Page 49 of The Guardian's Curse

“Yes,” he said, surprising her with his admission.

She shrugged. “How about this? I really don’t care what you look like, but if you’re happier, I won’t bother you to uncover your face. In return, you don’t run away for at least five minutes.”

To her absolute relief, he relaxed. “That is reasonable.”

“Get talking, Mister Thorne,” she said.

“I come from Austria originally,” he said.

“Really? Your accent sounds British.”

He actually let out a tiny laugh. So far, he’d laughed more in ten minutes than in two weeks. “I’m over two hundred years old and I speak five languages fluently. Accents are relative,” he said. “My English is perfect, but Paris says I speak French with an abominable German coarseness.”

She laughed. “You two go way back?”

“We do,” he said. “Our relationship is complicated. Over the centuries, we have been friends, enemies, lovers, and...whatever we are now.”

“You were lovers?” she asked.

His head tilted. “For many years. Does that surprise you?”

“Given Paris? Not really,” she said with a laugh. She raised her eyebrows. “He didn’t break your heart, did he? I’ll be glad to try out my next spells on him if so.”

He was quiet for a while, and she kicked herself for poking a sore spot. But he finally spoke. “He was very good to me. Far better than I deserved. I pushed him away, and he eventually quit chasing. We did not speak for many years, but we have since come to an understanding. I suppose we are friends again, though it is something more than that, too.”

“Did he turn you? Or vice versa?”

Alistair shook his head. “No, Paris had been a vampire for years before I was turned,” he said. His hands splayed on the counter, fingers dancing slightly as if he was playing an unseen piano.

“Can I ask a really personal question?”

“I suppose,” he said.

“Do you like only men? Or men and women?”

“Why do you ask?”

Her heart pounded. “Just curious.”

“I like both men and women,” he said. Her relief was immeasurable. “Intelligent, charming people come in all sorts of bodies.” He leaned forward on his elbows, head tilting. It was the first sign that he wasn’t trying to bolt. He tilted his head toward her. “Which do you like the best?”

She perused the spread of desserts. “So far, I’m Team Tiramisu,” she said. “But I think we could have a dark horse in this peach cobbler here.” She pushed the chocolate cake away and reached for the cobbler. “Tell me something else. What’s the most interesting place you’ve lived?” She wanted to dive into the deep, gooey parts of him, but she’d stick to the superficial if he would just stay.

“I spent several years in Hong Kong before I was cursed,” he said. “It was beautiful. The people were lovely, and though I couldn’t eat, I could walk in the markets and smell it all for hours. Celebrating the lunar new year was a sheer delight. I wish I had visited when I was still human. But my favorite was Stockholm.”

“Why? Beautiful blondes?”

“It’s dark for twenty hours a day in the winter,” he said with a chuckle. “Though Scandinavia is not a place for vampires.”

“Why’s that?”

“A particularly vicious band of hunters,” he said. “Thanks to the Rodzina, no vampire court has resided in Scandinavia officially for as long as I have been a vampire. I spent only a year in Stockholm before I encountered a hunter. I hate to admit it, but I barely escaped with my life. I decided I valued my head more than the long nights and beautiful blondes.” Before she could ask him another question, he pointed. “How’s the peach?”

“It’s amazing,” she said. “But I think I’m going to die if I eat anything else.”

“We certainly don’t want that. That would be a tragedy.” She laughed and started to close the boxes, but Alistair moved toward her in a blur, pushing her hands out of the way. “Allow me. You take care of everything here.” He reached around her, and for one brief moment, his chest pressed to her back.

She took a breath for courage, then pressed her hand over his, pinning it to the counter. He jolted, but didn’t pull away. His skin was cool and rough beneath her fingers. “Thank you for all of this,” she said, staring down at their joined hands. “I enjoyed spending this evening with you.”

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