Chapter Four
~Victor~
I stared across the table at Claire, unable to believe that I was seeing her again. That we were home.
Except…we weren’t home. And she wasn’t really here.
Was I dreaming? I couldn’t recall dreaming since I’d sank into my torpor. Perhaps this was a memory that was working its way back to me from the depths of my soul.
“Victor? Darling, whatever is the matter?” Claire asked, her gaze concerned as it raked over my face. “You look as if you’ve seen a ghost.”
“I feel as though I have,” I admitted sadly. “I miss you so much. Even after all this time, my ache for you consumes me.”
“I’m right here,” she insisted. “I’ve never left you. I could never leave you. We are a part of each other.”
“We should be,” I agreed. “Had I made you mine, I could have protected you. I thought that by turning you I was keeping you safe. But I made you a target instead. You’re gone…and it’s all my fault.”
“No.” Claire stood and seemed to float around the table toward me, her hand reaching out to gently stroke her delicate fingers over my jaw, small jolts of electricity bouncing over our skin where it connected. “It was my duty to protect you. Always.”
Her face lowered toward mine and just before our lips could touch, her body burst into flame, skin crackling and turning to ash before my eyes, the embers raining gently down around me. Leaving me once again cold, alone and heartbroken.