The one who seems to have taken the lead among the lesser families fixes his eyes on me, smiling nervously.

    “That all sounds very nice, but we have no guarantee that it’s true.” He spreads his hands toward the rest of hispanions. “Thest image we have of that… of her, is with a vampire at her feet. As you can understand, we don’t feel safe.”

    “I think there are other threats that require greater attention.”

    If they knew what a single tear of ra could do, the repercussions it would have if it fell into the wrong hands… That would be a real reason to be afraid. I know ra; she won’t harm anyone unless she feels they’re a threat, though perhaps right now her measure of what is or isn’t dangerous isn’t entirely reliable, given the circumstances. Both she and I no longer think only of ourselves.

    “Perhaps it would be a good show of faith if she herself sat at this table and gave her versioni./i”

    “Is mine not enough?” I reply, tilting my head in a predator’s gesture. “Do you think my version is wrong?”

    “No, of course I don’t mean that, only that…”

    “Gentlemen, if you don’t mind, we’d like you to leave us alone,” Aeron intervenes, wearing his best smile.

    I see them about to protest, but they must think better of it, because one by one they rise and leave the room in silence.

    “Ciro. Not you.”

    The pink–eyed vampire drops back into his seat. We wait until we arepletely alone and the door clicks shut. Ciro signals to Abraxas, and I know without words that he wants him to ensure there are no curious ears nearby. As soon as the click of the lock echoes within these four walls, Aeron fixes us with a fatherly look.

    “You knew all this?” he asks Ciro in a reproachful tone.

    “No.”

    “And your interest in her?”

    “She’s a beautiful and intriguing woman,” he replies with a shrug.

    J

    I arch a brow in his direction, promising him a slow death if he ever dares speak of her that way again. He responds with a smile that clearly says I owe him for standing on my side in all of this. Aeron shifts his attention from him back to me.

    “If what you say is true-i“/iI roll my eyesb. /b“-then does ra have the ability to bear others like us?”

    “I suppose I shrug. “Lilith thought of it, no doubt.”

    Aeron exhales a sigh of relief, and I’d almost swear he’s on the verge of tears. A genuine smile breaks across his lips as he pats my forearm

    “She is our salvation.”

    “I will not force her into anything, do you understand?” I lock my eyes onto his. “ra is not a factory for little vampires. Is that

    clear?”

    “I understand.” Still, his smile does not fade. “I’ll simply wait until the biological clock coines knocking. I can’t promise you the

    38

    others will think the same. There will be attempts to take her.”

    “She is my mate, Aeron. Something like that is immoral even for us. Nothing is more sacred. We can walk this Earth for hundreds of years, but the moment the other begins to exist, you feel something inside you is iplete. It’s no wonder I didn’t know of her existence until muchter–I have always felt iplete. You spend your life searching for it, and when you find it, suddenly everything makes sense again. The air fills your lungs with ease, and the only beat of your immortal heart is the moment you see her face for the first time. Now I wonder if that pull I felt at the Red Auction was that heartbeat, and I simply didn’t recognize it until now. Of course, there are those who resist it, who run the other way, hoping distance will be enough. But it is a curse–a slow death of the soul. And it isn’t metaphorical. There are rumors of a pair who refused to ept their bond, who did everything possible to avoid it, and their fate was a slow death by grief. They didn’t even know that what was eating them alive was sorrow. If there is another way to kill a Pure, it must be that.”

    My parents were one of those pairs who embraced it immediately, without resistance, and I know of no greater example of love than them.

    “Yes, under normal circumstances, but these are not normal. And you haven’t exactly been a saint–there will be those who wish to make you suffer.”

    “Then I’ll show them that everything I’ve done until now was child’s y. I can be very creative when ites to inflicting pain.”

    “Let’s hope you don’t have to go that far.” Aeron rises from his seat and pats me on the shoulder. “I’ll expect you tomorrow with the others to continue discussing the rest of the matters that need attention, since today’s meeting seems to have reached its end.”

    With that, he disappears with the calm that always defines him. Our dynamic has always been this way: Aeron is the voice of reason, the serious and measured member of this trio I never asked for. Ciro is the jester, the youthful spirit, always trying to provoke my exaggerated reactions. And I am the chaos, the venomous beast, the natural disaster waiting to happen.

    For the first time since ra returned with me, Ciro and I are alone in a room.

    “Is she alright?”

    “Yes.” Ice my fingers in front of my face. “Let’s be direct–are you going to be a threat? Tell me now, so I can kill you and spare us

    the back and forth.”

    “You can’t kill me.”

    “I can make you useless,” I reply with ia /ismile.

    “And you’d break poor ra’s heart.” He chuckles just long enough before letting theughter die and returning to a serious expression. “I won’t be a threat to her, Cassian. You may find it hard to believe, but I care for her.”

    “You care for her?” Lecho.

    “Not in the way you think.” He sighs. “I won’t deny I would have loved to steal her from youpletely, to im her feelings, her heart, but I never stood a chance. You’re a lucky bastard. I care for her as a friend, one I’d protect if necessary.”

    “And so would I.”

    We all nce at the door where Abraxas has now entered. His face is nondescript, one I think I’ve seen before, and I know without mistake it is inot /ihis own. It’s itoo /iordinary, too in to be an Amery. I dip my chin in a brief nod and rise from my seat, closing the

    conversation.

    “If you care for her as you say, then I expect you to support nie from here on out.”

    10:48 Sun, 24 Aug

    “So long as it’s for the best, I will.”