Page 148 of Forsaking All Others

“A vampire?”

“No, a human woman.”

“Did you like her?”

I swallow hard.

‘Did I like her? Yes. Did I love her? Also yes. More than life itself.’

“Very much,” I clear my throat.

“How do I remind you of her?”

‘The way you move, the way you speak, your body, your humour, your strength…’

“She was beautiful, like you. Your eyes, like hers, were haunted,” I murmur. “But it’s more than appearances. You fight to change your fate, no matter the odds — just as she once did.”

“Did she change her fate?”

“No.”

“I suppose she’s dead, then.”

I snort and shake my head at her blunt pragmatism.

“Yes.”

“Tell me you weren’t the one charged with her protection,” she turns to look into my eyes.

“I was.”

‘And how my soul has burned over my failure.’

“Shit!” She shakes her head, looking away once more.

I frown, wondering what she’s thinking.

‘Is she concerned that I can’t protect her as I said I would? Does she doubt my strength?’

“What happened?” She eventually asks.

“She and I were to meet at an agreed time and location. We were going to get out of Europe, away from the war, away from all the bullshit surrounding us,” I murmur, reliving that time all over again, “but she never made it to our rendezvous.”

“How did she die?”

“I can’t talk about that,” I grit my teeth.

“You brought it up.”

I take a deep breath and let it out slowly.

‘Yes, I did bring it up. Why?’

I swallow hard at the remembrance of finding my lover’s small, broken body lying by the roadside in a ditch, the evidence of a long, drawn-out death all over her.

“Suffice to say I spent the next few days ensuring that those who took her from me endured for a long, long time before they met their final destination.”

“You loved her,” Cat whispers.