Chapter 15
Chapter
Fifteen
ECHO
“Let’s talk.”
I’d just uttered the two most panic-inducing syllables known to English speakers across the world, but Vale’s energy told me he was all in.
I didn’t know what I wanted from the conversation, which meant Vale was going to have to begin, so I asked, “How do you want to start?”
I was barely able to accept what was happening between us, so how was I supposed to know what to say?
The only thing I knew was that I couldn’t seem to stay away from Vale, whether he wanted to kill me or not. How many times had I gone to him, fully planning on causing a scene until he killed me, only to end up having sexytimes instead?
How many times a day did I think about the way his beautiful hair gleamed in the sunlight, or how it flowed over his body like water when we were showering?
How often had my breath hitched when I remembered his ghost smiles, barely there, but a gift every time I saw one?
And how many times had I thought about ways to improve Vix’s traps to help protect their house?
It was time for me to face facts. I couldn’t get enough of Vale or his bizarre household.
“I think I should tell you about myself,” Vale said. He looked away from me and crossed his arms over his chest. “So, you know what it means to be with me. If… if that’s something you wanted, that is.”
The way his resting bitch face broke at the end of his intro had me melting in my shoes, and I rushed to say, “I want to hear anything about yourself you want to share, Vale. You have to know that I’m trapped in your orbit.”
“No, I don’t know,” Vale said with a haughty head tilt. “You spend all your time trying to die every time I see you, and you keep trying to use me to accomplish your goal. As if I’m some kind of tool.”
“I…” That was exactly what I’d been doing, wasn’t it? I’d been spilling my crazy all over Vale without caring about his feelings at all.
I was about to shout something stupid like, Why would you even want to be with someone like me if you feel that way? But something inside me urged caution. It wanted me to think—really think—about what was happening at the moment. What did I truly want from Vale?
No, even deeper. What did I want from life?
Finally, I said, “I’m sorry. Please continue.” Then I found a relatively snow-free fallen tree, sat down, and did my best to relax. My shoulders had been up to my ears like I was about to face a firing squad, and I needed to bring my energy down if I was going to be able to listen.
Vale began his story, using a tone of voice and cadence that made me think of a sexy professor.
“You were right, Echo. I was born in London in the mid eighteen hundreds. I was bored and annoyed by everything in my life, and I didn’t fail to make sure everyone knew about it.
I was supposed to inherit the family fortune, but I didn’t want it or the responsibility that came with it.
“The world was far vaster than everyone seemed to think it was, and the life I lived was unbearably stifling. The only thing my family cared about was endless parties and social gatherings, and it was hell on earth for me. If I never have to hear another monologue about the best way to trim a hat, it will still be too soon.” Vale shuddered, and I bit back a smile.
It was this part of his personality that drew me to him so fiercely. The way he despised things so openly, and with such wit, reminded me so much of my own inner monologue. It was like Vale was giving voice to my thoughts, and in more ways than one.
“I retreated to my studies as often as I could, spending far longer at the university than the other gentlemen did at the time.
By the time my family realized I had no intention of becoming the family heir, it was too late.
I was fully corrupted by academia and had entrenched myself in a society that focused on enhancing the health and lifespan of humanity.
“I was obsessed. Their star pupil. The advances we made in medicine are something to be proud of, I’m sure, but the cost…
I am no longer sure that was worth paying.
I was my own experiment, you see. I used myself as a lab rat far more often than I should have, and it’s ultimately what got me where I am today. ”
“You managed to use science to extend your life? How did you keep this to yourself? Was it not replicable?” It was the only way I could think the world wasn’t full of far too many rich Victorian assholes.
Vale gave a scoff full of self-derision. “Oh, it’s replicable, but the cost isn’t worth it.”
“I can think of plenty of people who would disagree. There are a ton of rich folk out there who would be willing to pay any price to live as long as you have.”
Vale’s eyes went dark and distant. “Oh, I know. I’m intimately aware of this, and so is Gareth.” Then he clammed up like an asshole and stared broodily into the darkness of the forest.
“You can’t say that and not elaborate,” I said, kicking at his leg.
Vale huffed and sat down next to me. “I’ll get to that in a minute.
Be patient. After one such experiment on myself—failed, I had thought at the time—I went to drown my sorrows at a pub and ended up having a one-night stand with a cursed fae named Wraith.
Something about my experiment transferred his curse and bound us together for life. ”
“So, you share his lifespan?” That didn’t sound like enough of a reason to be cuckoo bananas like I was, but who was I to judge?
“And his curse,” Vale pointed out, like I’d missed the important part of his story. “Being bound to him gave me access to all of his power, but it also transferred some of his curse to me. The more power I use, the more like him I become, and the more his curse eats at me.”
“What’s the curse?”
“Wraith refuses to share the specifics with me. It’s possible his mind isn’t whole enough to remember, but from what I’ve gathered over the years, the curse has to do with the spirit of an ancient fae creature.
Somehow, Wraith was infested by it—cursed, he claims—and now he and I are both at its mercy when it wants to feed. ”
“Blood,” I said as I connected the dots. “It makes you drink blood.”
“It used to make Wraith eat people whole, but after I began to share the burden with him, it could be satisfied with blood.”
“Sharing the curse helps with the side effects?”
“According to Wraith, before he and I were tied together, he drifted in a perpetual state of waking dreams. He couldn’t tell the difference between the real world and the dream world, and his memory was in tatters.
I thought he was drunk, but he was only being himself.
According to him, after we were bound, he began to have far more lucid moments than before.
When Wraith is lucid, he’s almost tolerable to be around. ”
The way Vale’s ghost smile hovered at the corners of his mouth made my stomach clench. “Are you in love with him?” I asked without thinking.
Vale snorted. “Hardly. Most of the time, he’s like an ill-thought-out tattoo I pretend doesn’t exist. In the beginning, he and I fought constantly, each of us doing our best to destroy the other, but we only succeeded in harming ourselves. Whatever I do to him in anger happens to me, as well.”
“That’s intense.”
“Tell me about it.”
“So, you’re not in love with Wraith?” I couldn’t stop myself from asking.
“On rare occasion, he amuses me, but that’s as far as it goes. For the most part, I just want him to go away,” Vale said wearily, pinching the bridge of his nose and closing his eyes.
I wasn’t convinced Vale disliked Wraith as much as he claimed, but he didn’t give off the vibe of a man who was harboring a century-long crush, so I decided to drop it.
Vale opened a single eye and asked, “Would it bother you if I were?”
I imagined Vale mooning over some fae asshole, and my heart went a touch feral for a moment. “It would bother me immensely,” I admitted.
“Good.” Vale cocked his head to the side and gave me a genuine smile. No ghosts involved at all.
“So, what happened after you became cursed?”
Vale’s smile vanished. “I was an idiot and didn’t hide what had happened to me.
Once Wraith and I stopped trying to kill each other, and I came to terms with the fact that I couldn’t fix the problem myself, I asked my peers to help me.
Instead, they trapped me, experimented on me for years, and finally sold me to a group called the Dawn Initiative. ”
“Vix said something about them earlier.”
“Vix is horrible at keeping secrets.”
“But you can tell me about them?”
“They’re part of my life. I’ll tell whoever I damn well please,” Vale snapped. Then he looked sheepish. “I’m sorry. That irritation wasn’t toward you. Gareth and I butt heads over the Dawn Initiative, so their mention always riles me up.”
“Gareth was a part of the Dawn Initiative? When did they take you?”
“Sometime before the First World War. I don’t keep track of time very well.”
“Is this because of the curse?”
“Possibly, though I was never good at it. If I’m in the middle of a project, time slips away from me.”
“Um, I have to ask. How old is Gareth?”
“A lot older than he looks.” At my curious look, Vale elaborated.
“I met him a few years after my incarceration and new life as a test subject. My captors never managed to get me to tell them anything about my work, but they were able to extract something from my DNA. Gareth was an unwitting test subject on loan from the military. He thought he was helping his country, but what he got was betrayal and a dose of something highly unstable that had killed dozens of men before him.”
“Is this Gareth’s backstory? I thought you said it was his to tell?” I asked.
“There’s more to it than that, brat, and once again, it’s part of my story too,” Vale said in an exasperated tone. “If I can’t tell it to the man I’m falling in love with, then who can I tell?”