Page 66 of From the Shadows
This time Diego didn’t bother to say anything. With the hundreds of murders he’d committed, Cristobal had shown what kind of person he was and, for the good of all, he needed to be put down. He launched himself at Cristobal, dragging them both to the floor. He couldn’t waste time with him, if he had any hope of helping Shay. He lurched forward and sank his fangs into Cristobal’s throat, this time not with the intent of drinking, but with the desire to kill him for all the things he’d done.
It was anticlimactic, as Cristobal screams were cut short and then replaced by a gurgle. He clutched at his throat, but there was no way he could heal from the missing larynx that Diego spat onto the floor with disgust. Cristobal gasped, then toppled facefirst onto the carpeting, finally finding the true death that he had escaped for far too long. Diego then turned his attention to Shay, who was no longer breathing. He hurried to him and dropped to his knees, pulling Shay to his chest.
“I’m so sorry,” Diego whispered into Shay’s hair.
There was nothing anyone could do. Shay wheezed, his body shuddering as it shut down. Diego was going to watch another person he loved—he realized it then. He loved Shay. It would hurt so bad to not see that smile in the morning. To not hear the lilting laughter. To not see the mischievous glint in his eyes. If there was ever a person that Diego could spend eternity with, it would be—wait. Eternity.
He couldn’t. Could he? What would Shay think to have his choice stripped away from him like that? To Diego, it had been the grossest of violations when Cristobal did it. But it wouldn’t be the same, because Diego wouldn’t leave Shay alone and scared, out of his mind with hunger. Still, did he have the right?
He gently tugged down the collar of Shay’s shirt. He could see the hickey he’d left when they made love. That was the spot he’d need to bite to turn Shay. Before he could ruminate any further, Shay spasmed, his heart going silent as the last breath was expelled and he went limp.
There was no time. It was now or never.
He leaned in and slowly sank his fangs into Shay’s neck, the final trickles of the musky-sweet blood filling his mouth. Tears streamed down his face, knowing what he was consigning Shay to, but being selfish and not willing to let the man he’d come to love die.
When he finished, Diego sat up and nicked one of his lips with the blood-coated fang, then brought his mouth to Shay’s to share the commingled blood.
The door burst open, and Ranna and Borne rushed in. They ignored Cristobal’s body and hurried to Diego’s side.
Diego sat upright, ready to take his punishment. “I had no choice,” he said quietly, feeling the weight of their judgment on him.
“No one doubts that,” Borne replied, his hand on Diego’s arm. “We need to get ready for the new Shay, though. And he’s going to need you to do it.”
That was it. Where was the condemnation? The reprisal? Diego had just turned a human—no, not any human, he’d turned Shay, who was beloved by everyone at the house. They should be cutting off his head and burning it with his body.
“Diego, don’t beat yourself up about this.”
“It’s Shay!” he roared, still cradling Shay to his body, unwilling to let him go. “I stole his choice from him. I’m no better than Cristobal.”
“You are!” Ranna snarled. “You did it to save his life, not to end it. Empatia told us Cristobal claimed what he did to you and others was in order to start a family, but it’s been three hundred years. Where has he been? Oh, wait. I know. Out torturing and murdering. Where have you been? Rescuing and helping. The two of you arenothingalike. Shay knows that. He’ll understand.”
But Shay had rushed in to save Jeremy, knowing full well he wouldn’t stand a chance against Cristobal. That hadn’t mattered to him. He’d sacrificed himself because he was good and noble.
“I can’t lose him,” he whispered, pressing his face in Shay’s neck.
Borne gripped his shoulder. “We all know you love him. It’splain on your face every time you look at him. Believe me when I say, hewillunderstand and forgive you.”
But he wouldn’t. No one would forgive the monster who’d stolen the choices they had every right to make. He would live forever, cursing Diego’s name every moment of it. And Diego would deserve nothing but his derision.
“Let’s get him to bed. In a few nights, he’ll wake up and he’s going to be hungry. We have to be ready for it.”
But Diego couldn’t—wouldn’t—move. Not as long as Shay lay in his arms, hovering just beyond the pale door. He would fight Death itself if it meant having Shay one more minute.
When Ranna lifted Shay from his arms and took him from the room, Diego wailed his frustration to the heavens. Then he remembered that Jeremy had been there too. He’d gone somewhere, but had he seen Shay die? Had he witnessed Diego turn him into a vampire? He got to his feet, his gaze darting around the room.
“Jerm!”
A moment later, the taipan slithered from under one of the tables in the ballroom, where it reverted to Jeremy, the shift seamless. That had been Shay’s doing. He’d given Jeremy the confidence and attention he needed to learn to control his abilities.
As soon as he was human again, he rushed to Diego, screaming in pain. “He’s not dead!” he cried. “He can’t be. D, don’t let him die. I love him.”
Diego grabbed Jeremy and pulled him in, clutching his head to Diego’s chest. “I know. I love him too.”
“Then don’t let him die.”
“Jerm, I?—”
Jeremy twisted away, his angry expression searing through Diego. “You can’t let him die! He loves you. I know he does! You don’t let the people you love die without fighting for them. He saved me, and if he dies?—”
