Page 79 of Land of Shadow

“Shit, are you injured again?”

He smirks. “It’s not mine.” When he sinks onto the other end of the sofa, he sighs. “Progress?”

“No.”

“I didn’t think so.” He turns his head, his dark blue eyes taking me in. His stare is always too direct, almost like he’s seeing through all my layers. At least he doesn’t seem like a gloating asshole, so maybe he’s put that night behind him, too.

“Where are you from?”

He throws his arm up on the back of the sofa and lays his head back. Like this, in profile, he looks like a Renaissance sculpture. Sharp nose, straight jaw, the curve of his adam’s apple, the fullness of his lips.

“Drunk again?”

Shit. “No!” I can feel my cheeks heating with embarrassment. “I’m not.”

“What a comfort.” His smirk only grows more dastardly. “Why do you want to know where I’m from?”

“I don’t know anything about you.”Except the way you taste, your smell, the feeling of your skin against mine.

“I was born in a village on the outskirts of what is now Budapest.”

“When?”

He closes his eyes, his long lashes like brush strokes against his cheek. “A long, long time ago.”

“And when did you become a vampire?”

“What makes you think vampires aren’t born?” His voice is soft, smooth.

“That’s …” Honestly, that’s never occurred to me. “I thought you had to be bitten and?—”

“Gregor has always enjoyed the stories Hollywood tells about us. It allows us to stay hidden in plain sight. Key to our survival.”

“So you were born a vampire?”

“I didn’t say that.”

I swear I’m not naturally violent, but I’d love just once to knock the smug look off his face. “Why can you survive the sun?”

“Do you still love your sister?” he asks.

Whatever balance I thought I had is knocked askew with that one simple question. “What?”

He turns his head, his eyes opening as he gives me that undressing stare of his. “I thought we were asking questions. That’s mine for you. Knowing what you know now, do you still love her?”

“Yes.”

“Hmm.” He turns back and closes his eyes.

“Why ‘hmm’?” I ask.

“She’s committed some of the greatest sins against humanity of anyone in history. All for power. And yet, you still love her.”

“I don’t think that’s true.”

“She made a deal with Gregor.” He clucks his tongue.

“She knows what she’s doing.”

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