She immediately raises her hackles, disdain glowing in her ember gaze.
“And you couldn’t have made your intentions clear from the start? I had no fucking clue what you wanted her for! It could very well have been for causing the massive destruction everyone says you will unleash on Imiryion. You gave me no real reason to trust you until last night, did you, Killian?”
I groan in disappointment, tugging at the roots of my hair with one hand, tousling it completely.
She is right.
This is as much my fault as it is hers.
Our initial mutual distrust and flagrant lack of communication skills—on both sides—put us in another precarious position.
Back to fucking square one.
I take notice of her trembling fingers, how she hugs her waist in comfort, and immediately feel the need to soothe her. I reach out and cover her shaking hands with my own, feeling her sweet, warm-blooded heat seeping into my stony skin.
“No need to be frightened, little umbra. I would never harm you. We will regroup and strategize a new plan,” I offer her a small smile, kissing her forehead.
She tenses in my grasp, a whimper lodged in her throat. “There’s more…”
I silently encourage her to speak further, rubbing solacing circles on the back of her palms, up her arms, until I pull her into a full embrace. Sweet Akaori, it feels so right to hold her like this! Nothing has ever felt more right than her in my arms, like a puzzle piece finally making its way back to me, and I have no control over my impulses. After one thousand years, I finally understand what it means to lose one’s head over a female. How is this possible? Why now? Why her? I have no answers to these questions.
“Even if you somehow unearth Aurora, and overpower her long enough to bring her here…” she breathes, as I lose myself in our closeness.
“We have the Osmynium cuffs for that. The ones you wore the first night,” I murmur in her hair. Her intoxicating floral scent of summer nights and rain curls deep in my body, and I have to restrain myself not to creep her out by sniffing her wavy locks.
What were we talking about? Ah, yes. Osmynium is a dark stone-looking material, pulled from deep within the belly of the Saunoque Mountains. It’s harmless to vampires, but it can effectively block Fae magic. We’ve considered using it on Morweena too, but since her touch is lethal, the idea poses many flaws.
She nods in understanding.
“Even if she willingly listens to your story, and believes it, Killian. She won’t just help you for nothing in return.”
“I am prepared to give her whatever she desires, Aimee. Riches beyond her wildest imagination, garnered since our blessed Akaori walked upon these cursed lands. Power so encompassing, it stems from the very fabric this realm was created from. My very crown, to rule beside me over Wrahta, as the Vampire Queen. Anything except for my heart. That belongs to no one. Not even myself.” I can actually taste her sorrow at my declaration, salty and disheartened. She closes her eyes for abreath, shaking her head inwardly, before letting it hang on my torso.
Something ruptures in my chest, a dull ache pounding in my ribcage. Did she expect a different answer?
I think… I wish maybe to offer her all of this, instead of her sister. But our ill-fated connection cannot go beyond the physical. All my damnable desire is hers, and only hers. But the rest must be bartered with Aurora, for the welfare of my kingdom—for the survival of the entire realm, even. I have a sacred duty that I cannot walk away from, no matter how much I might currently want to.
Then, why does this quintessential female in my arms feel like my utter downfall?
“I know that, Killian, and it won’t be enough for Aurora. Especially if she gets wind ofthis, whatever this is between us. It has to stop.” She reluctantly untangles herself from my embrace, putting a frigid distance between us. The glacial temperatures of my dominion never bothered me before, but the empty, numbing space between us cuts into my flesh worse than any blizzard ever could.
“She will regard me as competition, and she would rather damn us all out of sisterly spite than accept less than your whole, undivided,everything.” Aimee sighs as she takes another step back, twisting the metaphorical dagger in my guts further.
“I don’t believe that, little umbra.” Her twin might not love her as I initially presumed, but if Aurora has even one millionth of a fraction of Aimee’s bravery and integrity, she will choose the honorable path. “Besides, I cannot control who I crave. Who my shadows yearn for.”
She squares her shoulders proudly, glaring up at me. “You’d be wise to, though, Vampire King. This is the only warning I can give you. Don’t take it for granted.”
She pivots on her heel, reaching for the door handle.
“What transpired between you two, Aimee?” I ask, my voice gruff like shredded shrapnel. What is she still withholding from me? I sense those shadows clouding her beautiful eyes, a veil of unspoken, raw truths that she won’t let see the light of day.
She stills for an almost imperceptible heartbeat before donning that stoic armor of hers, golden eyes vacant of any emotion.
“Nothing.”
And then she’s gone, and I feel her absence tear down to my core.
A better male would heed her warning and leave her be. But I am no such creature, and I will damn well have both sisters. One for duty and salvation, the other for what is left of my soul.
