“Why the guilt?” Theseus questioned. “He was going to kill you. The stronger creature survived as is the way of the world.”
“And their family? Their loved ones—”
“Is he your loved one?”
I shook my head. “No, but someone out there will miss all of them.”
“That is someone else’s concern, not ours. Should we die because of people we do not know?” he questioned.
“We can survive off other things.”
He leaned in and smirked. “I do not want to survive, Ms. Monroe; I want to live as should you. Your maker should have thought you better.”
“I don’t know my maker,” I whispered, looking away from him; he was so damn close.
; He placed his cold finger on my skin, and turned my face to meet his. The smirk gone, he was very serious instead. “You were abandoned?”
“I don’t like that word,” I muttered, releasing my chin from his hands. “But I guess since I don’t know who my maker was or where that person is currently, that might be the only word to use.”
“My apologies,” he said sincerely which was a bit odd since he’d just killed nine people—well eight, I’d killed the ninth one. “Had I known, I would not have let you run toward the witch.”
My gaze snapped to him and widened. “You knew he was there?”
“Witches smell like nature and blend in with the forest, but you can still hear them if you listen closely.” His dark brows knitted together. “How long have you been a vampire and managed to avoid them while hunting here?”
“A year, and how do you know I hunt here?” I said, not wanting him to know I was from the area.
“You are comfortable here.” He said and nodded down to my waist. “That and the chain at your waist.”
I glanced down at the keychain—Washington D.C.—hooked onto my jeans. Damn. I never wanted to leave them in my car so I always carried them with me. I also had blood all over me.
“You are not trained in our ways.” He wiped the blood from my mouth, and this time, I didn’t pull away. “And in the way you feed, how have you made it a whole year without exposing yourself to mortals?”
“Well, maybe I’m just lucky,” I gently said as he stroked my face. But I didn’t want to give into whatever charm he was trying to use on me. I wasn’t human anymore. “How old are you, oh great one?”
His eyebrow raised a bit once more, and his lips turned up into a quirky grin. “As you have said, it is 2020; then I am 1,146 years of now.”
He was over a freaking thousand years old?
Wait.
“Why do you keep talking like you’ve lost track of time?” I asked him, taking off my jacket as I’d spilled blood on it.
“Because I have.” He nodded. “The last memory I can recall is from 1920.”
“What?”
He let go of my face to glance down at his hands as if they were brand new, stretching them out. “There are only one of two explanations for that. Either, I was attacked in 1920, and my body has only just now healed from the damage, which I doubt. Or somehow, I’ve lost my memory of the last century.”
“How?” A vampire with amnesia? Was that possible?
He leaned in, pressing his lips to my ear. “Do you see why I need your help now, Ms. Monroe?”
“How can I help you, though?” I whispered, not sure why I was reacting this way. Other vampires did their best to avoid me, and I didn’t actively seek them out, either. Yet, here I was, patiently listening and questioning Theseus.
“Young one,” he whispered into my ear, and I shivered but didn’t move away. “Do you not know when a vampire is claiming you?”