Chapter 18
Chapter Eighteen
“How long?”
Mateo appeared to rouse himself, scrubbing a hand over his face. Lord Azad was barely out of the townhome and I tried not to think of him, of everything that had come to pass. However, Mateo did not look my way, only adjusted the covers around Jules’ sleeping frame. “What do you mean?”
I leaned against the window frame. “How long have you two been together?”
His laugh was soft and so full of heartbreak it made my eyes prick. He touched Jules’ cheek, tracing the line of the bone to her hair. “We are not together.”
“Oh,” I breathed, wrapping my arms around my middle.
Mateo shifted, his shoulders turning toward me a little, but his attention remained fixed to her face. “Jules is steadfast. She viewed her commitment to Peter as lifelong, regardless of if he was in this world or the next.”
Peter…that must have been Lilith’s father. I could not fathom such a commitment, especially when he’d died thirty years ago. “But you love her.”
He nodded. “I do.”
The words left my mouth before I could stop them. “And you would not change her?”
Tension rippled across his shoulders. “I would not be so heartless as to inflict this life on another without their consent—I learned all too young how monstrous such a thing can be.”
“I’m sorry, Mateo.”
He looked up finally, his smile weak. “Do not be.”
After another moment he stood, tugging at the lapels of his jacket and wiping his hand across the dark brown skin of his cheeks. He leaned down, pressing a kiss to Jules’ brow that was so intimate and full of devotion I could not bear to watch him give his goodbye.
“You don’t need to leave,” I said when he’d finished whatever whispers he’d given her.
“It is better I do. But I will come back, perhaps tomorrow or the next night—her daughter does not need a heartbroken vampire wailing in the corner like a ghost.”
Before I could argue, he vanished, the sound of the front door opening and closing the only sign that he had not simply disappeared.
I took Mateo’s place at Jules’ side, brushing the back of my fingertips across her burning brow before reaching for the cloth and bowl of water.
She did not stir as I placed the dampened fabric over her forehead or when the thudding sound of footsteps approached.
A swirl of brown curls appeared beside me so fast I would have thought Lilith was a vampire too. She climbed onto the bed on Jules’ other side, face already crumpled in grief.
“Maman…” she breathed, trembling as she reached out toward her mother but did not touch. For a moment I was unsure what to do or if I was overstepping by being here, but I’d only half risen before Lilith grabbed my hand and squeezed tight.
Lord Azad slipped into the room, hair windswept and wild around his face.
I tried not to stare, but my attention lingered on him all the same.
His face was drawn in an expression of sadness so acute it set my eyes burning again, though it felt insensitive to cry when it was Lilith who was in danger of losing her mother.
I had only known Jules for six months—Lord Azad had known Jules her whole life.
It broke my heart further to watch Lilith hold back her tears, unnecessarily tucking the covers higher and then rising to close the drapes.
I stood as she tidied the room, gathering a few pieces of Jules’ clothing left over a chair and crossing to her wardrobe.
But Lord Azad got there before I could, curling one hand around Lilith’s shoulder and turning her toward him.
A sob burst from her and he shushed her, pulling her to his chest while cupping a hand over the back of her head as if she was merely a child.
The back of my neck itched and heat crept up my throat. I swallowed, twisting my fingers into my skirts, and slipped out into the hall, wiping furiously at my eyes with the back of my hand.
Noah appeared at the bottom of the stairs as I opened the door to the top floor, his eyes wide and light brown skin pale. “Where are they?”
I gestured toward the sound of Lilith’s quiet sobs. “In there.”
He took the stairs two at a time and I stepped back to allow him room to enter, but instead of going toward the bedroom, his dark eyes flicked over me. “Where are you going?”
“To get some…” My voice trailed off and I cleared my throat, trying again. “I was…”
Noah frowned, grabbed my hand and tugged me into his chest in almost the same manner Lord Azad had Lilith. “Save your pretty lies for your clients.”
I huffed a laugh that was more watery than humorous. “You smell like venefica shit.”
He rested his chin on top of my head and laughed along with me.
But it was true, he did smell like the sickly rotting scent of the monstrous creatures that plagued our world.
When I pulled away, I realized he was covered in their black blood—it was speckled across his face and uniform, even the back of his hands.
“Don’t worry, you didn’t get any on you.” He let me go and clomped to the washroom to rinse his hands.
“How did you know to come?”
He turned off the tap and reached for a towel. “A vampire found me.”
“Which vampire?”
Noah pursed his lips and raised his hand a little over his head. “About this tall, curly brown hair—beautiful.”
“I’m sorry, beautiful?”
A blush colored his cheeks. “I mean, he was…you know how vampires are.”
I hummed, crossing my arms. “I do.”
He ran a hand through his hair and then shouldered past me. “Anyway, he told me Jules had taken ill and to come to the townhome. So here I am. Let’s go see what they need.”
Lord Azad stepped through the bedroom door and closed it behind him. Blood was smeared across his cheekbones and there was a heaviness in his gait that spoke of ancient suffering. He nodded to Noah and extended a hand in greeting. My friend took it immediately, dipping his chin.
“Thank you for coming so quickly,” Lord Azad said. “Lilith and Jules will need all the help they can.”
“You’re leaving?” Noah asked.
I eyed the window through the small sitting room. “It is almost dawn.”
Noah nodded. But Lord Azad’s gaze was fixed on me. My friend’s attention flicked between us before he nodded again and slipped through the bedroom door. His voice was merely a hum, followed by another round of Lilith’s sobs.
Lord Azad sighed. “Come here, my heart.”
Slowly, I stepped into his embrace. He slipped one hand beneath my hair while the other circled my waist and his head dipped until his nose brushed my cheek. My shoulders relaxed a fraction as I twined my arms around his neck.
“How are you?” The words were a rumble against my skin and I fought a shiver.
But I didn’t know the answer to the question. My stomach was tangled into knots, my chest hollow and vacant, and there was an oppressive darkness looming in the distance like a storm I could not outrun.
So I settled for: “Worried.”
Lord Azad hummed, his fingers massaging the back of my head while he brushed his lips against my temple. “So am I.”
However, it was more than just Jules and Lilith I was worried about.
Before tonight I had been so sure of everything.
I was a blood giver in the Souzterain, I had faithful clients, I had friends and even a woman who I’d come to see as somewhat of a mother figure.
But in one single night I feared all that had been wiped away.
Lord Azad claimed I was his blood mate and I did not know what that meant for my job and my family.
And Jules? I could not think of what it would be like to lose her.
“I will call on you tomorrow.” Lord Azad tilted my chin up with his grip on my hair and pressed his lips to mine in a chaste kiss. “Tomorrow and the next,” he continued in Kysoi.
“Tomorrow and the next,” I answered.
Dawn was already threatening through the window, the dark night lightening to azure and purple. I nodded as he reluctantly let me go, kissing me again before he disappeared through the front door.
Only the goddess knew what fresh horror tomorrow would bring.