Aldric's POVLeaving Simone was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done in my endless, immortal life. It literally felt as if I tore myself in two, and left a part of my soul behind.Despite my brother's dire warnings, I left, firmly believing that it would get better as time went on, even though I knew better and had seen other vampires battle with the same thing.Hubris is every vampire's mortal enemy, and I fell victim to it.Before I left that day, Vesper tried to talk me out of it yet again, but I wouldn’t listen to him. “Look after her,” I said before I walked out of the gates. “Keep her safe.”“You can’t just go, Aldric.” Vesper tried for the hundredth time to get through to me. “You’ll go mad with longing.”“No, I won’t. She’s human. It will be over before we know it, and I can go on with my life, empty and meaningless as it may be from now on. How long do humans live these days anyway? Sixty years? I have forty years left to go.”“That’s how long yours live. Mine often make

Simone's POV Aldric says something to Vesper in a language I don’t understand before they step outside. I don’t know what they want to talk about, but vampires are like that – always holding all their undead secrets close to their hearts. I missed Aldric. I didn’t think I would, I barely know him, but I started missing him mere hours after he left. It was as if he took a part of me with him, and when he returned he gave it back. When he asked me about the pregnancy, I intended to tell him the same lie I’ve been telling everyone else, which pretty much boils down to ‘I am sure I will love it.’ Lately, I’ve been so very tired, and I hate myself for resenting the thing growing inside me. I can’t think of it as a child or a baby. I can feel it inside me, crawling and twisting, sucking me dry like an orange, and like every other vampire, it’s gorging itself on my blood. Yet, like me, the creature asked for none of it. That is what keeps me awake at night. Neither of us had a choice in t

Simone's POV I am at once relieved and heartbroken, and I don’t know what to do with all these new feelings. How am I supposed to process everything that happened in such a short amount of time? How am I supposed to explain to people that I did not want this child, but I’m still sad for him? For what he had to go through and endure in his short few minutes of life? I sent Aldric out because I thought he’d have questions I couldn’t answer. It took me a while to realise I didn’t have to answer his questions. He doesn’t answer any questions when he doesn't feel like it, so why should I? I wish I knew what kind of hold that vampire has on me. Every time I see him, I promise myself that I won't let him get under my skin, that I won't tell him everything that pops into my head, and every time I fail. It's as if some unknown force compels me to tell him the truth. Maybe that’s why he won’t answer me when I ask him questions. Maybe he can't lie to me either. After an hour alone with the ch

Aldric's POV “You weren’t kidding when you said Simone is a slow healer,” Vesper says and hands me a glass of his finest, aged blood. I have no idea how it’s made, or exactly what process they use to keep blood this old fresh enough for consumption even hundreds of years after the original donor died. It’s a family secret of the Eurynomos bloodline. The blood is slightly alcoholic and can give a neophyte quite the buzz, but ancient vampires like us enjoy it merely for the novelty – and sometimes it tastes good. “It’s strange,” my brother goes on. “Humans usually heal so fast from our blood.” “Maybe it’s her genetics. I mean, her mother never fully turned. She was able to drown herself.” “Imogen suffered from blood madness. They die quickly anyway.” “Yeah, I suppose,” I sigh and sip the aged blood. This vintage is actually pretty nice, and I find myself wishing that Simone could enjoy it with me. After all the blood I'd given her, the imprint intensified, and leaving her, even f

Simone's POVThe moment the words leave my mouth, I wish I can take them back. I've showed him too much of my heart already. I'm giving him way too much power.If only I could figure out how to lie to Aldric. I’ve tried so many times, but it's always the same - my mouth speaks my heart's truth.I wonder if it’s that bond thing he told me about that’s compelling me to say every little thing that pops into my head. “Why can’t I lie to you?” I ask.“You can’t lie to me?” he asks, clearly surprised. He laughs and looks very relieved. “You imprinted back.”“What?”“That’s what we call it when we feel a blood bond with a human. Imprinting. Sometimes, often actually, it’s a one-way deal. Humans don’t imprint as we do. You fall in love…or a facsimile of love at least, but you don't imprint very often.”“A facsimile?”“A copy…a weaker version of what vampires call true love.”“Are you saying humans don’t understand the meaning of true love?”“Yes.”I stare at him for the longest time. “My God,