I don’t want you here. She said it with a certain fire. Shocked at herself. Shocked at the way she felt toward him.
His answering laughter was pure male amusement, sliding into her mind, under her skin, dissolving her bones. He had been too long in her mind not to recognize her confusion for what it was. Destiny hissed out a slow breath. Emotions betray one, Nicolae—I learned that lesson from a master. It’s a truth I accept. Emotions had allowed Nicolae to find her. If Destiny hadn’t heard Mary Ann speaking to one of her clients, if her words hadn’t been the very thing Destiny had been starving to hear, she would have continued her nomad existence and Nicolae would not have found her.
I would have found you. There was complete confidence in his infuriating, beautiful voice. You know I would have found you.
Then there will be a battle between us.
Now there was a smoky edge to his laughter. There has never been a war to fight between us, there never will be. We are two halves of the same whole.
She winced at his words. To her, they were an accusation. She had seen his kills. She had touched that dark, crouching beast deep within him. As hard as she wished it otherwise, she was still what a monster had made her. For a moment she pressed her fingertips to her temples, closing her eyes, shutting out the beauty of the night, the beauty of his voice, the magic of the things she had become aware of.
Shape-shifting, soaring through the sky, running on four legs like a well-oiled machine, stars glittering like a shower of diamonds overhead—the sheer power of what she was. Destiny found it impossible to hate her existence. That realization only added to the weight of her guilt. She had always had choices, and she had chosen to live. Chosen to hunt and kill monsters. Chosen to stay close to MaryAnn Delaney. And she had chosen to listen to a depraved monster. He had murdered her family and turned her childhood into a living hell.
Stop it! Nicolae said sharply, a command from an ancient accustomed to instant obedience. You were a child, a little girl, with no knowledge of such evil creatures. You could not possibly have prevented what that vampire did to your family, nor were you responsible. You have rare gifts. There are others in the world such as you, other young women, possibly young men, who inadvertently draw the monster through their incredible gifts. They are in no way responsible for what a vampire does. The vampire chose his way of life. At one time he walked in the light and had honor and respect. At some point in his life he knew he was risking his soul if he continued. He knew what to do but chose to become the undead. Look into my memories; I offer them freely to you. You cannot believe you are responsible.
Destiny was silent a moment, wanting to believe him. Wanting to be absolved. Wanting the magic of his voice to wrap her up and take her away from all that had ever happened to her. Your voice is a weapon. She whispered the words to him aloud as well as in his mind. She needed the sound of her voice to believe it.
You are afraid. It is natural to fear what you do not understand, little one. His voice was so gentle she wanted to cry. She wanted to reach out to him and be held. Her reaction was so strong, so foreign to her nature, it shocked her. Frightened her even more. She felt off balance and indecisive, and she didn’t like it. He hadn’t called her “little one” in a long while. She tried to tell herself the endearment had thrown her, but she knew better.
She might be afraid, but she was no coward. She could at least be truthful with herself… with him. Her chin went up and she straightened her shoulders. Yes, I am afraid. I don’t know how to trust anyone. I don’t know that I even trust myself. I trusted the beauty of a voice and I was deceived.