Page 62 of Shadow Hunter

Damon trudged up the stairs of the apartment building, following Tiffany. Though Caius was dead and Mark’s death avenged, his stomach twisted into knots, dread eating away at his insides about the task lay before him. Damned if he hadn’t sent himself to hell with this...

He needed to tell her. Now.

Before it was too late.

He swallowed hard, lifting one foot in front of the other, trying to act as if his one chance at happiness wasn’t about to walk right out of his life. His heart pounded in his ears. Whoever the hell had come up with the bright idea that traumatic moments moved in slow motion could eat one of his fists. He would rather climb this stairway for eternity than face the next step—and, man, the climb was going fast.

Their goodbye had only lasted this long as it was because he’d insisted on seeing her to her door. But how could he do this? Feel as if he deserved her when she still didn’t know that Mark continued to live. If you could even call the life of a vamp one worth living.

They reached the final landing, and Tiffany crossed to lucky apartment number seven. No, there was nothing even remotely lucky about that number. It would be the last trace he would see of her once she closed—or, more likely, slammed—the door in his face.

She seemed all too eager to get this over with.

Pulling her keys from her purse, she reached for the knob before turning toward him. “This is it,” she said. “No more hunting for me. For now, at least. Are you satisfied?”

He bit his lower lip. Hell, no. He would never be satisfied until she was his, until he knew that every morning when he woke up she would be lying right by his side, her face as peaceful and gorgeous as it had been during their night together.

The night she’d given him her virginity.

He wanted to tell her that. Wanted to tell her so many things. But he couldn’t.

Not when he was still keeping the truth from her.

A sharp pang hit his heart, but he nodded to say that, yes, he was satisfied.

It couldn’t have been further from the truth.

How could he have let this happen to him? How could he have fallen so hard? The thought of her staying with him sent pulses of ecstasy and elation beating through him. But as he stared at her eyes, knowing he would never see it again, all he felt was pain. He would have suffered death a thousand times over rather than see her walk away from him.

She let out a long sigh. “I…never thought I’d be saying this to the man I thought was responsible for Mark’s death, but thank you. Thank you for helping me to kill Caius.” She flashed him a weak smile. “I know it’s probably not much consolation, but after what happened in the alleyway, when I left you behind, I…understood why you left Mark. I got caught up in the huntexactly like you did, and if I’d been in your place the night Mark died, well, I can’t say I would have done any differently.”

Damon exhaled a long breath. He wasn’t sure what to say. All he managed to choke out was, “Thanks for that.”

Another weak smile crossed her full lips. Then she slid her key into the doorknob and twisted until it unlocked.

His mind raced. Every function in his body seemed to shut down and come alive all at the same time. Was he really going to let her walk away?

Say something, asshole!

Finally, he forced her name out. “Tiffany?”

Turning toward him, she met his gaze, a slight look of hope in her eyes he couldn’t escape. “Yeah?”

Say something. Say something. Say something— anything.

“You should…uh, get a stronger lock than that. I’ll send someone over to install some extra reinforcement. Don’t worry about the cost, it’s on me.”

Fuck.That was all he could say?

Within an instant the spark in her eyes faded. “Oh, okay.” Pausing, she met his gaze one last time. “Well, thanks again. For everything. I trust you’ll destroy all the viral vamps.” She turned away from him and opened the door.

God damn it, he was a weak man. The woman he loved, his one chance at happiness, was about to leave him and he was going to let her. And for what? One mistake?

His heart stopped.

One mistake...His breath caught. It was one mistake. One mistake in a lifetime of choices. Choices that’d led him to her.

Who was he kidding?

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