Page 58 of When Bones Whisper
“A rabid beast.”
“You know,” she said, stepping up beside him. “Sometimes, we need monsters to help us fight against the true devils in this world.”
“I am the devil in this world.”
She gave him a look. “I do not see that.”
“No, but we have already established you see the best in anyone and anything, apparently.”
“Does that frighten you?” she asked when he winced, and he averted his eyes from whatever image haunted him in his reflection.
“It makes it harder to keep you alive, when you’re so easy to kill.”
He almost smiled and she took it as a sign to relax, and took a seat in the dusty, green armchair to rest her throbbing feet. “Why do you come up here? To look in the mirror?”
“To remind myself of what I am,” he stated. Also, as a child, I’d often sleep in the garret when I was afraid. Now, the loft is where I store everything I want to remember.”
“Or everything you want to forget,” she said, pulling back one of the oil paintings leaning against the chair, covered in dust. She let it go and looked at him, standing before the window, his hands in his pockets, his hair unruly as always.
“Is that a heart?” She asked upon looking closer at the small display cabinet. Slowly, she stood and walked to the glass panels. “Ahumanheart?”
“Yes.”
She examined it closer, wiping away a layer of dust on the mahogany cabinet with her index finger. The pristine jar was filled to the brim with a clear liquid, and the organ inside, pale and brown.
“That is…”
“Horrifying?”
“Yes,” she admitted, “but only because it is the cleanest item in this cabinet. You polish the glass like a trophy.”
“It belonged to the first good man I killed.”
“An odd thing to commemorate.”
“It was when I lost all hope and truly embraced what I am,” he explained and she tsked, stepping back.
“What are you, Nathaniel? A vampire, yes, but that does not make you evil,” she challenged, desperate to break his tie to wanting mortality, to desiring nothing more than to break his curse simply because he did not think he was deserving of anything with it.
“I should know what evil is, little lamb. I’ve consumed it. Embodied it. Created it.”
“By turning other vampires?”
His face remained stoic as he let out a humorless laugh. “Yes, but my sins go back before then. Vampires are nothing compared to the witches I grew up with.”
Her throat tightened as she swallowed hard. “You mean your family?”
“Yes.” He leaned forward, hands clasped on his knees, staring at the ground before slowly lifting his gaze to meet hers. “I was betrothed to a powerful witch, you see, when I was still human.”
“You were in love?” she asked, brows rising.
“No,” he said with a scoff. “My mother arranged the entire affair. My betrothed was a witch from your bloodline.”
Goosebumps pricked over her skin. Every so often, she forgot what he had done, and the reminder pierced her soul like an icy dagger.
He continued, turning to look at everything but her.
“She practiced sacrificial magic, the woman promised to me. She became obsessed with gaining more power. I’d known her since I was a child, but she was older. My mother’s friend had when I became of age, she set her sights on me. The moment I became a vampire, I broke off the engagement, knowing there wasn’t a damned thing anyone could do about it.” With a sigh, he added, “It was a crueler world then. Women were killed constantly, accused of dealing with the devil, most of the accusations unfounded. Except for the ones against her. The witch bloodlines were obsessed with protecting themselves against persecution. I understood it, but their methods were not something I tolerated. They killed hundreds of innocents in their quest for more power, and my former fiancée became the most infamous child killer in all of London. So, I tore out her throat before she could become untouchable.”
