34. Alexander
34
ALEXANDER
I couldn’t give Emily what she wanted.
That much wouldn’t change.
I could love her and protect her, but turning her was out of the question. It went against everything I believed, and it would only lead to more pain and suffering. A part of me believed that Emily would eventually realize the truth. That I was, in essence, nothing more than a monster. A killer who had done terrible things before, and then, she would be trapped with me. Bonded to me against her will. It was too risky.
The sounds of her moving around in her bedroom tortured me. I wanted to go back inside, take her in my arms, and lay her down on her bed. I wanted to show her how I felt, but there was no time for us .
Karn might’ve been weakened by taking Emily as a thrall, but that weakness wouldn’t last long, and once he realized we had escaped and that Ezekiel was dead, they would come for her. For us.
I walked through to the living room and scanned it, searching for anything that Emily might want to take with her.
A knock at the front door drew me, and I opened it .
Michael stood on the threshold, his eyes narrowed. “Where is she?” he asked.
“Emily is fine. She’s packing.”
“Packing?”
“Correct.” I held the door and blocked the entrance to her apartment with my frame. “We’re leaving.”
“What happened?” he asked. “I deserve to know what happened. While you were off doing whatever sick shit?—”
“Enough.”
“No,” Michael said. “I protected her while you were gone. I cared for her before you were a part of her life.”
I didn’t respond. Of all the people I trusted with Emily, Michael was low on the list. Yes, he had done all of those things, but he was a hunter, and he had his own motives for wanting to keep her safe. I doubted it had anything to do with his “love” for her.
“I want to talk to her.”
“As I said, she’s packing. Once she’s done, I am sure she’ll be ready to talk to you and say goodbye before she leaves.”
“Goodbye!” Michael’s fists clenched at his sides. “Goodbye? She can’t leave with you. You’re a danger to her.”
“I’m the one who helped save her.” But I hadn’t saved her entirely. Emily had done that for herself. “And you are the person who allowed her to be removed from this building in the first place. How did your ward break, Michael?”
He stared through me. “Let me in.”
“No.”
“I have to talk to her before she leaves.” He ruffled his hair irritably. “I’ve already summoned the rest of the hunters. They’re going to try to take down Sanguine Nox. They’re going to form a protective circle around the apartment building.”
“It’s too late for that,” I said. “And if you seriously think that a group of your finest hunters could harm Sanguine Nox, you are more naive than I realized. Sanguine Nox will crush all opposition.”
“Oh yeah? Then how come you think you stand a chance?” Michael asked. “She belongs here. With humans. With people who care.”
“Care?”
“Yes.”
“You haven’t once asked if she’s well,” I said. “If she’s cured of the curse that the book placed on her. You haven’t even asked what happened or how she escaped. You’ve simply demanded that you see her. Why is that?”
Michael hesitated. “Because I need to see for myself that she’s safe.”
“How did you know she was here?” I asked.
“Huh?”
“Why even knock on the front door unless you were watching for us,” I said.
Again, Michael didn’t answer right away. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other. “I heard noises next door. And I don’t have to explain myself to you, vampire. I want to see her. I deserve to see her.”
“No,” I said. “You are?—”
“Alex?” Emily came out into the living room behind me, and I released a frustrated sigh.
This would only complicate our departure. We needed to get out of here as quickly as possible, but Michael’s presence would delay us. Because he would want to talk to her.
“Em!” Michael stepped into the apartment, past the vampire magic I had put in place to ward off other vampires, and rushed toward her. He wrapped her in his arms, and I held back on my base instinct to attack.
To rip him off her and throw him against the wall. How dare he touch her after what he’d done? He had failed to protect her.
And so have you.
“Mike,” she said, laughing. “Mike, I’m so glad you’re okay. How’s Morgan? Is she?—?”
“At work,” he said. “Yeah. She’s fine. She’s been complaining nonstop since you left. She wanted to call 911, like that would do anything.”
A strange look passed over Emily’s face. “I—Yeah, I guess. But she’s fine.”
“I mean, she’s worried sick about you. We both have been.”
Emily gnawed on the corner of her lip. “Yeah. Well, I’m fine now. Kind of. It’s complicated.”
“You’re not seriously going to leave, are you?” Michael cast a glance back at me.
I shut the front door because the alternative was everyone in the hallway hearing our conversation.
“I don’t have a choice, Mike. There are very powerful vampires coming after me, and Alex is the only one who can protect me,” she said.
“That’s not true, Em. There are the hunters, remember? They’re coming to protect the apartment building. They’re going to attack those assholes who took you and make them pay.”
“And they will die trying,” I said.
“I took down one of those vamps.” Michael attempted to dismiss my words with a wave. “They’re not that tough. And I’m not even that high up in my organization, so yeah, we’ll wipe the floor with them. You don’t have to leave, Em.”
“I do,” she said, her gaze flitting toward mine.
“Why?”
“Because things have changed, Mike. The world has changed. I—It’s not like I can go back to the library and continue working. It’s not like I can live here with you and Morgan and pretend nothing has happened,” I said. “I’ve got to leave. Besides, the longer I stay here, the more it endangers everyone who lives in this building. I’m not going to do that.”
“That’s noble of you, Em, but I’m more concerned about protecting you. And you’re safest here.”
“I’m safest with Alex,” she said. “He understands everything that’s going on. ”
A muscle twitched in Michael’s jaw. “But, Em, I love you.”
“That’s enough,” I said. “Enough of this.”
“It’s okay, Alex,” Emily said. “It’s okay. Look, Mike, I know that you have feelings for me, but nothing has changed between us. I’m sorry, but I don’t see you as more than a friend. I love Alex. That’s all there is to it.”
“You love him? You barely know him.”
“I know what kind of person he is,” I said. “The kind who would put everything he believes at risk to save me.”
I walked over to her to lend my support.
“I’m sorry, Mike. You need to leave. Thank you for your help,” she said.
Michael lingered a second then turned and started for the door.
I stepped in front of Emily and took her hands in mine, raising one to my lips and then the other. “You are?—”
Pain spiked in the center of my chest, and I frowned, looking down at the tip of the wooden stake that had penetrated through my back. Emily’s scream rang in my ears as I fell to the floor.