And likewise, they had never, ever been more wrong. Because in the back of his mind, he couldn’t stop thinking about the fact that if his father ever learned about this, he would kill them both.
August 8, 1990
They were going to kill Phoebe. Urian was frantic to get to her and warn her. He’d been trying to call her, but some asshole was on the phone and wouldn’t get off the line. He’d tried to have the operator break through it and whoever it was had rudely refused.
“It’s not an emergency. Tell my sister’s boyfriend he can wait.”
When he got his hands on Cassandra, he was going to beat the hell out of her.
And since he was trapped until nightfall, there was nothing he could do. He didn’t dare go to Apollymi or try to use her mirror for fear of her telling his father, either.
Damn it. This had been the longest day of his life. By the time the sun set and he could leave, he felt as if he’d been flayed alive.
He headed straight to her apartment. Normally, he’d never approach her door. He called from a pay phone with a predesigned ring code and she’d come out to meet him.
But he was too scared to wait.
As he ran down her street, a car passed him and someone inside it waved at him.
Too late, he realized it was Phoebe.
Panting and terrified, he stopped dead in his tracks.Phoebe!he projected with his thoughts.Stop the car! Get ou—The car exploded in a bright burst of light, raining shrapnel through the neighborhood and knocking him from his feet.
Temporarily blinded, and with his ears ringing, Urian lay on the sidewalk stunned.
No … No! That didn’t just happen. It couldn’t have.
His heart pounded so fast and furiously that he couldn’t breathe. Pain and grief racked him. They left him paralyzed and shredded.
Until he heard the tiniest whimpering sound.
Phoebe?
He wiped at his tears and teleported to the wreckage, not giving a fuck who saw him. His stomach heaved at the sight of the mangled bodies.Please don’t be my Phoebe …
“Uri …”
He turned to find her a few feet away. His world stopped as he realized that the blast had thrown her from the car, into a nearby pole. He ran to her side and knelt down to pull her into his arms. She was bleeding profusely.
While it might not have killed her on detonation, it was killing her slowly. There was no way she’d survive. There was too much damage. Every Daimon instinct he had told him that. He could hear her vitals slowing. It was what allowed him to know the precise moment when he could take over a soul to feed on it.
“Phoebe?”
She was so weak, she could barely focus on his face.
“Marry me?”
With the tiniest laugh, she nodded and gasped.
Knowing she was too weak to bite him on her own, Urian used his fangs to rip into his own wrist and held it to her lips. He lifted her up so that she could drink his blood.
At first, he thought he’d lost her. That he’d waited too long or not gotten there in time.
But after a few seconds, he felt her grip tighten. Felt her lips strengthen as she sucked and licked harder. His arm began to glow. Too late, he remembered that he’d had the power to save her life without resorting to this.
Damn it! Why hadn’t he thought of that? But he hadn’t used those powers in centuries. So used to hiding what he could do because of the way the others reacted, he’d all but forgotten them.I’m so sorry, Phoebe …
In that moment, he hated himself. He’d turned her into a monster for no reason.
