Page 31 of To Vanquish Darkness

That shut her up. It seemed each conversation with him took a turn she wasn’t expecting. She folded her arms over her chest. He was manipulating her again. “You don’t feel pain, then?”

“I feel it.”

Amalie thought back to Theo sitting at the table when she suggested he starve himself to death.Trust me, I’ve tried.Her eyes narrowed. “How long have you lived?”

“Two thousand and twenty six years. Are your feet cold?” he asked. Amalie ground her teeth realizing she’d placed one of her feet on top of the other. “An answer for an answer.”

“Yes.”

He glanced up from the floor. “Why didn’t you wear your boots?”

Amalie didn’t answer, only pressed both swollen feet to the wood. “Are you sick of it?”

“Your stubborn attitude? Absolutely.”

Amalie shot him a look. “Living.”

He didn’t blink. “More than you could possibly know.”

Amalie moved further along the shelf, and her cheeks heated when Theo’s gaze stayed fixed on her. She understood, then. Theo hadn’t brought her to the castle to answer her questions.

She cleared her throat. “That’s it, then? After living so long, you’ve found another member of guardian blood, so you want me to stay? To bond with you and live out my days with you feeding on my blood? Blood that was a gift from the gods. That belongs to your kind. That gives you . . . pleasure?”

Theo was silent. When he finally spoke, his voice was so low it hummed. “If I thought that would make life worth living, I might consider it.” He took a step closer, and Amalie froze. “You’re too fresh to understand, but pleasure is fleeting. Pain seems to leave a more lasting impression.”

Amalie felt like a caged rabbit with him standing so close. That low burn, that deceptive calm threatened to wash over her, but she fought it. “What then? Why force me here?”

“Because we both want the same thing.” Theo reached out to straighten her collar, but she slapped his hand away.

“You don’t know half of what I want.”

His mouth curved at the edges. “You won’t be hunted here. Guardian blood is strong. We can sense it above anything else. But the scent of yours is disguised.”

Amalie scoffed, then thought of Uncle Oren’s questions.Did you hurt yourself?His eyes always darting over her and Bethany. Checking them carefully.

If this was true—if Theo's story about blood and bonds had merit—then her whole family was at risk. Bethany had treatments just like she did, but did Uncle Oren? Did his daughters? Blood was passed from parent to child, but did this heritage come from her mother or father or both? Had her mother received the injections? It was so long ago, she couldn’t remember.

Amalie glared at Theo. “You lied to me in Mordelles.”

“I never lied.”

“I thought I was turning into a vampire, and you let me believe it.” Fingers of ice spread over her spine. Why would he have done such a thing? “Did you think that would make me more malleable? More willing to follow along?”

It had worked. She hadn’t taken much convincing when she believed herself a threat to her family and friends. He’d dangled the relic in front of her, and she’d trotted along, salivating at the chance to discover his secrets. But if Theo’s story was true and she was of guardian blood . . .

She clenched her hands into fists. “You brought me here. Into a den of vampires. You offered me protection for my help in finding the sword?—”

“But that wasn’t ever what you were interested in, was it?” Theo raised an eyebrow. He walked back to the desk and set his glass on the table. “You attacked me with those revolutionaries. What do they call themselves, the Pourfendeurs? The Slayers?”

Amalie swallowed hard. “Yes.”

“And you went to them. After you left your room.”

The blood drained from her face. “You were watching me?” Amalie replayed her run through Mordelles. Her begging Marcel and Olivie to stay back, to take her life before she turned and took theirs.

“It seems I wasn’t the only one withholding information.”

Amalie steeled herself. “At least mine wouldn’t lead to your imminent enslavement” She thought of the streets below. Of the vampires she’d been only a few paces from.

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