“I don’t need any of that,” I say, finally able to get a word in edgewise with the Durand sisters. For the last hour, they’ve been talking around me as though I wasn’t even there. But I probably have some fault in that. I worked for the Durands for years and was used to holding my tongue when my bosses spoke. But now I’m the boss.
“What do you want to do?” Cari sets her glass down. “Travel?”
I inhale as I think about it. The idea of traveling to places beyond the southern border of North America is an intriguing one. But it isn’t an immediate need. And it isn’t one I could have fulfilled any time soon.
There is still the nagging noose of the prophecy wrapped tight around my belly. I press my hand there now. The beef is going down well, but my stomach grumbles. It wants to be full, but not with life. It wants to be full with something else entirely.
“I want to go to school.”
There is silence after I speak the words. I shut my mouth, wishing I could take them back. I have never said them out loud before. But now, they’re out there. I cringe as I wait for the laughter to fill the ornate dining area.
“That’s so cool,” says Cari. “I was thinking of going back to school, too.”
“Where have you applied?” asks Marechal. “The University of Arizona is an excellent school.”
“I was going to get a history degree,” says Cari. “Specializing in the Dark Ages and the Renaissance, so that I can learn more about my husband’s past.”
“We have a relationship with the University of Phoenix,” says Marechal. “We donated a garden. So, if you need a recommendation…”
I look between the two women. There is no mirth on their faces. There is no frown of disapproval. No reminder of the duty I’m destined to fulfill. There’s only acceptance.
Oh, to be a rich white woman who thinks the world will simply bend its will to meet her needs.
But I’m not a rich white woman.
I’m a rich indigenous woman who now has the means to bend the world to her needs. Or had I forgotten?
The land of my ancestors has been returned to me. The vineyard will yield fruit in a year’s time. The man who was meant to be the father of my child wants to spend the rest of his life with me.
I kinda have it all. There’s nothing stopping me from going to college if that’s what I want. There’s nothing forcing me to have a child right now if that’s not what I want.
I look out the window at the dark night. The moon has begun its process of moving in front of the sun. It’s already casting a warm glow, heralding the commencement of a prophecy that has already been fulfilled.
Destiny always finds you? But I got here ahead of it. I’ve already passed the test and turned it in before the time was up. Shouldn’t that get me extra credit? Shouldn’t it at least get me out of the final exam?
“Let me know where you decide to go,” says Cari. “Then I’ll apply there too. We can be coeds together. But it’ll have to be after I get my fangs under control.”
Cari touches her index finger to one of her incisors. The sharp point pricks the flesh of her fingertip. A dot of blood escapes, which she promptly sucks away.
“I’m doing really well,” she says with a grin. “I haven’t bitten you, and your blood smells absolutely divine.”
Cari inhales, her nostrils flaring. Her eyelids close and her long lashes touch down against her high cheekbones. She lets out a moan that sounds like a purr.
Before I can go on the defensive, Virius appears in the doorway. Cari clears her throat and throws back the last of the blood in her wine glass. But I’ve already forgotten about the baby vampire.
Virius darkens the door, but there’s a smile on his face. A look of absolute joy. I’ve risen and am in his arms before I realize I’ve moved.
I meant to ask him where he’s been, what he was up to, what happened to bring that smile to his face when it didn’t originate with him between my thighs. But the taste of his grin is so intoxicating that I find myself licking and sucking at his lips instead of making words.
Virius returns my kiss with vigor, with joy, with complete abandon. It takes a moment before I hear the throat clearing behind us. I open my eyes, but do not take my lips from Virius’s mouth.
Gaius is looking down at us with complete and utter disapproval. I want to tell him that I have more class than to strip down and do it in the dining room. But there’s a part of me, the part that splits my thighs into a V, that would beg to differ.
“Did you know about this?” Gaius asks.
I have no idea what he’s talking about. In order to answer, I’ll need to take my mouth from Viri’s. I do so reluctantly. “Know about what?”
“In order to break the curse, he needs to die.”
All the blood drains from my person. It goes so fast that my heart skips a few beats. When I look at Virius, he doesn’t look angry. He wears the same open acceptance and wonder that he first regarded me with.
I know two things for sure at this moment. I know that Virius would die for me if I asked it of him. More importantly, I know that I will never ask it of him, even if it means others will suffer.
The reason why is simple; I love this man.
Chapter 24
Virius
The flare of Zahara’s nostrils confuses me. The deep crease that settles low into her brow baffles me. The lowering of her hooded gaze disorients me.
If I were to put all of those facial expressions together, it would lead me to believe that my mate is angry. But
