Page 83 of Benjamin and the Thief

“No!”

Catalina pushed Maya away, and to her utter shock, Maya crashed against the wall a good six feet away. For a moment she thought that Maya would be knocked unconscious, but she peeled herself away from the wall as if nothing had happened.

“Are you okay, Mom?”

The question came from the door, which had opened without Catalina noticing. In it stood Vanessa, one of Benjamin’s friends she’d met at his party.

“I’m fine, honey. We need Benjamin,” Maya replied.

“I’m right here,” Benjamin said from behind Vanessa and entered the room.

Catalina stared at him and froze, and he met her gaze. There was nothing malicious in his eyes, though she could sense his apprehension.

“You need to tell her now,” Maya said, and she and her daughter left the room and closed the door behind them.

They were alone.

He remained near the door, in fact, right in front of it as if to make sure she had no way to escape. The only other door in the room probably led to a bathroom, and for the first time since she’d awoken, she realized that there was no window. She was trapped.

Trapped with a vampire.

“I’m so happy to see that you made it,” he started, his voice calm and smooth. “There’s so much I need to tell you about what’s happened to you, but I assume you want me to explain first what you saw when we were at Delilah’s.”

“I know what I saw,” she pressed out, her heart pounding. “You’re a vampire. And so is Ross. And he bit me. He drank my blood.”

Benjamin nodded. “Yes, he did. I’m sorry that you had to experience that. He’s still a kid and hasn’t learned yet how to control his urges. I’m sorry.”

At his words, her eyes went to Benjamin’s neck where his carotid artery pulsed in a rhythm that seemed to call to her. She pushed the thought away.

“How about your urges?” she asked, scoffing.

“You’re right. I’m not always in control of myself either. Particularly not when I’m around you. I’m drawn to you in a way that is impossible to deny. Even now…” He shook his head as if shaking off a thought. “But first, I’m sorry for all the lies I had to tell you, because I was too afraid that you would leave me the moment I told you that I’m a vampire hybrid, half human, half vampire.”

“Half?” she asked, confused.

“Yes, my mother is human, my father a vampire. I was born into it. I wasn’t turned, neither was Ross. You met my friends at the party. Most of them are vampires. A few are human, like Anita. But she’s married to a vampire hybrid like me.”

Catalina shook her head, not wanting to believe it. “Why would a human marry a vampire?”

“Why does anybody marry anybody? For love.”

She didn’t have an answer to that. How could violent creatures like vampires love anybody?

“We live our lives very similarly to humans. We have families, children, friends. We care for them. We love them. We keep them safe. I’m sorry that I couldn’t keep you safe. When I figured out that Judge Norton was dirty, he’d already kidnapped you. It’s my fault that you got shot.”

She felt him take a shuddering breath. His scent drifted to her. She inhaled it and felt it warm her from the inside.

“I survived. And I assume the Prestons will pay for what they’ve done?”

He nodded. “They’ve been arrested. But more about that later. There’s something more important that you need to know.”

He ran a hand through his black hair, and she noticed that it was trembling.

“When you got shot, I knew I would lose you, and I couldn’t let that happen. I love you more than my own life, and if there’d been any other way, I would have never done this to you, but you were dying. There was no time left.”

“What are you saying?” She felt her voice tremble.

He looked into her eyes and straightened. “When you lay dying in my arms, I gave you my blood to turn you into a vampire. I’m so sorry that I did this without your consent, but there was no time. You were unconscious. You were slipping away.”