Without thinking, Callie stepped closer to Lucien as she nervously eyed the buildings. “We should leave,” she whispered.
“There’s a food source nearby. I have to feed.”
Repulsion raced through her, and she edged away from him.
Lucien reached for her again before lowering his hand. “This way.”
Callie’s feet remained plastered to the cracked sidewalk as he took a few steps away from her. When he started to turn back to her, she reluctantly walked toward him. She didn’t have any other options.
Her revulsion battered against him, but the lure of heartbeats pulled him onward. He stopped in front of a rundown house. Plywood covered its lopsided windows, and the front door was gone. Concrete blocks had replaced the front steps.
The fading and chipped yellow paint suggested this home was once cheerful and cared for, but that was years ago. He didn’t know what happened to those owners, and he didn’t care. All he cared about was the pounding of the hearts inside the home.
“This way,” he said as he started up the cracked and broken walkway toward the blocks.
He was halfway up the sidewalk before he realized she wasn’t walking beside him. He turned back to discover her standing at the end of the walkway with her arms folded over her chest.
“Let’s go,” he said.
“I’m not going in there to watch you kill people.”
“I’m not going to kill them.”
Or at least he hoped he wasn’t. He didn’t know what would happen once his fangs pierced their flesh and their blood flooded his mouth. He was as stable as the ground during an earthquake.
However, he would do whatever it took not to lose control of himself in such a way, especially if she was there.
“Isn’t killing what you do?” she asked.
“We can feed without killing; some vampires choose not to, but I keep my victims alive. I won’t kill them, and I’m not leaving you out here.” He detected more heartbeats as he glanced up and down the road. “It’s not safe out here.”
Callie stared at the ruined houses surrounding them. Though she couldn’t see anyone, she sensed them standing in the shadows of this ruined place, watching and waiting. Waiting for what, she didn’t know, and she didn’t want to find out.
The idea of going inside made her skin crawl, but it was the better option. She stalked up the walkway toward him and halted a foot away. “Let’s go so you can torture some innocent people.”
“I’m not going to torture them.”
“As someone who has experienced your bite, I can tell you that youaregoing to torture them.”
Lucien winced at this reminder. He’d never been one for self-hatred and regrets. Shit happened; it was as simple as that. Until her, there was only one thing he wished to change, but the past was as untouchable as the sun, and like the sun, it could destroy him if he lingered on it.
However, he regretted everything about their original encounter and many of the things that followed. He would give anything to start over and do it right, but it was too late for that. Even if he could control her mind and change her memories, he realized he wouldn’t do it.
No, he’d made his mistakes, and he would live with the consequences of them, but he wouldnotmess with her head.
“It’s not painful if you don’t fight it, and if I could take control of their minds, they wouldn’t know I was doing it,” he said.
He turned away before she could question him further, and after some hesitation, she followed him into the house.
Chapter Eleven
Once inside,Lucien clasped her elbow again. She almost jerked it free, but his tender touch helped guide her around the broken board in the rotting floor.
A rank, mildew scent filled the air. It mingled with the stench of something more acrid—urine and feces. Her nose wrinkled, and she pulled her shirt up to cover her nose and mouth. The thin material did little to block out the stench as he released her.
When she retreated a couple of steps back toward the open doorway, Lucien turned to look at her. He prepared to chase her if she bolted, but she didn’t look ready to run; she simply looked horrified and slightly green.
“We won’t stay long,” he assured her.
