Page 15 of Bite of Midnight
“Or a tomb,” he says softly, not turning back right away. “Depends on how you look at it.”
The way he says it makes something twist in my chest.
He finally faces me again, and for the first time tonight, he looks a little uncertain. “You’re afraid.”
I shake my head automatically, then stop halfway. “I don’t know what I am. You said those people were vampires.”
“They are.”
“And you, ” My voice falters. “You’re one of them.”
His eyes darken, the candlelight catching on something ancient in them. “Yes.”
The word shouldn’t sound gentle, but somehow it does.
I take a step back, but the room doesn’t feel threatening. It feels…charged.Like the air itself is aware of him. “So all of this, the party, the people, it’s real?”
“Real,” he says quietly. “Every year, I open my doors to both worlds. It’s easier to hide what we are in plain sight than to keep it secret in the dark.”
My pulse thunders in my ears. “You were looking for someone.”
He nods once. “You.”
I can’t breathe again. The room feels smaller, heavier. “You didn’t even know me.”
“I knew your soul,” he says simply. “I’ve felt it calling to me for centuries. Tonight, it finally answered.”
The words shouldn’t make sense. They should scare me. And they do. But the fear tangles with something deeper, something that feels like recognition. Like my body understands him even if my mind refuses to.
He steps closer, his gaze never leaving mine. “You felt it too. I know you did.”
I swallow hard, my voice a whisper. “It felt like I was drowning and breathing at the same time.”
He exhales slowly, like that admission undoes him a little. “That’s what it feels like.”
For a long moment, neither of us moves. The only sound is the fire crackling softly in the hearth. Then Damien reaches for me again, slow and careful, giving me every chance to stop him. His hand finds mine, his fingers warm and steady.
“You shouldn’t have come here tonight,” he says quietly. “But now that you have…” He trails off, his thumb brushing against my pulse. “You can’t pretend you didn’t see.”
I shake my head. “I don’t think I could even if I wanted to.”
He studies me, his expression unreadable. Then, softly, like he’s confessing a sin, he says, “This is the part where I should tell you to leave.”
“But you won’t,” I say before I can stop myself.
His mouth curves slightly. “No. I won’t.”
The space between us disappears. He doesn’t touch me, not yet, but I can feel the pull of him like gravity. My breath catches. I should be terrified, but the truth is far worse.
I’ve never felt safer in my life.
For a while, neither of us speaks. The fire crackles, a soft steady sound that fills the silence between heartbeats. I can feel him watching me, still, controlled, but there’s something burning behind his eyes that makes it hard to breathe.
“What happens now?” I finally ask. My voice sounds small, but it’s the only thing I can manage.
Damien’s jaw tightens slightly. He looks away, as if the question costs him something. “Now,” he says slowly, “I tell you the truth.”
I swallow hard. “The truth about what?”
