Page 137 of House of Crimson Hearts
“Because it was that or leave you. And I didn’t want to leave you with no one. Fuck, I love you. But do you think you could please forgive us? I’ve really, really missed you.”
I throw my arms around her shoulders and lean into her neck. “I want to. I really do. But it’s a lot to process. I am still furious about the whole thing. And I swear to the Mother of Blood, if you ever compel me again, Octavia, I will stake you myself.”
“We did it to save you,” Amelia says.
I shake my head and glare at Octavia. “I don’t give a shit. I swear, you ever do it again and that will be it. You don’t get to fuck with my head like that. You don’t get to determine my fate or control my mind like that, understand?”
Octavia pales, swallows hard and then nods.
I relax a bit. “But maybe we can move on, what with this whole cure… there’s a chance, Amelia… a chance you could be human again, you know?”
She pulls back, her brows cinched together. She glances at Octavia, both of their expressions shift as if a thousand things pass between them.
“Amelia?”
“Sure, I’ve heard of the cure.”
“You’re going to take it, right?”
She leans up and kisses my forehead, “If you can forgive me, you can forgive Octavia.”
Then she pulls me into a hug, lifts me off the chair and swings me around.
“I love you, but I need to go. There’s a killer party at the Whisper Club tonight.” She winks at Octavia as she puts me down and then she’s gone in a swoosh, the balcony curtains rippling in the wake of her speed. And I’m left there standing next to the vampire who took my sister’s life and saved it all at the same time.
Chapter35
It doesn't matter that you stole the amulet before I could reach it.
It doesn't matter that you have five teams racing toward the artefacts.
What matters is that I work out who the dhampir is first, and when I do, it won't matter what you throw at the boundary. I will open that door and then I will destroy everything you love.
I will have my vengeance.
And you’ll never see me coming.
Chapter36
OCTAVIA
It’s late afternoon, Red is still snoozing when Wendell arrives at my bedroom door holding an envelope.
“Your mother, ma’am. It was delivered by her personal messenger.” He hands it to me, I open it and sigh.
“Can you ready the carriage?” I say.
“Certainly.” He bows his head and leaves.
Three hours later, Red and I are exiting the underground tunnels and making our way up the mountain to Mother’s castle. It’s becoming déjà vu this process of carriage to castle.
Red has been quiet since she spoke with her sister. She left for Fenella’s funeral and returned, but she moved back to my spare room rather than sleeping in mine. Still furious with me for having compelled her memories away.
Which is why I still haven’t told her the rest of the truth. Fuck, I wanted to. But the fury that was laced into her features last night when we told her about the night Amelia turned. I’ve never seen her so angry.
If she knows what I did, why I did it, I don’t know how she’ll react—especially if she’s already distancing herself from me. I want to ask her, to pry her emotions from her so I can understand how she’s feeling. But I don’t know how. All I’ve ever done is push people away.
As we enter the ballroom, the atmosphere is thick, and we’re hit by a wall of silence.
