he was her savior. But Lucian was the demon who destroyed her life, then stayed close enough to pull her from the wreckage. He created the chaos, Elliot, and then positioned himself as the only thing that could save her from it.”
I force my face into stillness, even as doubt coils tight and ugly in my chest.
“He didn’t mean to love her,” he murmurs. “Just like he didn’tmean to love you. But once Lucian decides something belongs to him…” His gaze flicks to my throat. “He doesn’t let go.”
“No,” I say again, louder this time. “I don’t believe you.”
Santiago’s eyes spark. “You’re allowed to deny it, of course. But patterns are hard to ignore. A tragedy. A disappearance. A truth softened until it can be mistaken as kindness. And then Lucian steps in, offering answers only he controls. He keeps the rest locked away, convinced it is protection.”
I swallow hard, heat climbing to my ears. His words are poison, seeping in despite myself.
“All I’m saying,” Santiago says with mock innocence, “is that if Lucian could do it once—reshape the truth around Nell—why wouldn’t he do it again to keep you?”
Kayla.
I can’t help but think about how Lucian took his time finding out what happened to her. How he hadn’t said a word about her being killed. How he was there when I thought I smelled her perfume at VMR and stopped me from looking for her.
And the way there’s always this unshakable feeling that he’s keeping things from me.
