“Still, no one likes to lose.”
I grow somber. We certainly can’t afford to lose against Sin.
“How much time do you think we have before Sin gets here?” I ask.
“A couple of days, maybe,” Victor says.
Faith stands. “I guess I’d better get to the Agency and start working with Jeff and Rachel to devise a plan for organizing the city.”
Victor shoves himself to his feet. “Clive’s message tonight was a good start. I think the people will be receptive to working with vampires just as the Night Watchmen now are.”
“I hope so. I’ll stay in the city, get things mobilized.”
“If you need a place to stay—” I begin.
“I’m using Victor’s theater.” He used to live in an abandoned theater in the city. Its absence of windows makes it a perfect hiding place. We once watched an old movie there together. “But thanks, anyway,” she says, before taking a step toward the door.
Victor touches her arm, stilling her. “Richard will be all right.”
“He’d better be. If he dies, I’ll kill him.”
With her head held high, she strides from the apartment. I lock the door behind her. When I turn around, Victor is standing on the balcony, gazing out on the night.
I join him and say, “It’s been a while since there’s been a feeling of peace in Denver. Maybe never.”
“And Sin will be here soon to shatter it.” I expect him to go on, but he doesn’t. He turns to me and I see the desire in his eyes burning stronger than ever, so strong that it’s almost overwhelming. I realize he doesn’t want my
“How would you like to go on a picnic?” he asks.
“Tonight?”
He smiles. “Tonight.”
“But Sin—”
“He’s not here yet. And when he does get here . . . we may never have more than tonight.”
I don’t want to acknowledge what he’s saying. As confident as he always seems, he’s recognizing that he might not be able to defeat Sin, that he might fall. Any of us might fall before that monster.
I step into his embrace and wrap my arms tightly around him. “I’d love to go on a picnic with you.”
We stop by the manor. When Victor tells Eustace that he’s taking me on a picnic, the old vampire takes control and sends servants scurrying about to gather the necessary items: an old quilt, a fine bottle of wine, a wicker basket that contains delicacies to “delight Miss Dawn.” He seems pleased that he has a role in ensuring that all goes well for his young lord.
An hour later, Victor and I are sitting on the blanket, gazing out on a lake reflecting the silvery moonlight. It’s peaceful out here, with the insects chirping an unfamiliar cadence. Perhaps because of their nearness to the water, trees are actually flourishing. I hear the occasional hoot of an owl.
“I’m sorry we can’t do this during the day,” Victor says.
I give him a soft smile. “I like the night.”
He pours deep red wine into a crystal goblet. “Do you?”
“Until recently it was more of a love-hate relationship,” I admit. “I hated it because it brought out the monsters and yet I felt drawn to it, to the peacefulness of a star-filled sky.”
Victor hands me the glass, pours one for himself. Then he stretches out beside me, raises up on an elbow, and taps his glass against mine. “Here’s to the end of all monsters: those that haunt the night and those that roam the day.”
I sip the wine. It’s rich and smooth. “I guess vampires always dreaded the arrival of daybreak.”
“We still do. That’ll never change,” he says. “But hopefully the sun is all we’ll fear. We won’t have to fear being hunted anymore.”
He offers me a strawberry dipped in chocolate. I bite into it. It’s delicious, decadent. I’ll have to remember to compliment his chef.
“So now you believe vampires and humans can live together?” I ask.
“Based on what I’ve witnessed the past few days, I think it’s a definite possibility.”
“As long as we defeat Sin.”
Reaching up, he strokes my cheek. “Tonight, let’s pretend he doesn’t exist. Tonight, it’s just us.”
Just us. We’ve had so few moments of it being just us, even fewer when there were no worries at all. I finish off my wine, feeling lethargic and relaxed. I lie on my back and stare at the stars scattered across the black heavens like tiny diamonds.
“I miss your theater,” I tell him.
He skims his fingers up and down my arm. “I do, too. Maybe I’ll renovate it, make it a working theater, open it to the public.”
Rolling my head to the side, I look up into his face. “That would be cool.”
“Once this is all over, Richard wants to go back to Los Angeles, return it to its glory days, to what it was before the war: a place that recorded dreams and fantasy.”
“Do you think that’s possible?”
“Since you came into my life, I think a lot of things are possible.”
Tears sting my eyes. “You once told me that I was your greatest weakness.”
“I was wrong. You’re my greatest strength, Dawn. Sending my Lessers into the city to work with the Night Watchmen as you suggested changed everything. I can see now that I was still viewing humans as part of the problem. You helped me to see that they can be included in the solution.”
“What if they don’t give blood?”
“We’ll find another way.” He cradles my cheek and leans in. “Vampires and humans can live together. They live together in you.”
He lowers his mouth to mine. For the first time I recognize, truly recognize, that Victor unconditionally accepts me as I am: a dhampir. I’ve been so worried that as a lone dhampir, I would be isolated, would fit in neither world, but as he deepens the kiss, I realize that he’s never turned away from me.
What courses through my veins doesn’t make me what I am or who I am. I was forged by my parents’ love—and my brother’s. Their deaths shaped me further, but the foundation that they gave me provided the strength to not only survive but to follow my heart.
And that led me to Victor.
Whether he is a vampire or human, I would feel this strong attraction toward him, this unyielding love for him. Why did I doubt that he would feel the same toward me?
I stroke my hands over his broad shoulders, his powerful back, and I feel desire such as I’ve never known. He means everything to me. It’s terrifying to admit, but I’m willing to embrace the possibility of hurt for the reality of now.
My life will be measured in years; his will be measured in memories. I’m determined that whatever time we have together will never fade from his mind.
He skims his warm lips along my throat, slides his mouth across my crucifix tattoo. His tongue circles the shell of my ear. He whispers low, “I love you, Dawn.”
Rising above me, he holds my gaze. I look deeply into his eyes. “I love you, Victor, forever.”
“Forever,” he repeats before once again capturing my mouth.
As the moon shines down on us, I know that the night has never been more beautiful, more perfect.
Chapter 24
The next morning, I awake in Victor’s bed, his warm body nestled against mine. I feel so incredibly close to him, closer than I’ve ever felt to anyone.
I get up and put on a silk robe, the red double V stitched into it, and a pair of slippers. I leave Victor to rest and head down the hall. Hopefully Eustace will be in the dining room and I can get some breakfast.
