Page 115 of Chain Me
“You tried to turn her,” Adara said. She lifted her skirt and twirled in a circle while Dublin watched on, as frozen as ever. “I’ve heard the rumors: Raphael bit her, didn’t he? I’m sure the bastard knew about the agreement you forged with Mero. He would stay in the shadows, averting a nasty war with Raphael. As long as you…what? Go on, say it.”
When Dublin remained silent, she sighed.
“As long as you stayed away from the Gray bloodline. Why? Perhaps he owed it to his loyal servant, James? Or perhaps he knew all along.” She giggled mischievously. “He knew that one day, you wouldn’t be able to. That you who so cherished your restraint wouldn’t be able to hide behind that silly necklace any longer. You defiled the charming Eleanor Gray—but in doing so, you triggered the so-called curse. A fate that Mero had always intended for himself. That kind of magic requires a price, you see. A blood price. His blood, or in this case yours. As the new life grows, that price must continue to be paid, or both will die.”
“Blood,” I croaked, the only word I seemed capable of saying at first. My mind grappled with the insanity of her words, piecing the morbid puzzle together. “That’s why I could drink…”
“Yes,” Adara said, as though it was as trivial a matter as a buzzing fly. “You need blood, but only to sustain the life growing within you—but that is not the true price paid.”
“Keep talking in riddles, and I’ll reconsider this conversation,” Dublin warned.
Adara giggled, but I didn’t miss the slight step backward she took. “Careful, darling. I truly won’t hesitate to kill her.” She fingered the front of her dress again, inching toward the reddish stains. “Alas, the true price is that…well, you’ve lost. You’ve forfeited her already, and you did it—here’s the funny part—tosaveher. Funneling all that time to Raphael. And the cruel bastard gave up just enough to drive that point home, didn’t he? Ten years, was it?” She eyed me, her lips bared in a hellish grin. “Ten years to spend with her. Ten years with your delicate, mortal child. Ten years before Raphael gets to yank your leash and call you to heel. Have you told her? No, you haven’t. Because I doubt even you can admit it to yourself.”
She stepped forward, her hands folded sweetly before her. “Your precious Dublin tried to circumvent nature when he attempted to turn you. In return, he gave up his mortality, and he doomed you to a life that he will—at best—enjoy ten years of before you age and wither and die. Your beautiful little daughter will only know him as a shadow flickering along the edges of her life before it fades entirely. Raphael may allow you to see her every now and again, but only so that he can use her to milk you for more, and more, and more, and more. So why have you sought me out? To save you? I cannot do that.”
“Then we’re done here.” Dublin grabbed my wrist and pulled me to my feet. Using his body as a shield, he tried his best to shelter me from view.
“No!” Adara admonished, wagging a small finger as she sidestepped his attempts. “I’m not ready to let you go running away just yet, either…” Her grin turned feral. “As a courtesy for my visit, I would like to request a reward.”
“What the hell do you want?”
“Eleanor, of course. Now you have to let me play with her!” She lunged forward, snatching my wrist, and took off, pulling me beyond his reach.
The fact that he even released me at all betrayed just how seriously he took her threat.I don’t want to hurt her.
“Come on, silly girl!” She cackled maniacally, tugging me along. “Keep up!” Halfway across the park, she released me and collapsed, giggling into a heap. From the rumpled cloud of her dress, she eyed me and sighed. “You poor, pathetic little fool. If you at least showed some intelligence, I might be tempted to pity you.”
I tensed, somehow knowing not to let the insult slip unchallenged. She reminded me of a cat in a sense, testing with claws drawn, every bit as mercurial as Tinkles. “How am I a fool?”
She fingered her necklace, twisting the tiny charm between her thumb and her forefinger. “Because you cower, and whimper, andwhine,” she spat. “You don’tplaythe game. Like a good little pawn, you huddle in silence and let Dublin growl over you like some kind of a wild beast. It’s disgusting!” She raised her arms in exasperation and kicked her legs into the air. “The worst part? You know he doesn’t truly want you. It’s the curse, you see. It’sMerowho truly owns him. Everything he’s done for you has been a mere delusion.”
I swallowed. “You’re wrong.”
Or she was right and it was the truth…
“You don’t even sound convincing!” She threw her head back and cackled. “Oh, the look on your face. You know it too, don’t you? The little lie you let yourself believe.”
That I could have a future. Happiness. Dublin.
A life beyond the grim existence that I spent years telling myself awaited me.
“I should just kill you now,” Adara remarked, her tone flat. Bored. “With his life sold to Raphael, ten years of forced, dutiful contact with dear ‘Dublin’ would be pitiful to endure, even for me—”
“No.” I shook my head, gritting my teeth. Those horrible voices lingered, whispering and taunting. This time, Imademyself banish them for good the only way I could: by countering them out loud. “No! You know what? I’m done! I’m tired of denying myself. Whyshouldn’tI demand my happiness?”
I glared at the sky as if expecting an answer. “Why shouldn’t I want to believe that Dublin Helos could want me? He’s handsome. He’s more beautiful than anyone I could ever dream of. Why can’t I want him?” I started to pace as rage built within me. I wasn’t just arguing with the voices in my head anymore—but my mother. My family. Old friends. Society. My sister. “Why can’t I dream, for once, of a future with someone who loves me? That I deserve that future? No, you are wrong. I do deserve it. I want it, and I’m tired of everyone acting like I can’t have it. Who cares if Dublin even wants me or not? I want him!” And I slammed my foot to prove it, as if twenty-six years of suppressed temper tantrums chose that second to explode from me at once. “So sorry, Miss…” My mind buzzed, so incensed that I couldn’t remember her name until a heartbeat later. “Call me whatever you want. I refuse to continue to believe that I am worthless anymore.”
Adara eyed me with no expression. Then she sighed. “Men.” She rolled her eyes, even as her voice betrayed a wistful, almost pained note. “Sometimes they forget thattheyare the true pawns. I mock you when I am the one who loved a man so much that I stained my soul black for him, even though he loved another. And where am I now?” She shrugged. “And where is he…”
Slowly, she stood, dusting off her dress. “You should go back,” she said, nodding to the vampire waiting in the distance. “Tell him that I cannot help you. He knows what must be done.”
“What?” I croaked. Even though I didn’t know Dublin’s true reason for seeking her out, a deep-seated impulse made me press for whatever answers I could. “What must be done?”
“He must face his punishment like a good boy and own up to the pain he’s caused. He can no longer run from it. He knows as much. I think our dear Cael is merely afraid of what he will learn: the truth.” She eyed me with a sigh, and for once, she looked more childlike than anything. Helpless. “No matter how hard he fights, you are destined to die eventually. Such a fate is both his redemption and his doom. Goodbye, Eleanor Gray.”
She turned and skipped toward the trees, vanishing beneath them.
And I watched her go, frozen in place until Dublin lifted me in his arms. He hurried to the car, and in his haste, the world blurred, reduced to a smattering of color and shadow.
