“Why would you call that a weakness? Kindness is not a weakness.”
“What do you know of kindness?” Melina asked, voice heavy with condescension.
“More than you,” Alex retorted.
“Oh yes? Enlighten me.”
“You are just as lost as the rest of us. You are with the sickest, most vile thing I have ever seen, and you let go of a guy that would’ve died just for the chance to be with you. Even for a vampire, that is pathetic. Dante is devastated because he lost Michelle and she was the closest thing he got to the love he felt for you. She was the best thing in his life and you sat there and just listened as the king passed that despicable ruling. But you don’t care. You didn’t speak! I think the question is, what do you know of kindness?”
Melina suddenly grew angry. “Such bravery for one so young. And fragile. How do you think the human got to him in the first place?”
Alex became suddenly alert. “Wait. It was you that made sure she was sent to Dante?”
“It was,” Melina replied. “I made arrangements for the news to get out that a young girl was in need of a vampire. The news only went to one person. The next day she was off to him.”
Alex tapped the floor with the toe of her shoe. “Why are you telling me this?”
“It doesn’t matter. Listen to the story and learn from it. Do not make the same mistake she did. He will never love you. Being with Alejandro will only cause you pain.”
“Why did you give Michelle to him if you hate him so much?”
“Because it made sense. She could not venture into the outside world as she knew too much. Yet she had served her purpose to Julian. Alejandro loves your kind for some reason. It was a perfect fit.”
Quick and heavy footsteps, coming up the main hallway stairs halted their conversation.
Alex looked, Melina didn’t. Dante had entered the room. “I was wondering what took you so long,” he said, looking from Alex’s face to Melina’s back. “Everything all right?”
*
Alex nodded, took the bag with Michelle’s things and walked out the door with it. Dante moved across to the window. He had no idea what to say, what to do, or even if he should. He had Melina there with him, the moment he had thought about for over a century. Yet all he could think about was Michelle.
Melina slowly approached. “They will do anything for you, won’t they Alejandro? One is taken from you, another takes her place, just like that,” she said, snapping her fingers.
“That’s not my name anymore,” Dante said.
“It is when you’re with me. I am the only one that knew you by that name.”
“You never knew me at all,” he said, turning to face her briefly before looking out the window again. “You never cared to.”
“I knew you. Better than you could ever imagine. You were the one who gave up.”
Dante watched Alex leave the house and get into the passenger side of the car. “If I recall correctly, you were the one who walked. I suggest you do what you do best and walk again. I think I hear Julian looking for his cock pump.”
Melina moved closer to him, ignoring the previous comment, speaking as if recanting a memory. “You know, sometimes the reason a woman runs, is not because they want to leave. It’s to see if they are valued enough to be chased.”
“Congratulations, I’m sure Julian would chase you to the ends of the earth.”
“But not you,” she stated softly.
“Not me,” he agreed.
“Does that mean Julian loves me…and you never did?” she whispered.
Dante turned around and slowly reached his hand up, using his fingers to caress those soft, pale cheeks. Surprisingly, she let him. He had half hoped she would swat his hand away. It would make things so much easier if she didn’t want him to touch her. “And there are times—” he whispered, staring into her sparkling eyes. The ones he had visualised every day for over two hundred and fifty years. Neither blinked, neither moved. The both of them gave the other the full effect of the vampire stare, the one that turns humans into mush. They both began to tremble. “Times when a man stands still because he waits for someone to walk beside him. To respect him. To let him know there is no need for games and bullshit. No chasing, no tests. To look him in the eye and say I love you. If it is the truth, nothing else matters.”
The silence stretched on for several heartbeats, but neither said anything more. With a sigh, Dante crossed the room and left Melina behind.
Chapter Thirty One
Where Do We Go From Here?
Alex drove casually through the empty streets. Streetlight after streetlight silently flicking by.
“Are you ok?” Alex asked Dante.
“I’m fine,” Dante said quickly. There was both truth and lie in those words. He wasn’t worried about himself, he was worried for the two women in the car. Michelle had remained silent since the ruling by Vincent. He didn’t know if she was asleep or too emotional to speak.
“Why did you do it, Alexandra?” Dante asked.
“I couldn’t let you die like that. It’s basically my fault you were there in the situation anyway.”
“It wasn’t. It was mine. The choices I made were my own.”
“And so were mine. Why do you sound so angry?”
“I’m not angry, I just don’t understand.”
“Maybe I didn’t fancy the idea of getting eaten alive after you were ripped to shreds. Maybe I thought if you lived, you could protect us. Maybe I just want to keep you around because I care.”
“You have a
