But he didn’t.
He cupped my face, his thumb rubbing against my cheeks.
“My name is Maxwell,” he murmured.
My heart sunk. I knew then that he would not give me what I truly needed, and I was right.
That was the last time I ever saw him.
I loved him since we first met, but that was then, and this was now, and I hated him. He left me, ruined me.
I thought he would always be there for me, but no, he left me, shattered me into a thousand pieces.
I had only been eighteen, unworldly after all, ignorant of the ways of men.
Ironically enough, I remained ignorant of the ways of men. Maxwell had refused to claim me, to tame me, to bed me, and I was still a virgin to this very day.
I hadn’t known a moment of peace since he left.
He, though, Maxwell, that damned vampire, still occupied my dreams at night, but now, they were all nightmares where he tormented me, leaving me time and again, breaking me, abandoning me.
Even during sleep, I couldn't find rest. There was no respite from his torture.
Even worse, when I left my family and struck out on my own, I could find no one to turn to. I couldn’t make any friends because I trusted no one. He had broken mine, after all. And worse than that, I couldn’t bring it in me to even consider dating a guy, any guy for that matter. He had ruined me so thoroughly and completely that I was left alone.
Not entirely, though.
Yes, I left the shack of a house I grew up in, but I did not abandon my parents or Amber. I only left them so that I could find a way to brighten their futures, to reverse their fortunes. My parents slaved away day after day, seven days a week, trying to make enough to scrape by.
But no more. I sold everything that I had to buy a computer, and I taught myself everything about the instrument.
And I became a hacker.
I might not be the best hacker to ever live, but I knew my way around zeros and ones, and I could code better than most. I knew how to cover my trail, and my parents’ bank account slowly began to rise. Slowly.
My parents didn’t know what I was up to. They didn’t realize it, and they didn’t need to know.
As for me, I only gave myself enough to survive on. My parents and Amber deserved everything I could give them and so much more. They drove me in as he had spurned me once.
In a way, that was how he affected me the most. Despite the love and the hate, he molded me to become a survivor.
But without his help now, I might very well end up dead after all.
My gaze lifted, and I took in the scene beyond the ornate golden fence. The sprawling mansion—no. Mansion wasn't the word for it. This place was no less than a palace with its huge, expansive building. You wouldn't think that a vampire would care much for the lawn, being that grass is a part of nature, and vampires weren't exactly natural, but the lawn was immaculate with bushes cut into various predators along the stone pathway. Beneath the windows of the front of the palace were various flower bushes. Even though I had stopped halfway down the pathway, I could still smell their sweet fragrance, but I didn't smile, couldn't smile, wouldn't smile.
The turrets, the towers, the hundreds of windows… This was no house, and maybe palace wasn’t even the word for it. Castle. Domain. A fortress.
It was a place for a powerful vampire, and that was exactly what I needed.
“What do you need, Annabel?” I muttered to myself aloud.
A couple walked by the path just then, the woman glancing over at me derisively. I ignored her, only now realizing that I wasn’t the only one making my way toward the palace. Her clothes and her disdain only served to lessen my resolve. Coming here was sure to be a mistake.
I hated Maxwell with every fiber of my being.
But I also hated myself too.
My chin lifted, and I forced myself to take one step, another, and another. Slowly, I approached the door.
My fate would rest in the hands of a monster who could easily kill me… a monster I could only hope would prove to be my salvation.
2
The stones of the building were even more beautiful up close, white with gray specks, reminding me of Maxwell’s dark eyes with golden flecks.
I swallowed hard. No one else was along the path anymore. I’d waited for the others to all go on ahead, but now, it was my turn to enter the home of Maxwell.
The door didn’t open for me as it had the others, and feeling a bit out of place, I glanced around. There wasn’t a doorbell, so I rapped my knuckles against the thick door.
Nothing. The door didn’t open.
My fingers were just reaching toward the door again. I wasn’t sure if I would try to knock again or try to open what looked to be an extremely heavy door, but then, it opened.
A servant dressed in livery stood there, blocking the entranceway. He gave me a similar passing glance as the woman earlier, his gaze as disdainful as hers too.
I bristled. Yes, she had been dressed in an evening gown, a gold one, and had worn jewels that I figured had to be real, but so what? I had worn my best dress, which, admittedly, was just a plain little black dress that wasn't super low at all. In fact, it went up to my collarbone. It was form-fitted even though it hadn't been tailored to my specifications. It looked like the servant's uniform had been tailored, though, which
