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20
Watching the fire dance inside the fireplace, Mina felt more relaxed than she had in days. Erik slept pressed against her back from chest to toes, one hand curled around her waist, and she was warm. One of the many contradictions she’d found since coming to the palace. Vampires were supposed to be cold and dead, but Erik wasn’t. Like any human, his skin could be cool, or warm. Lying beside him now, his skin actually felt hot against hers.
Turning slowly, she shifted onto her other side to face him and smiled. He looked so young while he slept, his full lips slightly pursed like he wanted to be kissed. His hair curled around his temples, and she couldn’t resist brushing a finger over one of the soft curls.
“I can feel you watching me,” he said, making her jump.
“Sorry. I just…I didn’t mean to wake you,” she said, pressing her lips together in a sheepish smile.
“It’s okay,” he said, his eyes opening a fraction. “I never meant to fall asleep. Are you okay?”
“I’m okay.” She nodded, letting her eyes fall to the floor between them.
His fingers brushed over her arm, and then he caught her by the chin, gently turning her eyes back to his. “That frown makes it hard for me to believe you.”
She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly. She had a thousand questions about what would be expected of her if she agreed to be his wife. On top of those, her reading had generated even more questions about the history of the Nilumaria, about the old king, and the witches who used to rule the southern kingdoms on the far side of the great desert. But all of them felt unimportant next to the one shouting from every corner of her mind.
“You can ask me anything, tell me anything, I hope you know that,” he said, tucking hair behind her ear.
She bit her lip for a second and then the words rolled off her tongue. “Who is Evangeline?”
Every inch of his body tensed. His eyes opened wide, and he swallowed visibly. “What?”
“Evangeline. I’ve dreamt of her almost every night since we crossed the Veil. Her and you.”
Erik pressed his lips together and sat up facing away from her. He ran his hand over his face, and then looked back at her over his shoulder. “What kind of dreams?”
Mina sat up and grabbed her shirt from where it lay on the chair nearest to them, slipping it on over her head. The shift in his tone sent a cold terror through her. “They were nightmares. There were monsters attacking you, and I was terrified and angry and…” She trailed off shaking her head. “You called me Evangeline. You told me to run.”
She heard him exhale through his nose, and his shoulders sagged. “Evangeline was my wife before I became a vampire. She was killed.”
“I’m sorry,” she said, reflexively, and then pouted in confusion. “But why am I dreaming about her?”
“I…I’m not sure,” he said, turning to look at her fully. “But there are ways we can find out. If you want to, that is.”
“How long ago did she die?” She asked, swallowing around a lump in her throat.
“Centuries ago,” he said, reaching for his pants. “It was before I became a vampire.”
Mina watched him slide them on, and her heart hurt. Everything hurt. “You loved her?”
He reached blindly for her hand. He gave her fingers a squeeze and sighed. “With all my heart and soul.”
Rouge tears gathered in her eyes. “That’s why you give the women you bring here a choice. You don’t want to marry. You’re still grieving.”
“It’s complicated, and growing more complicated by the second. We should get dressed. It looks like we were sleeping for a while,” he said, gesturing to the mantel behind her.
Mina turned and her brows rose. “What is that?”
“We don’t have the sun to mark our days, and it’s hard to get tinkered time pieces in from the trading ships on the coast. So one of my scientists developed it” he said, handing her the pants she’d been wearing. "The crystals float to the top and begin to glow with every hour that passes for twelve hours, and then they begin to fall and go dim.”
“That is brilliant.” She nodded, pulling her pants back on. “So it’s...”
“Well past dinner time for you,” he said, offering her his hand to help her from the floor. “Let’s get you some food, and we can…continue our conversation.”
“It’s okay. I’m sure this isn’t a topic you’d like to revisit. We can talk about…other th—”
He turned, and cupped her cheek with his hand, brushing his thumb over her lips. “Mina, there are things you need to know. Things I need to explain.”
