Page 23 of Hitched to the Vampire King
“Tell me about your problems. Maybe I can help?”
I appreciated her offer, I truly did. But I shook my head. “I refuse to drag your pack into this. My problems are so far beyond anything you can help with.”
“I can listen,” she said. “Maybe offer advice?”
I gave a dry chuckle. “I mean no offense, but I really doubt it.”
She shrugged. “We’re stuck here until the retrieval team arrives. And I doubt you’re planning on sleeping. I know I’m sure not.” Though the slight shudder that ran through her told me her reasons were different than mine. Fear, maybe? Afraid to dream? “So, unload on me. Tell me your tale.”
“You really wanna hear it?”
She lifted her hands, then settled onto the couch. “I’m all ears, my friend.”
“Alright. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
She cocked a brow. “That bad?”
“It’s not a pleasant story.”
“Okay. Lay it on me.”
I told her everything, from my upbringing to how I became a werewolf and, soon after, a vampire slayer. I told her about the Academy, and how my friends and I had discovered their corruption. How I’d fought a demon. How Adrian abducted me and Gabriel. Then I jumped into Gabriel’s tale and told her about his sordid history, including why his father wanted him dead.
“You…weren’t kidding,” she rasped. “You definitely have a lot on your plate right now.”
“That’s an understatement.”
She ran a hand down her face and blew out a harsh breath. “Like, arealdemon? From hell?”
“Or from whatever reality demons come from.”
She lowered her hands and twisted them in her lap. “And you fought it? You killed it?”
I let out a flustered laugh. “Not easily. It damn near killed me.” I grabbed my shirt collar and pulled it down, showing her the top of my lovely scar.
She paled even more. “The demon did that?”
“Thrust its hand into my chest, claws and all.”
She released a slow breath. “I… I’m speechless.”
“It’s been a hard month.”
“A hard month, you say. But it sounds to me like your whole life has been hard.”
I wouldn’t deny that. “It’s been good to me too. It’s given me so much. Six years ago, I had no one. Now I have Gabriel, my sister, Sam, my friends. I never had a family. And now that I do, I refuse to lose them.”
“Which is why you understand why I need to kill Nash. He took my family. He took Joseph.”
Compassion softened me, and I nodded. “Yeah, I get that.”
“Doesn’t it feel overwhelming?” she asked, fear tightening her face. “You carry so much on your shoulders. How are you going to take down the council? And how are you going to end this feud between Gabriel and his father?”
“Adrianwilldie,” I growled. “That man deserves death after everything he’s done. That’ll end the feud.”
“And Elias?” Avery pushed. “I’m not convinced he helped you. But I’m not sure he betrayed you, either.”
“Gabriel can decide his brother’s fate,” I said. “That’s between them. But if he tries to harm Gabriel, I’ll rip his head off.”
