'Would they?' His mouth tightened. 'A vampire cannot control their thirst and yet you said you do not feed on humans. And tonight, you could have easily fed in my kingdom, but you came out here.' He grabbed her by the shoulders and looked deeply into her eyes. 'You're more human than you realise, Eve.'
'Let me go!' She struggled out of his hold and glared up at him. 'I won't let you do this.'
'Do what?'
'Make me…hope.' He reached for her and she drew back. 'You are a Lycan. You have a chance at living a happy life because you have a destined mate. I am a vampire. And vampires don't have soul mates. Leave me alone. Find someone else to pass your time until you find your
His face hardened. 'I see. So that is what you think of me.'
Eve immediately regretted her outburst. Hadn't he taken care of Katya the past month with shelter, food, clean clothes and a warm bed? Hadn't he been gentle and kind with Becca in the well? 'I'm sorry,' she said quietly, her energy spent. 'I…I know you've been kind to my daughter.'
His expression softened and he reached for her again. This time she let him gather her in his arms. She closed her eyes against the comfort of his embrace and felt an uncharacteristic rush of security.
'What makes you think vampires are destined to be alone?' he asked quietly above her head.
'I've been alone for four hundred years, Drago.' She paused, inhaling shakily.
'What of Katya's father?'
She detected a hard edge to his tone. 'He was a good man who came into my life when I was very lonely and needed to feel human warmth. I wanted to live like a human. I wanted to feel love. I was tired of death all around me.' She drew in a shaky breath. 'So I pretended to be human for a short while. Katya was the result of our first night together. I stayed with him in his home and managed to conceal what I was from him and the villagers. Everyone thought I suffered from an allergy of the sun and could only go out at night. I hated lying to them because they were all so kind to me, but the truth would have destroyed them.' She paused. 'Caleb died two years to the day of meeting him. One evening he was playing with Katya and his heart just stopped. The village healer said it was a heart attack and there was nothing anyone could do.' She paused, swallowing. 'My blood cannot revive the dead.'
'I'm sorry.'
She looked up at him. 'I'm grateful I met him. Otherwise I would not have Katya.'
'When did you tell Katya you were a vampire?'
'When she was old enough to talk. It was our secret and no one ever found out. One evening, I went out to feed in the forest near our home. When I returned, I saw the devastation Balkathan's army of demons did to our village. If I'd been there, if I hadn't left, I could have done something…prevented some…' She couldn't speak.
'You couldn't do anything, Eve. Don't blame yourself for what happened.'
'What do you know of what I felt? Drago, I could have saved some lives. I could have…have saved my daughter.'
His face darkened. 'You could not save any villagers nor your daughter any more than I could have saved the queen.' He paused. 'After Balkathan's army turned my castle, two hundred years ago, the queen couldn't live with what she'd become. The Gods were on our side that night because we managed to drive his army away, but it came with a dark price. The queen went mad. She refused to speak to me or our son, Vasilis. She kept herself locked up in her private chambers. One day I found her on her bed with a silver dagger in her chest. She killed herself and there was nothing I could do to stop it.'
Horrified, she raised a hand to her mouth. 'I'm so sorry, Drago. I didn't know.'
Grim-faced, he nodded. 'So you see, I do know what you feel. I could have placed her under constant supervision. I could have had Hesta care for her day and night until she grew well, but I didn't. I…I didn't know how mad she had become until the very end.' He gave her an unreadable look. 'Do you miss your husband?'
'We never married, but I do miss him. He was a kind man.'
'Do you love him still?'
'I cared deeply for him, but I don't think I loved him. That part of me died when I turned all those centuries ago. I am not able to love.'
His face hardened. 'You love your daughter.'
'That's different. I'm talking about the love between a man and woman.'
'I see.'
Gently, she stepped out of his grasp. 'I will always care for Caleb and think fondly of him, but he died a very long time ago. My heart has healed from the loss.'
Their gazes met and locked and she held her breath. 'And the queen? Do…do you miss her?'
'She died two hundred years ago and a part of me still cannot forgive her for taking her life. Vasilis took her death very badly, but I am thankful to the Gods because he has met his
Eve thought about all the lives Balkathan had destroyed the past four hundred years due to his insatiable thirst for power and wealth. Her body stiffened. He was insane. She'd always known he was. She remembered the day his last shred of humanity disappeared. A mixture of rage and fear rose in her breast. She'd known for a long time she had to stop running. Her day was coming when she had to face him--and destroy him, but she was afraid of Balkathan overpowering her and trapping her to his dark side.
'Balkathan's reign of terror must end soon,' she whispered, her thoughts still in the past. 'This cannot go on.'
'When Vasilis returns from his honeymoon, we will plan our attack. If it's the last thing I do, I will destroy him.'
