Chapter 29 #2
She lifts the pen to her lips, her expression thoughtful as she considers my question.
“Well, I transferred here when I was in my mid-twenties, that would be what…”
“Forty-three years ago,” Piper finishes, and I swear that I notice a flicker of pain in her eyes.
“Yes, forty-three years,” Lena all but whispers.
“So, do you have any idea how many dresses I will need?” Piper smiles at me in thanks as though she needed the subject change.
“I expect at least fifteen, maybe more.” My eyes widen at the number. “Mostly to give you choices.”
“Thank the gods. I thought I had to attend fifteen events. Just the thought of going to one is bad enough.”
Piper laughs at this before coming to take a seat next to me.
“Maybe not that many, but as the prince’s chosen donor, you are expected to attend them all. Don’t worry, you’ll be fine. You only have to stand around most of the time and allow Kari to feed on you when he needs to.”
I don’t think I’ll ever get over the casual nickname that she gives him.
“Right, I think I have everything I need. Your measurements have been taken, and I will take your style into account when coming up with the dresses. If you would like, you can come for a viewing before I do the final pieces.”
I pause, unsure of how to answer. I’ve never been given a choice about anything I wear. That was always something Amabel decided. The only job I ever had was to turn up and put it on. This is all new.
“Right, we’ll leave you to it then. Thank you,” Piper answers, saving me from the awkward silence.
Lena looks back at Piper and only nods her head, but her eyes say a thousand words. Piper hurries around me, her eyes a little shinier than just a few moments ago. She leaves through the door, and I turn to find Lena staring at the space where Piper just stood.
“Thank you.”
“It was my pleasure, dear.”
I nod before leaving to follow Piper. When I get out, I find her leaning against a wall and rubbing a hand through her short brown hair. She stands up straight as soon as she sees me and plasters a wide smile on her face.
“Ready?” she says, but her voice carries a sadness that she cannot seem to hide.
I shouldn’t care. She’s a vampire. And yet I find myself unable to pretend that she is not upset.
“Are you ok?”
My words seem to surprise her, and she tries to shake them off.
“Yeah, of course, I’m fine.”
“Piper, you’re not fine. I’m sorry if coming here with me upset you for some reason. I can ask Iza next tim—”
“No, it’s not that. I…oh damn it…sorry.” She turns away from me to hide her face, but I move slowly until I am standing in front of her. A tear trickles down her cheek, and I can’t help but reach out to put a hand on her arm.
“You care about Lena.” It’s a statement, not a question. “Why does that upset you?”
She shakes her head as she tries to catch her breath.
“It just reminds me of a time long ago. It’s stupid.”
Realization dawns on me, and I drop my hand.
“You’re in love with her.”
Her eyes snap up to my face, and another tear spills down her cheek. My eyes scan her face, and I see no sign of this being a trick. These are real emotions. This is real. A human and a vampire in love.
“You still love her, don’t you?”
She looks to the side, wiping away a stray tear as if she is angry that she ever let it fall.
“It doesn’t matter. She told me back then that it wouldn’t work, and she was right.”
“Because she got older?”
She finally looks at me and nods.
“And I never will, at least not in her lifetime.”
A memory from the orphanage comes to me—a lesson about how born vampires age far slower than humans, taking centuries to gain only a few years.
The stronger the vampire, the longer they remain youthful.
Someone as powerful as Piper will not show any signs of aging for a very long time.
A sadness that I don’t expect to feel swallows me whole, and I blow out a breath.
“I’m sorry. Did you not think of siring her?” What the hell am I saying? Why am I even considering this idea?
“It’s not something that she wanted, and I respected that. I would never take that choice away from her.”
Her revelation causes me to pause. It may be the first time I have ever heard a vampire think of what a human wants before themselves, and the idea is so incredibly confusing.
“It would be a difficult choice,” I whisper.
She smiles, trying to hide the pain behind her eyes. “At least it’s something that you and Karius never have to worry about.”
“What do you mean?” I ask in confusion, and I see the moment that she realizes that she has said something that she shouldn’t have.
“Gods, I shouldn’t have said anything. It’s not my pla—”
“Please just be honest with me.”
She lets out a breath and then looks around. “Karius sent us to an old friend who might know something about your bond. She didn’t know much in all honesty, but she has been alive long enough to have seen a similar situation to yours.”
“Similar how?”
“A human-vampire bond.” She pauses before lowering her voice to a whisper. “Your life is linked to Karius’s, so unless one of you dies, then you will remain alive for as long as he does, aging only as he does.”
I shake my head. “I…I don’t understand. You mean I will be immortal?”
“Not immortal, no vampire truly is, but you will age incredibly slowly, live for maybe thousands of years if Karius does. The bond ensures that you will always have each other.”
I stumble backwards, shaking my head.
“I’m sorry. He really should have told you himself. I thought he had.”
“I’ve…I’ve got to go.” Before she can say another word, I run off, not even knowing where I’m going, just knowing that I need to get away from here.
I storm through Karius’s study door, surprising the three vampires that reside inside with him.
All their dark eyes turn to me, but I’m only looking at him.
Rage bubbles in my chest at the sight of him as Piper’s words play on repeat in my mind.
Thousands of years. The bond ensures that you will always have each other.
I recognize a couple of the nobles as council members, and the disgust over my intrusion on their private meeting is written all over their faces.
“You can’t just barge in here, gir—”
“Leave.” Karius’s command cuts through the noble’s words as her face scrunches into a scowl.
“Well, you heard the prince.”
“I’m talking to you, Lena.”
She swings her head in his direction, not a single strand coming loose from the meticulous bun she has swept her hair into.
“But your majesty, we were in the middle of discussing important matters.”
“I do not make a habit of repeating myself.”
She huffs as she rises from her seat, but she and the two others shuffle out of the room, throwing glances my way as they do. When the door finally closes, his attention falls on me again.
“Something wrong?”
“When were you going to tell me that I’m bound to your life forever?”
He sighs. “Fucking Piper. I knew she couldn’t keep her mouth shut.”
“Yeah, well, I’m glad she didn’t because that’s not something you just forget to tell someone.”
He picks up the glass in front of him, takes a swig, and sets it back down on the table.
“You mean like you forgetting to mention that Celeste attacked you in my room?” He cocks his brow at me.
“You can’t be serious. That is hardly the same thing as not telling me something that changes my entire life.”
“She attacked my mate, believe me, it’s the same thing.”
I throw up my hands. “Do you even hear yourself? You hid the fact that I might live for thousands of years. That I will be stuck living like this if we don’t find a way to break this bond.”
Tears burn my eyes, and I hate that he is seeing me like this for a second time.
He’s out of his seat in seconds, standing in front of me.
He lifts a hand to my face, wiping a tear from my cheek with the pad of his thumb, and gods, it feels so good to have him touching me.
I almost lean into it until I remember why I’m here.
I grab his wrist, pushing his hand away from me.
“Stop doing that.”
“Doing what?”
I step back. “Touching me every time you want to distract me. This isn’t some joke, Karius. This is my life, and it’s not what I want.”
His features soften as he looks down at me.
“You’re right.” I prepare to argue until his words sink in. “It is your life, and I only intended to get all the information I could before telling you, not because I was hiding it from you. And I don’t touch you to distract you. I touch you because I like how it feels when I do.”
My stomach drops at his words, but I push them aside, too afraid that if I let them affect me, they’ll swallow me whole in the madness of this bond.
“No more secrets. If we’re going to work together to solve all the crazy things that are happening, then you can’t hide things from me.”
He nods. “Ok.”
I expect a fight or resistance, but it’s not there, and I’m not quite sure what to do with it.
“And maybe tell your girlfriend not to strangle me next time she visits,” I add.
His mouth quirks up in a smile, and I instantly regret saying it.
“If I didn’t know any better, I’d think you were jealous.”
I scoff. “I’m not jealous. I just don’t appreciate getting attacked first thing in the morning.”
“According to Ivana, you weren’t the one getting attacked.” He smiles at this, stepping closer to dip his mouth right by my ear. “It sounded like you were just being territorial.”
I roll my eyes. “I think I just threw up in my mouth.”
He laughs at this. “Don’t worry, little witch, I feel it too anytime I see another male even touch you; it drives me fucking crazy and makes me want to break every bone in their gods-damned body.”
“Now you just sound possessive.”
“I am possessive when it comes to you.”
I try to ignore the excitement that jumps inside me at his words. I’ve never liked possessive men. Relationships weren’t even something we could truly have back at the bloodhouse, so I don’t know why every nerve in my body is racing at the sound of his words.
“I didn’t see that possessiveness when Celeste came to your room,” I fire back.
“I’m possessive when I need to be. But I also know when you can handle yourself.”
“I can always handle myself, and I don’t need you getting involved in my business. We’re not a thing.”
“We’re mates. Like it or not, we will always be a thing.” He turns to walk back over to his desk. “Now, as much as I would love to show you exactly how possessive I am, I have another meeting.”
“Fine.” I turn to leave, but he calls out to me.
“And Adina…the next time you interrupt one of my meetings, I’m going to bend you over that desk and show you exactly how possessive I can be.”
My throat bobs at his words. His eyes hold the kind of heat that sends a fire shooting straight to my core. I slip out the door before I can make any stupid decisions, creating as much distance between us as possible. I need to break this bond before it becomes the death of me.