Page 36 of Eternal Surrender

“No.”

“William?”

“How do you know my name?”

“You told me.”

I squeezed my eyes shut and gave closing my thoughts down another go.

“Must shut down my thoughts,” he mirrored.

“How do you do that?”

“Because I’m twice the vampire I once was!” He let out a maniacal laugh.

Stale blood rose in my throat. “How long have you been joined?”

“A century. Centurion. Center.”

I held back, not wanting to ask the question that was screaming so loud in my head. I was sure Paradom would hear it.

He shot up a finger. “You want to go back.”

“Separate, yes.”

He pointed upward. “Stay here with me.”

I could have sworn a rat jerked.

“When you were joined. . .” I braved to say. “Did you look like me, like a man at first?”

“I was beautiful just like you are now.” He raised a sparse eyebrow. “I could have anyone I wanted,” he said triumphantly. “And did.”

“If I may ask. . .”

His jaw clenched and then relaxed like a toothless old man. “He seduced me in with poetic words. He told me he loved me.”

“Who?”

Paradom shrunk low. “I was everything he wanted to be.” He scurried toward me, closing the gap between us, reaching for and grabbing a lock of my hair. “He wanted to be me so much that he. . . dug out a bit of my brain and ate it right there in front of me.”

I tried to close my gaping mouth, ready to duck away, threatening to break his trust.

Paradom tugged on my hair. “No, wait, I think I dreamed that.”

I wanted to tell him that was more like a nightmare, but he appeared too unstable to push.

“I am too unstable to push.” He stared off.

It was disconcerting that despite having locked down my mind he could still penetrate my thoughts. “Are you saying a vampire tricked you into joining with them?”

Paradom was biting his yellow claws. “We got up to so much. Our power together. . . we are so much better for being two. He was right about that.” Paradom seemed to be looking around for another rat. “Can you move things with merely a thought?”

“Haven’t tried.” I offered the shilling he’d thrown at me back to him.

He took it from me, clutching the coin in his palm. “The world will fall at your feet. It once bowed so low at mine that I felt like a god.”

“Paradom, the name of the vampire who you’re joined with⁠—”