Broken (The Captive #5.5)(26)
"You didn't even like him yesterday afternoon and now you're asking me to tell him about this. No."
Camille held her hands before her in an effort to placate Genny as she stared up at her pleadingly. It was normally a look that Genny capitulated to every time Camille gave it to her, this time it only made her more determined to refuse her sister. "I didn't dislike him, I just didn't trust him."
"You talked to him for five minutes and now you trust him?"
"No. I mean yes!" she blurted. Her arms folded over her chest, her foot tapped on the ground as she took a minute to gather her thoughts. "I'm not sure what this is between you, or where it will go and I'm frightened that it will all end badly, but I think he cares for you. There is no faking the way he looks at you; you're the only one he sees no matter who else is around. If you tell him about Felix, he'll help you, I know he will."
"I said no, Camille."
"Please Genny…"
"No on this matter I will not budge. I don't need someone else to help me. I will take care of this. I will take care of myself…"
"Marie is the one who was supposed to take care of us!" Camille interrupted hotly. "But she has failed us miserably our entire lives. Now there is someone who would help to take care of you, who has the ability to do so, and you're being a stubborn fool. One of these nights Felix could kill you Genny. Maybe you don't care about yourself but think about what will happen to me if you are dead?"
Genny shot her a fierce look as her teeth clenched together. "That's not fair Camille. Don't use that against me, not in this. Besides Felix won't kill me, he needs me for the money."
Camille seemed to realize she'd crossed a line; she closed her eyes and folded her hands before her. "I worry about you."
"I know you do." Genny's hands trembled as she clasped the brooch and cloak together at her throat. "Atticus is not to know though. When I'm with him I can forget all about this place, that hideous man, and everything else that has happened because of Marie. I'm not willing to ruin that by having him feel sorry for me. I won't let that happen and I won't tell him."
"He won't feel sorry for you."
"Of course he will," Genny said. "You do."
Camille's mouth dropped, for the first time since Genny could remember her sister was actually speechless as her mouth opened then closed. "That's not true," she finally managed to croak out.
Genny rested her hand on Camille's shoulder and squeezed it. "Yes it is, but that's ok. I can take the pity from you but not from him, not with the way I feel about him. I couldn't tolerate that." Camille bowed her head and rubbed at the bridge of her nose. "And don't you tell him either." There was a hopeless expression on Camille's face when she lifted her head again. "I mean it Camille. You may think that you're helping me by telling him but I'll never forgive you if you do."
"Genny…"
"I've never asked you for anything, I'm asking you for this. Please."
"I won't tell him," she promised.
"Thank you." She dropped a kiss on the top of her sister's head. "Come on."
Genny pulled the hood of her cloak up against the rain, Camille followed her outside and down the road of the small village. There were a few vampires about right now, but most were still sleeping after a night spent feeding and carousing amongst the humans. Though the king, and now what would be The Council, had established clubs where vampires could go to feed upon willing humans, some vampires still preferred the thrill of the hunt. It was understood that those that hunted were doing so at their own peril. If they were caught hunting outside of the approved clubs and killing humans, their death would make those of the caught thieves look like a blessing.
That didn't mean it didn't happen. In fact, she thought that unapproved hunting happened even more than most of them realized. It was extremely easy for a human to go missing and never be heard from again. She knew that within the village most tried to play by the rules, but every once in awhile they would stray. It was the ones that stopped registering and completely disobeyed the laws that were ruthlessly hunted and put to an excruciatingly painful death.
She'd heard it cost a lot of money to be able to kill a human within the clubs, but that some of the wealthier men and women paid to be allowed to do it. She understood the need for blood, the thrill that came with hunting something but as much as she didn't understand the human race, she also didn't understand the appeal of harming them.
To her, taking a human down was the same as taking down a deer, or even a bear. In fact, it would be easier to hunt a human as they weren't as fast and had less defenses than a bear. To each their own though, she supposed. She wondered if Atticus had ever paid to kill someone and then immediately shook off the thought. It wasn't something she could picture him doing, but his world was completely different from hers and she didn't know what kind of expectations he had placed on him.
Even with the precautions against killing the humans, whispers and rumors still ran through the humans about monsters that hunted them at night, witches and warlocks that cast spells, and demons that crawled into their beds while they slept. In her life, there had been a village in Germany that had been destroyed by a human mob after a vampire lost himself to the bloodlust and went on a killing spree of human babies.