Dark Fates (A Paranormal Anthology)(94)

Looking into Tyler’s beautiful eyes, she said, “Sargon is nearby, isn’t he?”

Tyler nodded. “Your Maker is always near if you come to the club.”

Hating the sick feeling of fearing the unknown, she forced herself to ask, “What alarmed me so much that I would ask for the memory of you to be taken from me?”

He let out a soft sound of frustration. “Well, it’s actually a couple things. First, you can’t erase my memories.”

“What?”

She started to bolt, but he pinned her to the seat with a stern look. “Sit still and listen. The second thing is that I’m stronger than a mortal man now. Every time you notice that you freak out. Thankfully Sargon would always come to spend time with me before sunrise and talk about what happened that night.”

Offended, she lifted her chin. “You talk about me?”

“Not in a bad way, honey, a good one. I don’t know if you’re aware of it, but Sargon would give his left nut to make you smile. That man worships you. He’d do anything to make you happy, including helping the mortal man that you seem so enamored with. I’m lucky Sargon finds me charming as well. Otherwise, I would have vanished after our first date for the threat I presented to his claim on your heart.”

“What?”

He gave her a chiding look. “Come now, Lisabetta, you must know he loves you, and you love him. I was plenty f*cking jealous when I first figured this out, but then I realized that whatever he is to you, it isn’t enough. You need me on some fundamental level almost as much as I need you. And do you know why I’ll never leave you, never betray you? Why it is now physically impossible to ever do you harm?”

“Because…” A hard shudder went through her. “Because we’ve exchanged enough blood to start turning you. That I…oh Sweet Mother of God, I’m your Maker.”

“Yes. Lisabetta, look at me.” When she didn’t, he forced her chin up, and as their gazes met, a sense of anguish filled her. “You did not do this to me against my will. Every single night I made the choice to come with you, to give you my blood, to surrender to you on every level. I could have turned away at any time, could have never stepped foot inside that club again, but I chose you, time after time.”

She rubbed her face, trying to search her vague memories but coming up against holes in the timeline of her life over the past five weeks, just like Tyler said. Oh, she remembered the parties that Sargon threw to celebrate her independence, the time they spent alone together, and the endless rounds of vampire politics, but there were entire evenings missing from her mind. Leaning closer, she took a deep inhalation of Tyler’s scent and detected hers and his mingled together. No wonder he’d smelled so good to her. He was her fledgling.

Oh dear blessed God, she’d begun to make a vampire. Something she’d sworn never to do. Her transition from mortal to vampire had been so painful, so agonizing that it had broken something in her spirit. She’d promised she would never turn anyone, and so far, she’d managed to keep that vow.

She wouldn’t wish the extended torture of the transition on anyone, especially someone she cared for.

No, it wasn’t too late. She could run now and never come back. She had to go, had to flee. But before the order could go from her mind to her limbs to flee, Tyler latched a silver chain around her ankle, a chain cleverly hidden beneath the seat he’d told her to sit on. Sneaky, conniving *. The silver weighed against her skin like a thousand pounds, pinning her in place like a butterfly with a steel pin through its heart.

Even as enraged as she was, it never occurred to her that she could kill him with a flick of her wrist. Instead, she hissed at Tyler while he glared back at her. “You are not f*cking running away from me anymore, Lisabetta. I don’t care how much you hate me. I know what happened to you. I know about your husband and child, and while my heart aches for what your original Maker did to you, it is time for you to let go of your past. You’ve vanquished your enemies, built your empire, and atoned for any possible sin over and over again. Allow yourself the chance to love again. You’ve spent lifetimes alone. Let us in.”

She curled into herself at the confirmation of her worst fears. He knew. He knew that she was responsible for the deaths of her husband and child all those years ago.

“How did you find out?” she asked in a dead voice.

Tyler made a soft, sorrowful sound. “I managed to figure out most of it on my own, but Sargon keyed me in on a few key details that I didn’t know. I was aware of the basics, the beautiful Lady Lisabetta, how she vanished and was presumed dead, leaving behind her husband and young child who fell to the pl—”

Her soul screamed in agony, and she abruptly launched off the seat at him, the silver chain digging painfully into her flesh, easily bruising her. “Silence! You have no right to speak of them. Do you hear me? No right!”

Shaking his head, Tyler remained just out of reach. “It wasn’t your fault. Your only sin was posing for a portrait. There was no possible way on earth you could have known an insane vampire would see it and become obsessed with you. That he would hunt you down and take you away from everything you loved. I know he tried to break you, the terrible things you’ve endured, but if you can still love, he didn’t win. Couldn’t destroy the beauty of your soul. You are so good, Lisabetta. I wish you could see that you are as much of a victim as anyone else.”