“Then what?” I pressed him.
His face fell. “Then Morgana will take the title.”
No.I couldn’t allow that.
“But… she won’t honor your alliance with the wolves.”
Luka sighed. “I don’t want to think about that right now, okay? It won’t be my problem anymore. I’ve done what I intended to do as king. I just want to marry you. I deserve a happy ever after.”
He did. So did I.
I gave it a second thought. Becoming a vampire. Dying. No heartbeat. Drinking blood. But it was all too much for me to consider. I just couldn’t go that far for love, and I felt awful for it, but God made me human and I wanted to stay that way.
I dipped my chin, staring at the ground in shame. “Luka, I’m sorry I—”
Luka reached out and grasped my chin, forcing me to look up at him. “My mother wanted a better life for my sister and I. She taught us the beauty in a frail human existence with an expiration date. I never wanted to become a vampire, and I wouldn’t want that for you.”
“But … you will have to give all of this up.” I looked around the opulent castle grounds.
He grinned. “So what? I’ll have you. That’s all I need.”
The perfectness of his words were too much. Stepping forward, I rested my head on his chest as he held me. He never spoke about his mother, and now that he was in a sharing mood, I wanted to ask something that had been weighing on me.
“Luka … is it true you killed your father?” I looked up at him and watched as a cold darkness washed over his features. His body bristled against mine.
“Yes,” he growled.
“I’m sorry,” I rushed. “I didn’t mean to blurt it out like that, and you don’t need to tell me about it. I just had heard and—”
He shook his head, cutting me off. “If you’re going to marry me, you should know everything.”
I nodded, and he led me over to the stone bench, where we both sat.
“I haven’t thought about this in a long time.” He rubbed the back of his neck.
I reached out to stroke his arm encouragingly.
“My dad was a vampire before he met my mom. He was a Drake, so he had his sperm frozen before he was changed.”
I just dipped my head in understanding, although that was so weird to me.
“My mom wanted to experience childbirth herself. Instead of getting a human surrogate. When they got married, my father agreed that after two heirs she would bechanged.”
Changed. Into a freaking vampire. The way he said it was so casual, it was weird.
“Well…” Luka looked off at a pale yellow rose bush. “She said the day I was born changed everything for her. She saw the meaning of life, she found her purpose, she realized that she wanted to remain human, and that being a vampire for the sake of keeping a royal line pure was unnatural.”
I gasped and he nodded. “It was scandalous thinking. My dad lost it, threatened to divorce her, but she was from a very reputable vampire family. The Bloodstones, old money, bankers and politicians.”
Bankers.I’d have to tell Liv so she could snag one,I thought.
I stroked his arm. “What happened?”
Luka shrugged. “When I was twelve years old, they got into a big fight in the kitchen. My little sister was ten. My dad … threatened to change my mom against her will.”
I gasped. It sounded like rape. Worse even, if that was possible.
Luka’s face drew back in a pained expression. “I always respected my dad. He was tough on us and traveled a lot, but he was decent, and for all their arguing, he never hit my mom. Until that night.”
