A Blaze of Sun (A Shade of Vampire #5)(23)

“Brigitte… Are you feeling better now?”

She shook her head. “I don’t think my heart will ever stop aching,” she sobbed.

I couldn’t help but notice how pale she looked as she gulped at the sight of me. I edged on the bed closer to her. “He’s not worth all these tears, Brigitte. He doesn’t deserve you.” I pulled her into my arms and whispered assurances in her ears.

“Thank you, Kyle. You’re such a great guy. If only I could see you as more than just my best friend… If only I could fall in love with you…”

Her words were a stab in the heart. My brain began reeling at what she was implying. I was still trying to absorb what she just told me, when she threw me another shocker.

“I’m sorry for what I’m about to do, Kyle, but I can’t stand the thought of being alone in this.”

I was about to ask her what she meant, hoping for dear life that my voice wouldn’t break when I asked her. Before the words could come out of my lips, however, I felt two fangs bite into my neck.

After breaking my heart, Brigitte turned me into a vampire so she wouldn’t ever be alone, so that she would always have me. I loved her, but she did not deserve my love. When I saw her get killed by the hunters, a part of me was relieved, because I was finally free. After escaping the hunters that night, I found The Shade. I also found Anna, and once again found myself on the losing end of an unrequited love.

“Where are we going?” Anna asked, her body trembling, her eyes wide with fear as Ian and I led her out of The Catacombs.

“It’s alright, Anna,” I tried to soothe her. “You’re just going to spend a little time with Corrine so that she can figure out if we can still get you back to who you were.”

Clearly, from the blank stare she was shooting my way, she didn’t quite understand anything that I said.

“Everything’s going to be fine, Anna,” Ian began rubbing his hand over her back. “We can go to the gardens after. Maybe you can go get some roses.”

A smile lit up Anna’s face. “Roses!” She nodded with enthusiasm. “I like roses!”

I swallowed back the jealousy. I knew that Anna and Ian had some sort of connection between them, one I was afraid to find more about, but it was there and I couldn’t deny it no matter how much it bothered me. And whatever that connection was, it had something to do with roses.

We eventually made our way to The Sanctuary, where Corrine was already waiting. Before she was brought to The Shade to become its powerful witch, Corrine was actually in college as a psychology major. Sometimes, when around her, I found myself antsy because I always felt like she was evaluating me. I had no idea if anyone else felt the same way I did when around her.

“Hello, Anna,” Corrine greeted in a rather formal manner. “How are you?”

“I’m well.” Anna nodded, looking like a deer in headlights. “We’re going to get roses later. Ian promised.”

I wasn’t sure if it was just my imagination, but I could swear I saw Ian smirk. My gut clenched. Is this forever my story? Will I forever be the man in love with a woman who will never love me back?

I tried to push the thoughts away as I watched Corrine lead the beautiful young woman to a room, leaving Ian and me instructions to do as we pleased while we waited, but to make sure we were around when they were done.

Any time I was alone with Ian, I found myself feeling tense and unsure what to do or how to even spark a conversation with him. It seemed the only thing we had in common was Anna. I was pleased to find out that Ian wasn’t up for much conversation.

I found myself taking a trip down memory lane… to the day I first saw Anna in The Shade…

Sam and I were instructed to guard the southeast area of the Crimson Fortress. As with any guard duty in The Shade, the whole thing was routine – something we did at the kingdom, because there really wasn’t much else left to do. Sam and I were mostly just fooling around and trying to figure out how to wile the time away until the end of our guard duty.

We’d been at it for a couple of hours when we heard rustling along a nearby bush.

“I’ll check it out,” I told Sam and approached the area where the sound came from.

Behind the bushes, we knew that there was an opening that led to a large lake. I peered past the bushes and onto the lake and found myself drawing a breath when I saw her. I didn’t know her name, but her beauty took my breath away. Long, silky, jet black hair, big moss green eyes… A lovely feminine form, immersed in the shimmering water…

I was dumbfounded. The last time I remember feeling that way was with Brigitte. I stared as she bathed in the lake water humming a tune as she did. I was so stunned by the sight of her, I lost balance and stumbled forward.

She spun around at the sound of me falling on the ground beneath, breaking a couple of twigs and rustling a bunch of leaves as I did. Her eyes grew wide with horror at the sight of me.

“I’m so sorry…” she gasped. “I had no idea someone was here… I just… the water… I wanted to get clean…”

I shook my head and lifted my hand mid-air to let her know that everything was alright. “It’s fine. I was just surprised that a lovely young woman like you would be out here bathing…”

She blushed. “I like going for swims. It relaxes me. Besides, compared to the showers we have at The Catacombs, a bath at the lake seemed luxurious…”