Page 34 of Blood Bond

"Exactly. Life is about choices. If there's anything I've learnt in my long life, it's that. You chose not to answer my question about why you're awake."

"I couldn’t sleep," I admit.

"Still turning everything over in your mind?"

I bite my lip again and meet Seth's gaze. I'm teetering on the edge of revealing everything, wishing I could understand even a fraction of it all. I'm about to mention Nico, my fear of him palpable, but something else slips out instead. "My father," I say.

I pause, but the silence doesn't swallow my words. I even put my hand to my mouth, as if to hold them back. Nico isn't the only thing on my mind; he's the distraction I use to suppress other thoughts. "My father was supposed to protect me, to rescue me. I believed he would. It was all I ever dreamt of."

I don't realise I'm crying until Seth gently wipes away a tear with his thumb. "I’m sorry," I whisper again, for what feels like the hundredth time.

"Don’t ever be sorry for your tears," he says softly.

I hear the naivety in my own words. "I was a fool."

"To think your father would come for you?"

"Yes. I?—"

"All fathers should step up and do what's right," Seth says. "Some do it out of obligation, while others are too swayed by their own wants and needs.

“I thought maybe he was dead. That's why he never came for me." I can see Seth understands the need for that hope in my words, and he nods.

"That might have been easier. You'll probably learn a lot about your father that you wish you hadn't. And about the world, too. I'm only sorry I can't protect you from it all."

I narrow my eyes at him. "I don't understand you."

He smiles. "You don’t need to.” Moving back onto the bed. I can see it's a struggle for him; he's tired, and the rising sun challenges any vampire. I wonder how he's still awake, how the day hasn't yet forced him into slumber. He pulls back the covers. "Lie with me. Maybe then you can sleep."

Before I accept his invitation, I frown at him, tilting my head. "Why aren't you asleep?"

"That is a question you're not ready to have the answer to," he replies. "Now come, lie with me. Sleep may be a small battle, but it's one we must face."

ChapterTwenty-Six

Isettle into bed beside Seth, resting my head on the pillow. As I close my eyes, trying to calm my racing thoughts, I find comfort in Seth's presence. The silence in the room envelopes me, and my eyelids grow heavy.

But I resist the urge to sleep. The thought of facing my dreams alone, without Seth, is overwhelming. The feelings of betrayal threaten to drown me, and I struggle to push them away.

Seth gently brushes the hair from my face, whispering, “It's OK to be angry, to feel what you feel, but don't let it consume you. You've been through so much. Don't let this be the thing that breaks you.”

It's as if he's reading my thoughts, my emotions.

His hand finds mine, his touch becoming an anchor amidst the storm of emotions. I've felt this way many times before, but never with someone like him. It's always been with other slaves, victims of their kind. It feels like a betrayal, yet with him, it's different, always different.

His fingers lightly trace a path along my knuckles, and I allow my eyes to close. Sleep washes over me, and I surrender to it, drifting away into the darkness of my dreams.

My dreams mirrorreality's darkness.

I cautiously lift my skirt to walk, moving quietly. I need to leave the room and descend the stairs. Using a candle is out of the question, as someone might see me. I know Donovan and his father are away for the night, but I can't afford to be careless. There are enough eyes to watch and report on my every move.

The baroness is in her room, thankfully overlooking the fields and the forest instead of this part of their land. I slip through the kitchen and make my way down through the vegetable patches where potatoes and carrots grow. The season is changing, and soon everything will need to be harvested.

I don't require light to navigate this path; I've done it countless times before, almost by muscle memory. I'm heading to the small shack at the bottom, the one with the broken roof and a cracked window.

I've been trying to reach him for days now, and it's unusual not to see him. He's always working or tending to something, always present, even if I can't approach him. But not recently; he's been hidden from me.

Perhaps he was sent away; Donovan had threatened that.

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