as my pet. As my blood slave. It will be dangerous. You may even die."
"If I decide to stay with Julien?"
"I'll leave and I won't come back unless you ask me to. Even if you do decide to stay with him, at any time, you need only contact me and I'll come for you. It will break my heart if you choose him, but I want you to be free to choose. To be happy."
Something's building inside of me. Emotions are filling me up, making me close to tears. I bite my cheek for a moment.
“What about your happiness?”
He shakes his head.
“I’ll be happy once we stop Dominion. Not until.”
I close my eyes and take in a deep breath.
"I'll decide when the time comes," I say.
He nods and releases my shoulders.
"Have you fed yet today?"
I shake my head. "I usually do before they shut out the lights. The blood heals me of any wounds I receive during training. Then Julien and I connect."
He nods. "I want you to have my blood tonight. If Julien knows I've made this offer, there's no telling what he might do."
"He'll be worried if I don't connect with him."
"Your trainer will call him and tell him that they had to feed you ordinary vampire blood because the facility experienced a power outage and the blood went bad. He won't be happy, but he'll wait. I know he's busy in Boston. He's planning on flying to France tomorrow night so he'll be here for your final test."
"That's devious."
He cracks a grin. "I'm eight hundred years old, Eve. I've had lots of practice."
I can't help but smile back at his playful tone and that lopsided grin. Then his grin disappears and he pulls me into his arms, his lips finding my cheek, his tongue touching my skin. I feel such a wave of love and desire from him that it almost makes me pass out, but I push him away.
"Michel," I say, trying to escape his arms. "I can't…"
He sighs, his hands cupping my face. "I'm sorry. You must understand how I feel…"
I do understand. I feel it when he touches me. He loves me. He wants me. His heart is breaking at the thought that I love Julien.
Despite everything, this feels so right – being with Michel. This could happen so easily between us...
I pull back and there are tears in his eyes. The expression on his face is haunting in its sadness, as if he already knows that I'll choose Julien.
But even I don't know what I'll choose. Who I'll choose.
CHAPTER NINE
"There is no I or you, so intimate that
your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that
when I fall asleep your eyes close."
Pablo Neruda
I spend the rest of the afternoon and evening in class, studying for our final written test. The instructor goes over the different fighting techniques, weapons, tactics, and other information we've received over the course of the past week and a half. All the while I can't stop thinking about Michel and what he's offered. He's actually giving me the choice to go with him or to stay with Julien. Some part of me can't really believe it – will he renege on his offer and take me if I decide to stay with Julien?
Will I stay with Julien? I think back to our time together, as brief as it has been, and my heart swells with emotion for him. He's so beautiful and so attentive and so erotic… The thought of us working together as partners makes me happy.
But Michel … He's so serious. His words are so somber and scare me. Dominion – it's just a concept to me – the rule of Ancients and vampires over mortals. I remember reading in my journal what Julien said to me at the hotel in Norfolk – how the Ancients were planning to strike against technology. Millions – perhaps billions – would die in the coming war.
I'm so torn.
Later, after I shower and dress in my pajama top and bottoms, I'm finally alone in my tiny bedroom, sitting on my bed waiting for my nightly dose of blood. The door opens and it's Michel. I realize he must have compelled everyone in the building if he can just come and go at will. He closes the
"If I decide to stay with Julien?"
"I'll leave and I won't come back unless you ask me to. Even if you do decide to stay with him, at any time, you need only contact me and I'll come for you. It will break my heart if you choose him, but I want you to be free to choose. To be happy."
Something's building inside of me. Emotions are filling me up, making me close to tears. I bite my cheek for a moment.
“What about your happiness?”
He shakes his head.
“I’ll be happy once we stop Dominion. Not until.”
I close my eyes and take in a deep breath.
"I'll decide when the time comes," I say.
He nods and releases my shoulders.
"Have you fed yet today?"
I shake my head. "I usually do before they shut out the lights. The blood heals me of any wounds I receive during training. Then Julien and I connect."
He nods. "I want you to have my blood tonight. If Julien knows I've made this offer, there's no telling what he might do."
"He'll be worried if I don't connect with him."
"Your trainer will call him and tell him that they had to feed you ordinary vampire blood because the facility experienced a power outage and the blood went bad. He won't be happy, but he'll wait. I know he's busy in Boston. He's planning on flying to France tomorrow night so he'll be here for your final test."
"That's devious."
He cracks a grin. "I'm eight hundred years old, Eve. I've had lots of practice."
I can't help but smile back at his playful tone and that lopsided grin. Then his grin disappears and he pulls me into his arms, his lips finding my cheek, his tongue touching my skin. I feel such a wave of love and desire from him that it almost makes me pass out, but I push him away.
"Michel," I say, trying to escape his arms. "I can't…"
He sighs, his hands cupping my face. "I'm sorry. You must understand how I feel…"
I do understand. I feel it when he touches me. He loves me. He wants me. His heart is breaking at the thought that I love Julien.
Despite everything, this feels so right – being with Michel. This could happen so easily between us...
I pull back and there are tears in his eyes. The expression on his face is haunting in its sadness, as if he already knows that I'll choose Julien.
But even I don't know what I'll choose. Who I'll choose.
CHAPTER NINE
"There is no I or you, so intimate that
your hand upon my chest is my hand, so intimate that
when I fall asleep your eyes close."
Pablo Neruda
I spend the rest of the afternoon and evening in class, studying for our final written test. The instructor goes over the different fighting techniques, weapons, tactics, and other information we've received over the course of the past week and a half. All the while I can't stop thinking about Michel and what he's offered. He's actually giving me the choice to go with him or to stay with Julien. Some part of me can't really believe it – will he renege on his offer and take me if I decide to stay with Julien?
Will I stay with Julien? I think back to our time together, as brief as it has been, and my heart swells with emotion for him. He's so beautiful and so attentive and so erotic… The thought of us working together as partners makes me happy.
But Michel … He's so serious. His words are so somber and scare me. Dominion – it's just a concept to me – the rule of Ancients and vampires over mortals. I remember reading in my journal what Julien said to me at the hotel in Norfolk – how the Ancients were planning to strike against technology. Millions – perhaps billions – would die in the coming war.
I'm so torn.
Later, after I shower and dress in my pajama top and bottoms, I'm finally alone in my tiny bedroom, sitting on my bed waiting for my nightly dose of blood. The door opens and it's Michel. I realize he must have compelled everyone in the building if he can just come and go at will. He closes the
Similar Books
