She smiles. “Yes. It’s a gift for me, not a sadness.”
My mind flashes to Boz lifting his head, blood oozing out of his mouth, the dead man lying on the floor.
“He didn’t just kill that man; he ate him,” I whisper as it all starts to sink in.
“That man was a vampire hunter and was about to drive a wooden stake through Boz’s heart. It was kill or be killed.”
There was a wooden stake gripped in the man’s hand. Neli takes my hand and gives it a squeeze. In that moment I understand the gravity of the situation. She’s bonded to a vampire who’s claimed me as his mate. And she wants to die.
My breath turns shallow, my vision dimming at the edges.
“You’re looking a little pale,” she says, guiding my head down. “Head between your knees. Can’t have you passing out here.”
I stay that way for a few moments until my breathing evens out. I slowly rise and face her, my eyes intent on hers. “Be honest. Are you a vampire?”
She bares her teeth. “No fangs. And I can eat real food. I told you I’m his majordomo.” Fancy title for a sad state of affairs.
“Wait. Do vampires eat anything besides…” I can’t even say the word. It’s disgusting to think of Boz drinking blood.
“They can’t ingest human food. Wine is just about the only exception.”
Now that she mentions it, I never really saw Boz eat anything, though he did take a bite of steak at dinner last night. Then he spit it out in his napkin. I thought he was diet conscious or didn’t like his food. But not being able to eat? How awful.
“Sorry, Neli. I like eating. I don’t want to be his slave. And, even if I could accept that, what if he bonds with me and then lets me die to bond with another?”
“Excellent question. I’m glad you’re thinking this through. The mate is special. You wouldn’t be his slave, and it’s a forever bond. Boz would never force your hand. He wants you to come to him of your own free will.”
My mind drifts to the odd conversation I had with Boz before I went to his room. He wanted me to have sunshine, scuba, and children of my own, something he thought I couldn’t have with him. At the time I thought it was an excuse, but under the new circumstances, more and more is making sense to me. “And he can’t have children?”
“You can’t if he turns you.”
I gulp. “Into a vampire?”
She hesitates before saying in a rush, “Yes. But the good news is all that everlasting love and happiness! You’d live forever, sealed to each other in an unbreakable bond. It’s better than a human marriage, which can be dissolved so easily nowadays.”
I take a deep breath, my mind finally calm enough to think this through. “So you’re saying I’d become a vampire and live forever with him. What about my family? Can they live forever too?”
“If he turns them, sure.”
I look down. My entire family and me, vampires. How would that work? Would we all have to sleep in coffins? Would Eliza and Mabel still want to bake? Wait. No more eating and enjoying their famous chocolate chip cookies? No. I can’t ask them to follow me into the unknown supernatural world. I’m not even sure I want to be there. “So, reality is, I’d have to watch my family and everyone I know die of old age, while I’m left behind never to have a family of my own. Is that the gist of it?”
“Yes, but—”
I stand. “I’ve heard enough. I’m sorry, Neli, but I can’t take your place. He’ll need to find another mate.”
I hurry back inside, ignoring her frantic pleas. “Wait! Stella! There is no other mate. It’s only you!”
I duck back inside the exhibition hall and then keep going out the door, racing to the ladies’ room. I need a moment to pull it together.
I turn the sink on and splash cold water on my face, my charm bracelet jangling with the movement. I stare at it and then frantically undo the clasp and throw it in the garbage. He put some kind of spell over me with this thing, and I refuse to be drawn in anymore.
I’ll forget Boz, even if it kills me to lose the only man I’ve ever had these kinds of feelings for. That is, until I discovered he’s a vampire. My stomach churns. This is awful. I thought our connection was straight out of a fairy tale. He was even a prince!
Now I know the horrific truth—he’s a prince of the night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Boz
“What do you mean ‘Stella left’?” I clench my fists, having just woken from a very restless slumber. Things had gone so poorly with Stella last night that I could not stop replaying the entire scene in my mind. One moment, we were in the throes of ecstasy, the likes of which I have never known with any woman, and the next, I was taking a vampire hunter’s life. The horror on Stella’s face made me see the evil monster I am.