Page 131 of Her Vampire, His Ruin

He’s dead.

Despair wraps its suffocating arms around me, and I smother a sob, holding it within my chest, too afraid to set it free, knowing they will hear me.

Why am I still alive?

“You’ve killed him. You’ve killed him. You’ve killed him,” Sybil repeats over and over, her anguish as fierce as my own. I feel the pain of it.

He’s gone. Dorian’s gone.

Basilia laughs, and my skin prickles with goosebumps, every tiny hair standing on end from her wickedness.

“And now you’re set free. Don’t you see? The chains binding you to him are severed. Be grateful for it,” Basilia replies.

“I’m not free. I’ll never be free,” Sybil chokes out. “I love him.”

“Love is foolish. It’s a curse, a weakness. It won’t save you now. The sun is rising. You must choose. Cast that love aside and live, or I will throw you outside where the sun will turn you to ash.”

“He’s dead,” Sybil sobs.

“They’re both dead. You don’t have to live the rest of eternity longing for someone who will never love you. You won’t need to suffer the pain of seeing the man you love, love another. This is an act of kindness, a kindness you never granted me when you fucked my husband and tried to steal him from me.”

“I love him,” Sybil shouts.

“And that love will kill you if you don’t sever it from your heart as I did.”

I force my eyes open, tears blurring my vision as I stare at Dorian’s shrivelled corpse. I ache for him, for all he’s endured. I don’t understand why I’m alive. I should have died with him after drinking his blood. Was I too late?

Dorian. I mouth his name, tears tipping over my lashes. My fingers twitch, desperate to reach for him.

Then, a muscle flickers in Dorian’s jaw. It’s subtle enough to escape Basilia and Sybil’s notice, but enough to spark hope in my chest.

Is he…?

My eyes, the only part of my body able to move, track over his face. The deep lines etched into his skin slowly begin to fill out, the flesh beneath reforming. Seconds pass, and the colour returns to his face, the grey mottled skin giving way to a warmer tone. My gaze falls to the tattoo circling his neck. It begins to fade, disappearing with every passing second.

He’s coming back to life.

A nerve in my leg twitches, and with it, feeling returns. Soon, I can feel the floor beneath me. I’m aware of the clothes against my skin and Dorian’s breath feathering over my face. Strength floods my body, rising within me like a tide returning to the shore, and with it a hunger for blood that terrifies me. I force that desire down, refusing to succumb to it. Right now, all that matters is keeping Dorian safe from harm.

“I don’t want to die,” Sybil whispers, reminding me we are not alone. That we’re both still in danger.

“Then you’ll stand by my side?” Basilia asks.

“Yes.”

“Very well. Come with me. We’ll discard the bodies later.”

Floorboards groan as Basilia moves toward the door, her footsteps whispering over the wood. My senses are razor sharp now. I hear every rustle of her clothes, every step of her feet against the floorboards. I pray they leave, that they remain oblivious to the changes in Dorian and in me.

“Can I have a moment first? I wish to say goodbye to Dorian,” Sybil replies, and my spine prickles with fear. There’s something in her tone that’s different from before.

“Do what you need to do, but make it quick. I have no patience for simpering women.”

With that, Basilia leaves, her footsteps fading with every pounding throb of my pulse. Sybil stands, and the door clicks shut. I catch the quiet sigh she releases.

“Dorian?” she whispers, stepping towards us.

Instinct takes over, and I surge to my feet, the world spinning for a heartbeat as I plant myself in front of Dorian, shielding him with my body. “Stay back,” I snarl, fury burning through me as Sybil sways on her feet.