Page 154 of House of Crimson Hearts
I rise onto tiptoes and kiss his cheek and then I pull his head to face mine and I stare into his eyes.
“Forget what you know about Red. Forget who she is. Forget how you found out. Forget what she did for you. You never drank her blood. You only know that I am in love with her and will do anything to protect her.”
I kiss his forehead again and then I leave him there in his daze and step into the ballroom.
The amulet hangs beneath the timepiece, floating in mid-air; it sways in a moonbeam, dust motes drifting past it. There aren’t many grains left in the hourglass. I need to hurry.
I pad across the floor. The room seems so empty and so full all at the same time. Like ghosts and secrets fill the seats instead of air and shadows. I scan the room, my back crawling like there are eyes on me. But there’s no one here. I shut my eyes and listen, pushing my hearing to its limits, but it’s silent.
I’m just paranoid.
I pull the vial of Verity’s blood out of my pocket and tug the amulet down so I can reach it better.
The glass stone in the centre opens, it knows what I have. My hands tremble where I hold the vial.
This is it.
If I pour it in and it reacts the way I think it will, then it seals both our fates.
“Please be wrong. Please?”
I tip the vial and her blood runs into the crystal. It flares bright as it swallows her blood, the whole amulet trembles and vibrates in my hand. It shoots up, expanding and glowing and when it falls back to my hand, the crystal has resealed itself. Inside floats a single drop of the most beautiful blood in the city.
The blood of the first dhampir in a thousand years.
“No,” I breathe.
My hands ball, a single tear falls to the plinth as I realise what I have to do. I must protect her no matter what. I’d die for her, and if it means I have to give her up in order to save her, then I choose her life over my happiness.
It’s too dangerous for her to know who she is.
My back crawls. I glance around the room again, but I’m definitely on my own. I can’t wait any longer.
I race out of the ballroom, using vampire speed to power up the castle stairs and all the way to the roof. My heart thuds so fast I swear it’s in my throat. I have to get to her before anyone else does.
I pause before I enter the rooftop, knowing that I need to calm down.
She’s safe.
I’m safe.
Xavier doesn’t remember and that means I’m the only one who knows.
Everything is fine.
Except when I step onto the rooftop, she’s awake. Her eyes are vivid green, they burn like fires are buried beneath them.
She holds out her hands, turning them this way and that. Dark veins track across her skin.
“It’s me, isn’t it?” she says.
I don’t want to answer. But we both know it’s true. This is where I tell her. This is my déjà vu, my curse I carry.
“Verity, listen to me. I need tell you something. You said earlier you felt like you’d loved me before…”
“I have, haven’t I?” she says, her voice soft in the night air.
I nod. “Yes…” I stop, my heart breaking.
