An End of Night (A Shade of Vampire #16)(26)

I bit my lip, wondering whether to tell him the truth. If he believed that it was a dream all along, once I was finished saying goodbye to him I would put him to sleep and take him away to someplace safe, and he would wake up believing that it had indeed been a dream. But if I told him the truth, it would make parting all the more painful.

I decided not to respond to his comment and let him believe what he would.

“We don’t have long,” I said softly. “There’s something that I would like to tell you… something I never got a chance to say before.”

He frowned, then, swinging his legs off the bed, stood up and walked over to me. His eyes blazed down into mine.

“What?”

I detected hurt in his gaze as he asked the question. I was sure that he too was remembering the last time we had seen each other.

“I love you,” I said before my voice could choke up. “I always have.”

His frown deepened, his voice hoarse as he replied: “Then why did you leave me?”

His words were like a dagger through my heart.

“I-I told you. I had no choice.”

“You could have run away with me,” he said. “We could have escaped, traveled far away and started our lives over. Nobody would’ve had to find out about us.”

My shoulders sagged. Magnus didn’t understand. He never did. Perhaps if I had belonged to a lesser family I could have escaped. But I couldn’t have gotten away with it with my family.

“You didn’t love me enough,” he concluded from my silence.

You don’t know how much I love you. You never will know, was what I wanted to say.

“Perhaps… Perhaps I did not love you enough,” I managed. “But now it’s different. Tonight… I’m free.”

I swallowed back the lump in my throat as he reached up to my face, his thumb brushing against my cheek as he scrutinized every part of my face.

“I just wonder,” I said in a voice barely louder than a whisper. “Do you still love me?”

His eyes narrowed. My stomach clenched as he broke eye contact for the first time since he had woken up. His gaze settled on a spot on the floor. But it was only for a moment. When he raised his eyes to me again, fire had ignited behind them.

He answered my question by backing me up against the bedpost and claiming my lips. He kneaded his against mine as his hands began to roam freely along my body. My heart felt so light, I barely knew how to handle such joy. I kissed him back with as much passion as my black soul could muster, hoping that it would be enough to satisfy him. When I began to unbutton his shirt, the action triggered a spiral that soon found me lying flat on my back against the mattress. Magnus crouched down over me, kissing me with more hunger than I knew how to respond to.

It felt as though every touch we exchanged, every kiss, every embrace, only added to the bonfire that now blazed between us. All the pain, the guilt, the frustration that I had harbored within me for so long melted away and all that was left was an all-consuming heat. Magnus’ strong body brushed against mine. Our bare forms were entwined as close to each other as we could possibly be. And for once, it felt like he held my heart too—not just a part of it… but all of it. My heart beat only with love for him.

“Magnus,” I panted through his kisses, “you’re the reason I’m still alive.”

He raised his face to look at me, his lips flushed with the little blood he had in his veins.

“What do you mean?”

“If I didn’t love you, I would not be here with you now. My love for you was strong enough to keep me alive centuries past my natural lifespan.”

“What are you—?”

I raised a finger to his lips, wrapping my legs tighter around his waist.

“I don’t want to waste our precious time telling you the whole story. Please… just promise me that whatever happens to us after tonight… you won’t ever doubt that I loved you.”

There was a pause, his passion still pulsing deep within me.

A heavy burden lifted from my chest as he moved his mouth next to my ear and whispered:

“I promise.”

Chapter 19: Rose

Kiev looked like he was about to go climbing up the mountain after Mona and Micah by the time they finally reappeared next to us.

“What happened?” my father and Kiev asked at once.

“We need to head to The Sanctuary’s graveyard,” Mona replied.

“Why?” Corrine asked.

“I believe that is where we will find Magnus.”

“Huh?”

“Rhys imprisoned Magnus in a cave up in this mountain. But somehow the vampire got out, otherwise Rhys wouldn’t have been going to such lengths to look for him. The person who let Magnus out had to be more powerful than Rhys. And I believe that person was Lilith. Isolde is powerful, but I don’t see what reason she would have for letting Magnus out.”

“Lilith,” Kiev said.

“I know how much she loved him,” Mona continued. “I experienced it through her memories. If she indeed did take him, there is a chance that she has kept him with her.”

“In The Sanctuary’s graveyard?”

Mona nodded. “I know that he is not being kept in her chamber on the island Isolde and Rhys arranged for her… Look, you just need to trust me on this. We have no time to lose. For all we know, Rhys could be heading there right now.”