-Ronan-I am being torn in two.One part of me wants to get away from Ara, because if that call hadn't interrupted us back at the clock tower, I would have kissed her. And that would have been the end of me. She might not understand the significance of a kiss for vampires, but if she knows that I have only ever kissed one other person before, she will get an idea of how important it is.The other part of me doesn't want to be away from her.I haven't had such a fun day in ages. Decades, really.Her awe and curiosity about everything was contagious, and I found myself thinking of the same old monuments and places from different perspectives I had never imagined based on her questions and comments. I've lived for a long time, and a human, of all people, is the one who has me seeing things differently. We turn toward the road that leads to the manor, and I already see from afar that giving Gabriel free rein of the party may not have been the best id

-Ronan-I knew Alex would have us play The Hunt at some point in the night, but I don't like this twist he has put on the game. I could have stopped it, but before I ruined everyone's night the event had begun, and I found myself rushing forward along with the others. When they signaled that the hunt had begun, I had rushed toward the garden, knowing that was where Ara had been before. With my sight impaired by the blindfold, all I could rely on was her smell, and I could faintly distinguish it, along with Jay's scent. I followed the faint trace to the forest, in the direction of the gardening shed, but something is clearly masking Ara's scent, possibly something she has drunk. Alcohol gets into the bloodstream and is also released through the pores, so right now, I could be following any other attendant's trace. I know this forest well, having spent years playing here when I was young and hunting when I grew older. That helps with finding my way, but not in loc

-Ronan-My father paces around the apartment with his arms crossed as I watch him and wait for the next round of yelling."Just do the damn photos, and carry on with the wedding. Is that so hard to do?" he says, stopping at the couch and placing his arms on the back. "The project you've been working on for decades is all but finished, and you're going to screw it all up because of a human.""What does Arabella have to do with anything?" I ask, and immediately regret doing so."Do I really have to tell you?" He takes out his phone and scrolls for a few seconds, bringing it up to my face. Someone at the party took a photo of me carrying Arabella into the house after I found her in the forest. Despite the picture being slightly pixelated and dark, it's easy to see that there's nothing but tenderness on my face. Now I understand why my father flew in and immediately summoned me to London. It couldn't have been just because Stella called my mother crying and tellin

-Ronan-"Yes, I'll be in Milan next week for the fitting," Stella says into her phone. I messed up the photos we should have taken at dawn because I didn't bring the right clothes, and now I'm stuck with her all day as we look for the exact clothes she wants for the shoot that should be during the sunset. We're at a café, because apparently Stella has gotten hooked on coffee and can't function without having several throughout the day, and she's been on her phone most of the day anyway, planning the wedding.She pretended to care about showing me a few things: the venue (Paris), the decorations (the theme is some flower I don't know the name of), and the food for the guests' attendants, though she wasn't too interested in that either. I excuse myself and go outside, tired of hearing her voice, and call Gabriel. He hasn't said anything since this morning when he texted they were on the way to the clinic with Ara."Ronan, how are you doing?" he answers, a littl

-Ronan-I've spent the past two days in Rome, making calls and talking to old acquaintances. Italian vampires are part of the underworld of the underworld, and they know pretty much everyone's business.My Italian contacts don't seem to know much about Desmond's latest antics, though they make it clear that his existence is only tolerated because he's Carlota's husband. And regardless of what the rest of the vampire world thinks, Carlota is still like royalty to them. She reigns supreme in Italy, so I know she'll be able to get more information than I could possibly hope to obtain. There's also a small chance that I'm wrong about Desmond and Stella plotting together. However, I don't have any enemies except possibly my brother and my future wife. Carlota lives two hours away from Rome in a small castle that's surrounded by armed guards around the clock. I've only been here once, ages ago, before her wedding to Desmond. She's made this place her fortress, where sh