Page 115 of Her Vampire, His Ruin

Sybil knows she’s here. She assumes I’m using Edie for her blood, and if she finds out I haven’t fed off her, there’ll be consequences. So far, Logan and Viktor have kept my inaction a secret from Sybil, despite their differing opinions on what I should do. Logan knows I won’t kill her, so he wants me to change her. Viktor wants me to give in to my feelings for her, to trust she’ll keep our secret, then let her go.

But I can’t give in to my feelings, and I sure as fuck won’t let her go.

“Goddamn it,” I mutter, my gaze tracking over Edie’s chest that rises and falls in an easy rhythm.

She looks so fucking peaceful, and I can’t stop myself from reaching over and tracing the delicate line of her clavicle. She’s dressed in the cotton vest top and pyjama bottoms I provided, but despite changing, she’s refused to shower, too wary to let her guard down completely. I understand her fear, but whether clothed or bare, she remains as vulnerable as ever.

Her pulse beats temptingly beneath her skin, and my fangs descend, aching to pierce her flesh, to quench my thirst, to surrender completely to the lure of her blood.

“What are you doing?” Edie whispers, her whole body tensing as I snap my gaze to hers.

“Watching you sleep, just like I have the past four days.”

“I’ve been here that long?” She pushes upright, her eyes widening. “Elizabeth will be frantic.”

I rise, resting my hand on Edie’s shoulder, and she flinches but doesn’t shift away from my touch.

Reaching into the pocket of my slacks, I pull out my phone. “Call her. Put your mind at rest,” I say, passing my phone to her. She takes it from me, but I wrap my fingers around her wrists. “Tell her what I told Henrietta. You’re taking some time off from work, you’ve gone away somewhere. Do what you need to do to prevent her from suspecting anything.”

She glares at my hand wrapped around her wrist. Despite how she’d submitted to me the other night, her anger remains. I don’t blame her for it.

“Don’t worry, I’m not about to put her in danger by telling her the truth.”

I release her as she climbs off the bed. A moment later, she’s talking with Elizabeth, her voice low as she turns her back to me. After a couple of minutes, she ends the call and throws the phone onto the mattress.

“Is she okay?” I ask.

“Why the fuck do you care?”

“Is she okay, Edie?” I persist.

“She thinks I’ve lost my mind, which isn’t that far from the truth, but yes, she’s okay.”

“Do you need to get out of this room?” I ask her.

“I need to get out of this place,” she throws back, “But I already know you won’t let me leave, so what’s the point?”

“This doesn’t have to be a prison.”

“This is a prison, and you’re my jailor,” she whispers.

She starts to pace up and down, her long legs eating up the room. “At least Basilia had a window to look out of. At least she had her art to occupy her mind.”

“I don’t want to talk about Basilia.”

“Why, because it reminds you of all the shitty things you did to her?” Edie says, rounding on me. “You cheated on her. You took women back to your home and fucked them whilst she was there. How could you?”

“I’m not that man anymore. I haven't been him for a long time.”

“Because you’re a fucking vampire.”

“It’s an existence I have been forced to live.”

“And that makes what you did to her alright, does it?

“No, it doesn’t.”

I push up from the bed, approaching her. “Edie. I treated her badly. I was wrong. I can’t undo the pain and hurt I caused her. I’ve lived with the guilt for three hundred years.”