Wicked Soul (Ancient Blood #1)(33)

"A part of me is still that monster. It is in my nature, even when I suppress it.” His eyes flickered to me for a brief moment. “When I was starving in that cage and I smelled your blood… I nearly gave in.”

“But you didn’t,” I reminded him. “A monster would have taken my life without a second thought. Instead, you saved me from my own kind.”

Warin only sighed and laid flat on his back so he could stare up at the sky.

"What changed?" I asked. “When did you stop killing?”

A spasm pulled on his sculpted lips. “I haven’t stopped. You saw the bodies of our captors. I would still kill without remorse today, if…” He glanced at me, growing quiet without finishing the sentence.

“But why did you decide to only drink from donor bags? To not hurt people who didn’t deserve it?” I wanted so much to understand the man by my side. He was an enigma to me, but it wasn’t the mystery he presented that drew me in like a moth to a flame. It was that deep, intense something that pulsed off him in slow waves. Like a near-tangible loneliness that resonated so deep in my very soul I couldn’t put words to the connection I felt to him.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I don’t… I remember being so vicious—lost to the bloodlust. When I rose at night, the only thing that drove me was my need to sate my hunger. To inflict my power on those I deemed weaker than myself. But then… it just… vanished. One night it was there, and then it was gone. And I understood… I felt the pain I’d inflicted on others. Here.” He rested a hand on his chest and sighed.

“You learned empathy,” I said softly.

“I suppose I did. But it doesn’t erase what I’ve done. It doesn’t change what I am.”

“It doesn’t need to.” I sat up and wrapped my arms around my legs as I watched the solemn vampire by my side. “Yes, you may have done horrible things in your past, but that doesn’t mean you can’t be a good person today. If you have really done what you say you have, that just makes it so much more important that you spend the rest of your time on this planet making amends.”

Warin rolled over onto his side to better look at me. “You believe a monster can make amends?”

“I do. There has to be a balance, you know? In the universe. If you take a life, you must save one too.” I gave him a small smile. “So you’re already on your way, after saving my ass.”

“Hmm,” he hummed, the expression on his pale face mildly intrigued. “I’ve never thought about it in those terms.”

“That’s what I’m here for,” I assured him, offering him a cheeky grin to lighten the mood. “To point out the brighter side, so you don’t get lost in all that broody smolder.”

Warin laughed, a rumbling sound from deep in his chest that made my stomach feel light with happiness. “Do you know that your name means ‘life’ in my native language? I find it very apt.”

“Olivia?”

“No. Liv.” The way he pronounced it made it sound so exotic, like a sensual caress. He sighed and rolled over again, getting to his feet in a graceful move. “I should take you home. I am late for a meeting… again. I seem to forget the time when we speak.”



* * *



That night, I dreamt about flying among the stars on a ball of golden light.





11





Surprisingly, the first time I realized that there were distinct downsides to having a vampire friend had nothing to do with witches.

I stuck to my end of mine and Warin’s bargain and kept my nose out of any and all blood investigations, though I found my job had gotten a new edge to it. Every time someone came in to buy anything from tarot cards to one of our very delicious herbal teas, I found myself staring at them in an attempt to work out if they were an actual witch or not. The fact that I had no clue what to look for didn’t help matters.



* * *



Three nights after Warin’s last visit, he called me again to see if I had time to meet. And, too excited to pause to think, I happily agreed.

It was undoubtedly pretty pathetic, but after our few interactions and how little we truly knew each other, he already felt like the best friend I’d ever had.

He knocked on my front door not twenty minutes after sundown, and I opened it with a cheerful, “Hey!”

Only instead of responding, Warin grabbed me by the shoulders with his cold, strong hands, eyes scanning me with clear worry. “Liv, are you hurt?”

“What? No, I’m fine?” I squawked, alarm rising in my throat at his obvious concern. “Warin, what’s—?”

Without warning, his nostrils flared wide and his body went rigid as his gaze locked on my abdomen, pupils blown.

I squeaked, the sudden change in his demeanor sending flashes of the time I’d been bleeding in the cage in that creepy basement to the forefront of my mind. But before I managed to do anything else, he’d released me, the air around us swooshing. When I turned with a blink, he stood at the other end of my living room, clearly holding his breath.

“I’m very sorry,” he blurted before I could open my mouth to ask what the hell was going on. “It… caught me by surprise.”