slipped out of his grasp and opened the door. I needed fresh air. “I, uh …” I cleared my throat. “You convinced me.”
“Thank you.” He grinned, all smug and sexy and annoying. His confidence as of late had become insanely jarring. Once he knew I was committed to being his, regardless of what he was, he suddenly seemed lighter, not nearly as hard on himself for coming into my world.
“You have got to stop doing that,” I exhaled, then stormed up the stairs to pack since he was insisting we go back to Paris. He wanted to marry me first, but he sure as hell wasn’t making the wait easy, and I resented that he was having a good ol’ time rubbing it in.
* * *
The decision had been made. We’d return to Paris to consult with Arianna and the resistance, to regroup after our unexpected escape from Amaranth and organize an attack against Samira. A carefree elopement would have to be reserved for another day. Soaring in Gavin’s arms, high above the troubled world, had become my new favorite way to fly since Joel first flew me across the Atlantic. Although since that flight, I had to do it sparingly. It was too physically exhausting for a human to travel at that speed over such long distances. Even so, a coach seat on an airplane just wasn’t the same anymore. So, much to Gavin’s disapproval, he took us on the relatively short flight from England back to Paris, and by the time we arrived, the lump in my throat had become permanently lodged there. The last time, Arianna threw us out of her apartment when she learned why Joel was in Amaranth in the first place: to save me. And here I was, once again hand in hand with Gavin, standing at her door.
Music blared in the background, some French new wave music I didn’t recognize but could tell it was my new favorite. Her gorgeous face appeared at the door and I gazed up at her, hoping my eyes said it all. I tucked my mousy brown hair behind my ear and swallowed.
One hand holding a drink tray, she sighed, her eyes on her drink in her other hand. She took a swig of it, sloppy like an old sailor. She didn’t look so hot. “I don’t hate you,” she said in a sulk, opened the door farther to invite us in. “I’m just heartbroken.”
“I understand. And I’m deeply, deeply sorry for your loss.” Looking down, I played with my coat buttons. My special coat. In Paris, with me on my adventurous travels yet again.
“Thanks.” When I heard her and looked up, she finally made eye contact with me.
“Did you invite the whole neighborhood?” Gavin asked, observing the handful of vampires that were packed into her apartment, drinking and talking, grouped together in clusters like high school cliques. I wanted to ask Arianna if we were really okay, but when Gavin changed the subject, I decided to take advantage of it and wait.
“Not the whole neighborhood, as you say. They are the strongest,” Arianna replied, waving her drink in their direction, “the ones I trust the most. You’ll have their full attention, don’t worry. But first,” she set down the drink tray, “I’m stealing Camille for a minute.”
Crap.
She led me to the kitchen and leaned up against the counter, took a second before she spoke. “There’s something I want to tell you.”
“Okay …”
“When I first met you, last time you were here, I mentioned that I never saw Joel again after my father forced me to leave Amaranth. Well … that happened over a century ago.”
I tucked my hands inside my coat pockets and nodded.
“You see, before Father took me away, Joel lived as a vampire on earth and would come visit me in Amaranth. My mother allowed him visitation rights because his mother, Marie, was her servant—that’s how I met him in the first place, he’d come to visit his mom. But even after Father brought me to earth, I did see Joel again. It’s just hard to talk about. To be honest … I like to pretend it never happened. I’m not sure what Gavin has told you, but I was born human, and was eighteen when Father took me away: when he sent me to live with Gavin and his family. Earth was brand-new to me. Complete culture shock. At first, Joel and I ended things because we couldn’t agree on how to handle our