The Raven (The Florentine #1)(70)
“Because his grandmother is my neighbor. And he may die because of me.”
William’s demeanor cooled. “You won’t have to worry about her much longer. She has cancer and will die soon.”
“What?” Raven croaked.
“When I visited your apartment, I could smell the cancer from the hall. It’s very advanced.”
“How can you smell cancer?”
He pressed his lips together. “It’s one of our talents. We can smell disease. And death.”
Raven placed a hand on the back of the chair for support. “Why didn’t Bruno tell me?”
“It’s possible he doesn’t know. I didn’t scent any drugs in her system. Perhaps she declined treatment.”
“Can you help her?”
“I could, but I won’t.” His tone was matter-of-fact.
“Why not?”
“Using vampyre blood to help you has already exposed me. I’m not about to do it again.”
“But if I asked you to help her?”
A muscle jumped in his jaw.
“I’d still say no. The blood will heal her cancer but I’d have to give it to her in such a large amount, she’d end up much, much younger. It would attract too much attention.”
“Could you give her a little, just to ease her suffering?”
“Death is the only thing that will help her.”
Raven let out an anguished sound. “Please.”
“We don’t interfere in the lives of human beings. You were an exception.” His eyes glinted cold steel.
He turned his back on her and reached for the doorknob.
She swallowed hard as tears pricked her eyes. “William, wait.”
She cleared her throat.
“What if I begged?”
William kept his back toward her.
“My answer won’t change.”
“I tried to protect Cara,” Raven whispered. “I failed.”
Now William turned around. “Who’s Cara?”
“I am not going to watch this happen and do nothing.”
William exhaled loudly.
“It isn’t your responsibility to save the world. Let people save themselves.”
Raven let out an anguished sound. “If what you said about the relic is true, it’s my fault Bruno was hurt. If I’d been wearing it, no one would have bothered us.”
“It’s too late for regrets.” He reached for the doorknob once again.
“No, it isn’t.”
She approached him, standing a few feet away.
“You said I’d come to you and beg for help.” She lifted her chin. “I thought I was too proud to beg. But I’m not. I beg you for Bruno’s life and the life of his grandmother.”
William remained stubbornly fixed on the door.
“No.”
“Please, William. Please.”
He exhaled loudly. “As difficult as it may seem to you, we try not to draw attention to ourselves. You’re asking me to expose myself.”
“I’ll stay with you.”
William’s eyes flew to hers. “What?”
“If you heal Bruno and help his grandmother, I’ll stay with you. I’ll work on your art collection. I may even do . . . other things, eventually. I just ask that you don’t force me.”
William simply stared.
“Please,” she repeated. “Help them.”
William stood still so long, Raven worried he’d gone into a trance.
She wrung her hands, anxiety making her fidget.
His gaze moved to her hands and then to her face. “You’d live with me until I let you go? That could be decades from now.”
She nodded.
“I can’t help your neighbor. The risk is too great. But I could help the boy.”
“It has to be both.”
William gave her a hard look. “I’m not wasting my precious vintage collection on an old woman. I will, however, give something to him to save his life. But I won’t risk healing him completely.”
Raven contemplated her options, which were limited.
William’s expression began to shift. She worried he’d change his mind.
“All right.” Her shoulders slumped.
He walked toward her, his shoes crunching over the broken glass.
“You’d give up your life, your position at the gallery, in exchange for helping that ridiculous boy? He barely knows you.”
A single tear trailed down her cheek.
“I don’t want to see him die, knowing I could have done something to stop it.”
William huffed in exasperation. “He isn’t worthy of you. You said yourself he never noticed you until your appearance changed.”
She wiped her face with the back of her hand. “You were never going to let me go. At least now, something good will come of it.”
He took her face in his hands.
“Do you understand what you are offering me?”
She closed her eyes. “Yes.”
For what seemed like a long time, he didn’t move.
“You shame me,” he murmured.
Her eyelids opened.
He brushed his lips across hers. “It’s been a long time since I felt shame.”