29. Rina #2
Ravenna cradled the book in her arms, her veins turning black like they were full of poison instead of blood. After so many years of practicing black magic, maybe they were. I couldn’t bring myself to watch her burn, her body turning to ash.
I turned back to Ezra, expecting to find those red eyes full of triumph, but he’d collapsed onto the ground, Ambrose still by his side. I didn’t even think. Just moved in a flash. As fast as he always did.
I scooped his body up, pulling him into my lap.
“Hi,” he murmured, hand reaching up to brush hair off my face.
“Hi,” I said back, eyes filling with tears.
“Rina.” He brushed the wetness away from my face. “Don’t cry for me, my sweet belladonna.”
“I’m mad at you,” I huffed, pointing a finger at him and pushing it against his chest. “I’m so fucking mad at you.” Ambrose scampered off, finding Victoria and wrapping himself around her leg until she picked him up.
I could breathe easier, knowing he was alright.
Ezra gave me a sad smile. “I know.” His eyes fluttered shut.
I shook him lightly. “Hey. Stay with me now.”
His gaze was hazy as he looked up at me. “At least now I can die peacefully in your arms.”
“No, Ezra. No. You’re not going to die.” I sliced my palm, holding it up to him. “Drink, you asshole. You’re not allowed to leave me now.”
He shook his head. “You should let me.”
“What?” The word was hardly more than a whisper. “No.”
“You should have let me die that day instead of offering me your blood. That way, you never would have tied yourself to a monster like me.”
“Ezra, no. You can’t… You don’t honestly believe that, do you?” It had to be the pain talking. He wasn’t making any sense.
“I’m not good for you. Just look at what happened today because of me. Because of my past. I will never be anything but the vampire who chained you to him, who forced you into a lifetime of something you never asked for.”
“You never asked for it, either,” I said, cupping his cheek.
“You deserve the world, Rina.” His eyes shut once again, though this time I knew it was so he could avoid my gaze. “The only way to free ourselves from the bond—to free you—is for me to die. Unbonded, you’ll just go back to the way things were. No vampire, nothing.”
“No.”
“No?” Ezra frowned. “But that’s the only way. I’ve known it all along, I just couldn’t bring myself to accept that it was the only option.”
“I’m not going to let you die. Not for me, not for anyone.”
Ezra ran his thumb over the mark on my arm. His mark. Those wings, spread out underneath the blood moon, night-blooming roses unfurling around in a beautiful pattern. “I do not wish to saddle you with me for the rest of your life, Sabrina Hallow.”
“What sort of life would it be without you, Ezra Darkmire?” I brushed my thumb across his cheek, a gentle touch. “What if I want to be saddled to you for eternity, my wonderful, ridiculous vampire?”
“I don’t deserve you,” he whispered.
“You do,” I said. “You do deserve me.” I could tell he was fading fast, and I raised my still bleeding palm to his mouth.
“Please.” I wasn’t above begging. “Please don’t leave me.
You told me you wouldn’t leave me. That you’d keep me safe.
And you have to be alive to do that, you beautiful, stubborn, stupid vampire. ”
His red eyes met mine as I forced my blood into his mouth, a groan slipping from his lips before he drank. It wasn’t like when he fed from me normally—that delicious, sexual pleasure that had me wanting to straddle him until I lost myself in him. This was different.
Maybe because he hadn’t bitten me at all. His fangs barely even brushed my skin as he gulped down my blood.
I closed my eyes. “You look like shit.” His face was still pale, blood still oozing from a cut on his forehead. “I want to kill her again for doing this to you,” I said, hating seeing him like this.
“I’ll be fine.” Ezra curled his hand around my hair. “You look so beautiful, Sabrina.” He smiled, then winced, like it caused him pain. “I’m sorry.”
“Once we’re home, I expect a thorough apology, mister.”
“Home?” He sounded hopeful. “Like… back in Pleasant Grove?”
I shook my head. “No. To the manor. Our home.”
“I didn’t think you’d want to be with me anymore. After all of this. You did all that to break our bond, and I just—”
“You idiot. Of course, I want to be with you. For the same reason I can’t let you die.
” I sucked in a breath. The color was returning to his face, slowly, and we sat up, clutching each other.
“Because I love you, damn you,” I said, my fist pounding against his chest. I heaved out a breath.
“Even though I shouldn’t. Even though I swore I wouldn’t. I still fell in love with you, Ezra.”
His red eyes shifted, his entire aura transforming to the same golden color his eyes sometimes flashed. “You… love me?”
“That‘s what I said, my beautiful bloodsucker.” Tears dripped down my face. “Fuck, I’m such a fool.”
“You’re not a fool, Rina.” His words were soft as he cupped my cheeks. “My Rina.” The tone was… sacred. “Gods. I never imagined…” Ezra ran his thumb over my skin. “No one’s ever told me they loved me before.”
My heart clenched for him. “Never? But…”
“Yes, my sweet belladonna. It’s true. But somehow, your love is the greatest gift of all.
” He brushed the tears away from my eyes.
I hadn’t even realized I was crying. Not when I was looking into the golden eyes of my mate—my mate, I realized with sudden clarity, because it had never felt so true or real before—and suddenly, the entire world had shifted.
“Ezra.” My voice was hardly more than a whisper. “I love you.”
“Say it again.” He pressed his forehead against mine, lips only a breath away.
“I love you, Ezra Darkmire. Pointy teeth and all.”
He kissed me softly, hand cupping the back of my neck. “I love you, too, my witch. I just never thought… never imagined you could love a monster like me.”
“You’re not a monster.” I swallowed roughly. “You’re my soulmate. My mate.”
He blinked up at me. “Do you mean…”
I nodded. “I don’t want to break our bond. Not anymore. Not for a while, actually.” My hand slid over my heart. “You’re so deep in here, I don’t think I could, even if we found a way.”
“Thank fuck.” He wound his arms around me, pulling me so tight against his chest that I could practically feel his heart thumping in rhythm with mine.
Two hearts beating as one, like we were truly meant to be.
“I wasn’t sure how I could ever let you go.
But you were so adamant, and I wanted you to truly choose me.
To want me. Not just for sex, or because of this bond, but because… ”
“I do,” I interrupted. “And maybe it didn’t start out that way.
But somewhere along the way, I knew it was the truth.
I choose you, Ezra. Not because you are my mate, my love, but despite it.
When I woke up alone, I thought maybe you’d changed your mind about me.
That everything you’d said, everything we’d done, meant nothing to you.
I thought that…” I shut my eyes. “But the second Victoria told me that something wasn’t right, I knew. I knew you’d never choose to leave.”
“There is only you, Rina,” Ezra said. “There will never be another whose blood calls to mine. Eternally—you are mine. You are the only one I will kneel for. My mate. Bond or not, I will never want another. And I’ll always, always come back to you,” Ezra declared, curling a piece of my hair around his finger.
“I promise.” He pressed a kiss to my forehead. “Thank you for finding me.”
“Don’t make me do it again.” I narrowed my eyebrows.
He smiled. “I guess that means you’re going to have to come along with me everywhere, huh?”
“Yes.” I nodded, even though I realized that meant I would definitely meet his vampire queen mother sometime soon. “Now, take us home,” I begged.
I couldn’t stop the rush of emotion leaving my body. Maybe because I’d used more magic than I’d ever had before, but I felt drained.
There was no doubt Ezra was still weak from whatever they’d done to him, whatever they’d put into his system, but it still didn’t stop him from wrapping his arms around me, holding me tight.
In a flash, he traced us both home.