23. The Truth #2
Rival vampire families. Territory wars. Feeding grounds.
This wasn't real.
This couldn't be real.
"Why women on their period?" she asked suddenly, her voice muffled behind her hands. "Why do you—why do you feed from them specifically?"
Reign was quiet for a long moment.
"Because it's stronger," he said finally.
"Menstrual blood—it hits different. It amplifies everything.
Strength, speed, senses, emotions. It gives me clarity.
Control. It makes me feel—" He stopped, his jaw clenching.
"It makes me feel like I can handle everything.
Like I'm not just surviving, I'm living. "
"So it's a drug," Soreya said flatly. "You're addicted to it."
"Yeah." Reign's voice was raw. "I'm addicted to it. I been addicted to it for decades. It's the only thing that keeps me from losing my mind completely."
Soreya lowered her hands, staring at him.
"Have you ever fed on me?"
The question hung in the air between them like a bomb.
Reign's expression shifted—guilt, shame, something that looked almost like fear.
"No," he said quietly.
"Don't lie to me, Reign."
"I'm not lying." His voice was steady, but his hands were shaking. "I never fed on you, Soreya. Not once. Not ever."
"But you wanted to," she said, and it wasn't a question.
Reign didn't answer.
"That's why you couldn't be near me sometimes," Soreya continued, her voice breaking. "That's why you'd disappear for days. That's why you'd come home smelling like other women. Because being around me made you want to?—"
"Yes." The word came out like a confession.
"Being around you made the hunger worse.
Made it harder to control. You smell—" He stopped, his jaw clenching.
"You smell like everything I want and everything I can't have.
And I knew if I ever fed from you, I wouldn't be able to stop. I'd drain you. I'd kill you."
Soreya's vision blurred with tears.
"So you cheated on me instead."
"I fed from other women to keep from feeding on you," Reign said, and his voice was so raw it hurt to hear. "I know that don't make it right. I know it don't excuse what I did. But I was trying to protect you, Soreya. I was trying to keep you safe from what I am."
"By lying to me for six years?" Soreya's voice cracked. "By making me think I was crazy for suspecting you? By letting me believe you were just a cheater when you were out here?—"
"I know!" Reign's voice boomed through the small room, and Soreya flinched. He saw her reaction and immediately softened, his hands raised. "I know, baby. I know I fucked up. I know I should've told you. But I was scared. I was scared you'd look at me exactly the way you looking at me right now."
"Like you're a monster?"
"Yeah."
Soreya stared at him, tears streaming down her face.
"You are a monster, Reign."
He flinched like she'd slapped him.
"I know," he whispered.
The silence that followed was deafening.
Soreya wiped her face with the back of her hand, trying to pull herself together. "So what happens now? Do you kill me? Do you turn me? Do you lock me up to keep me safe from your enemies?"
"I don't know," Reign said, and his voice was so broken it made her chest ache. "I don't?—"
He stopped mid-sentence.
His whole body went rigid.
His head tilted slightly, like he was listening to something Soreya couldn't hear.
"What?" Soreya asked, her heart rate spiking. "What is it?"
Reign moved to the window in two strides, pulling back the curtain just enough to look down at the parking lot below.
His expression went cold.
"Someone's coming," he said quietly. "Someone who knows what I am."
Soreya's blood turned to ice.
She crossed the room, standing next to him at the window, and looked down.
A black Audi pulled into the parking lot, moving slowly, deliberately, like the driver was looking for something.
Or someone.
The car stopped directly below their window.
The driver's side door opened.
Truitt stepped out.
Soreya's breath caught in her throat.
He looked different.
Not physically—he was still wearing the same kind of clothes he always wore, still had that clean-cut, professional look. But something about the way he moved had changed. His posture was different. More confident. More predatory.
He looked up at the window—directly at Soreya—and smiled.
It wasn't the warm, safe smile she remembered.
It was something else.
Something dangerous.
"Oh my God," Soreya whispered, her hand flying to her mouth. "He's one of you."
Reign's jaw clenched so hard she heard his teeth grind.
"Worse," he said quietly.
"What do you mean worse?"
Reign didn't answer.
He just stood there, staring down at Truitt, his whole body vibrating with tension.
Truitt raised one hand in a casual wave, then started walking toward the motel entrance.
Soreya's heart slammed against her ribs.
"Reign," she said, her voice shaking. "Reign, what is he?"
Reign finally turned to look at her, and the expression on his face made her blood run cold.
"He a hunter," Reign said. "And he been playing you this whole time to get to me."
Soreya's knees buckled.
Reign caught her before she fell, his hands gripping her arms, steadying her.
"Listen to me," he said, his voice urgent. "Whatever he told you, whatever he made you feel—it was all a lie. He knew what I was. He knew you was with me. He got close to you on purpose."
"No," Soreya whispered, shaking her head. "No, that's not—he was just a guy. He was normal. He was?—"
"He was hunting me," Reign said. "And now he coming for both of us."
Footsteps echoed in the hallway outside.
Slow. Deliberate. Getting closer.
Reign moved in front of Soreya, positioning himself between her and the door.
"Stay behind me," he said quietly.
"Reign—"
"Stay behind me."
The footsteps stopped outside their door.
A knock.
Three times. Calm. Polite.
"Soreya," Truitt's voice called from the other side. "I know you're in there. And I know Reign's with you." A pause. "Open the door. We need to talk."
Soreya's whole body was shaking.
Reign didn't move.
"I'm not here to hurt you," Truitt continued, his voice smooth, reasonable. "I'm here to help you. To show you the truth about what Reign Saint really is."
"She already know what I am," Reign called back, his voice hard.
"Does she?" Truitt's voice was amused now. "Does she know how many people you've killed, Reign? Does she know about the women who disappeared from your clubs? Does she know about the families you've destroyed?"
Reign's jaw clenched, but he didn't respond.
"I didn't think so," Truitt said. "Open the door, Soreya. Let me show you who you've really been sleeping with for the past six years."
Soreya looked up at Reign, her vision blurred with tears.
"Is it true?" she whispered. "The women who disappeared—was that you?"
Reign's expression was unreadable.
"Some of them," he said quietly. "Not all. But some."
Soreya's stomach dropped.
"Oh my God."
"They were threats," Reign said quickly. "They were working for rival crews, or they knew too much, or they were?—"
"You killed them," Soreya said, her voice hollow. "You killed innocent women."
"They weren't innocent."
"How do you know?" Soreya's voice rose. "How do you know they deserved to die?"
Reign didn't answer.
Because he didn't know.
He'd killed them because Cairo told him to. Because Soleil said they were liabilities. Because that's what vampires did to survive.
Another knock on the door.
"Time's up," Truitt said. "I'm coming in."
The door handle rattled.
Then the lock clicked.
The door swung open.
Truitt stood in the doorway, backlit by the hallway light, his expression calm and controlled.
He looked at Reign first, then at Soreya.
"Hello, Soreya," he said, his voice soft. "I'm sorry it had to be like this."
Reign moved, putting himself fully between Truitt and Soreya.
"You need to leave," Reign said, his voice low and dangerous. "Now."
Truitt smiled.
"Or what? You'll kill me like you killed all those other people?" He tilted his head. "I don't think so, Reign. Not with Soreya watching. Not when she's finally seeing you for what you really are."
Reign's hands clenched into fists at his sides.
"What do you want?"
"I want you to answer for what you've done," Truitt said simply. "I want justice for the people you've killed. And I want Soreya to know the truth about the monster she's been in love with."
Soreya's whole body was shaking.
She looked at Reign—at the blood still staining his clothes, at the tension in his body, at the way his eyes were starting to glow faintly in the dim light.
Then she looked at Truitt—at the man who'd seemed so safe, so normal, so perfect.
The man who'd been lying to her the entire time.
She was trapped.
Trapped in a motel room between two things that weren't human.
And she had no idea which one was more dangerous.