“The only thing she wanted that day was to keep me close. In that moment, she wanted to have that innocence all to herself, and the thought terrified her,” he hissed. “She realized she was becoming like the men who ruined her life and family. She saw that she was seeing me through their twisted lens, so she tried to save me and herself by sending me away.
“But as the years passed, her world only grew darker, colder, and more soaked in blood. She couldn’t face an eternity like this—sheneededto bask in my pure love and innocence again. She needed to know that all that had been, would not be all there ever was. And so, she returned me to her side”—Radu pulled down his tee and slouchy cardigan, revealing the mark over his heart—“and turned me.”
I could barely breathe; I was shaken all the way through.
“Just like that, she bound herself to the innocence she thought would save her, and in so doing destroyed us both.”
My jaw worked for a solid minute. “She was a vampire the whole time? Was that how she carried out the murders?”
“Not the whole time,” he corrected. “One of the men she targeted one night rather got the best of her... and killed her first.”
“Wow...” I let that sink in. “But, did you really have to stay with her just because she turned you?”
Radu chuckled. “That’s like asking if you really have to stay with your parents just because they gave birth to you. How exactly is a mewling newborn who can’t walk, talk, or feed themselves supposed to leave? In the first few years after the bite, you’re wracked with excruciating pain, day and night, as your body undergoes the change.”
“Years?” I squeaked.
“Years.” He sighed. “In that time, you’re helpless. You can’t move. You can’t think. You’re entirely reliant on your sire to bring you blood. And then, after the change is complete, there are even more challenges. You need your sire to teach you how to hunt, how to navigate a life in the dark, how to stay hidden, how to control your bloodlust—everything. Your sire becomes responsible for you in every way, and that rule became ironclad after the witches rose up and began persecuting us.
“We had to live in total secrecy, which meant there was zero tolerance for clueless newborn vampires running amok,” he said. “So yes, sweet one, under pain of being hunted down and killed by the elders, I had to live under the ironclad rule of the person who killed the only woman I ever truly loved. My Annabelle.”
A long, heavy silence filled the room.
“I’m sorry, Santino,” I whispered. “I really am. That kind young man and his innocent wife deserved so much better.” I rested my hand on the book. “Thank you for sharing your storywith me. It’s really helped me see... how you became such a shitbrained bastard.”
Radu barked a laugh, startling himself. Doubling over, he laughed loud and heartily, uncaring of my worsening glare.
“Dick,” I muttered. “You don’t like people using and entrapping you for their own selfish desires, but here you are, imprisoning me.”
“Once again I remind you, the door is unlocked.”
“Shut up about your stupid unlocked door!”
That set him off laughing again.
I sniffed. “The point is, if you were any different from her, you’d pick me up and carry me out of here. And then, and this is the most important part, you’d back the hell off and not get in the way of me finding Dora and bringing her home.”
He listened to me with the same look a parent indulges on a toddler. “Ah, my dear, sweet, tasty treat. It’s true, I did once have such fanciful notions that I was a better person and vampire than my sire...” His eyes darkened. “And then I starved for three hundred years.
“If you want me to let you and your precious sister through the gates and out of my grasp, you’d better find a way to take me with you.” Leaning forward, Radu licked the tip of my nose like he was licking a lollipop.
No. Like he’s licking a tasty treat.
“Because I have no intention of ever going hungry again.”
With that, he stood up and walked out the door without another word or backward glance.
Storytime was over.
I STRAINED AND GRUNTED, dragging my body to the edge of the bed. It was only a queen-size, but right then, it felt a mile wide.
“Come on,” I gritted, willing strength into my arms. “Little... more...”
I slid across the silk, and pitched headfirst over the side. Pain rocketed through my skull, but all I felt was triumphant. This was the first time in over three weeks that I’d left this bed. If that isn’t progress, what is?
Fingers gripping the wood, I heaved.
Slowly. Painstakingly. Inch by inch. I dragged my weak body around the stacks of books, getting ever closer to the spinning door.
