She brought the world light. I brought the world death.
Together, we were moonlight and shadows.
Of course, I never thought I would get attached. I always tried to keep it casual. I always kept what I felt for Amethyst at a friendly distance, and I tried not to think of her mother other than the help.
But my best intentions failed.
I failed.
I fell in love.
Now Yvonne is dead, a woman I thought of as my own mother.
And her daughter is left behind.
And as much as I love Amethyst, this love is just a taste of what’s to come. It’s just a peek. It’s the appetizer before the main course and the dessert. The depths to which I could love this woman are unfathomable.
I can’t go down this road again.
I’m a selfish, scared creature. I know that. I’m not proud of it. I’m definitely not proud of what I did today, the way I hurt her when she’s already living with so much deep dark pain.
But this is pure self-preservation. To step back from Amethyst now will hurt a lot less than to lose her in the future.
Our future only holds death.
Her death.
Her death, which will impale me, destroy me, ruin me a thousand times more than her mother’s. A death which I will have to live with, just as I’ve had to live with the others. But it might be the death that finally breaks me.
I wouldn’t survive it.
And, as all vampires know, we will do anything to survive.
“Wolf, you selfish prick,” Ezra snarls as he walks into the club, the doors to the house swinging behind him. I look up from the drink I’m nursing—I can’t remember how many I’ve had, but it’s not enough for this. Ezra’s eyes are glowing with anger as he marches over to my chair. “Selfish fucking prick.”
“What?” I ask in a dull voice, though I’m sure this is about Amethyst. She’s probably told everyone everything, and I’m sure they all hate me now. I’ve been down here sitting in the dark and attempting to drink my sorrows away. I don’t know how long I’ve been here for, nor what time it is. Could be hours. Could be the next day.
“What?” he repeats. “What do you mean, what? You just got rid of our bartender. Now I’m going to have to work overtime. So will you!”
“What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Amethyst,” he says impatiently. “She’s quit! She’s moved out. All because you’re a selfish piece of shit.”
I immediately get to my feet, the drink spilling over. “What?! The hell are you talking about, Ezra?”
He looks at me like I’m an idiot, snarling his upper lip. “God, you’ve really lost your fucking mind, haven’t you? You really think you can break her heart at a time like this and she’s just going to stay here and take it? Way to fucking go, asshole.”
I can’t even think. I start for the door, but Ezra moves in front of me, shoving me back. “Too late, fucker,” he snaps at me. “She’s already gone. Packed up her stuff and left. Solon drove her and Lenore to Lenore’s parents. Amethyst is going to stay with them going forward. Seems that she needs to be around humans. Don’t blame her. I’d rather be with a human than be with you, and that’s saying a lot.”
I try to take in what he’s telling me.
What the fuck?
She actually moved out? Now?
That wasn’t what I…that wasn’t what I wanted. I don’t…I told her mother I would look after her and I meant to keep my word, I did.
You fucked up so bad.
Rage and sorrow move through me like a howling beast and suddenly I turn around and pick up my glass, throwing it across the lounge with such force that it actually makes a dent in the wallpaper before smashing to smithereens, refracted light filling the air.
“Fuck, Wolf, get a hold of yourself,” I hear Ezra say, but it’s nearly drowned out by my heart pounding in my head, a steady hot beat that makes the rage inside me grow and grow until I can’t keep it back anymore.
Suddenly the tall bamboo vase full of pampas grass beside me goes up in flames, the fire just coming alive out of thin air. Then a painting on the wall catches fire. Then the rug at my feet, flames leaping forward and coming for my legs.
I don’t even bother to move.
Come get me, I think. Let this end here.
“Holy shit,” Ezra says, and the next thing I know I’m being doused with cold water, from head to toe, like he just dumped an entire bucket over me. Ezra then points at the vase, at the painting, and the fire is put out immediately with the gesture of his hands, water appearing from out of nowhere, just as the flames did.