"Saved your life, you mean? I'm a woman, Kristoff. I tend to be a nurturer. As little as you like me, you certainly can't expect that I'd be so heartless as to let you die when it was within my power to help you."
He frowned, not an uncommon expression for him. "Why do you keep saying that? I thought we had that out months ago."
"Had what out?" I got to my feet, rearranging my dress. My entire body hummed as if it were filled with electricity, the sensation itching along my skin in an oddly pleasant fashion.
"You insist on pretending that I dislike you. I've told you before that that's not true."
"I can't tell you how relieved I am to hear that you don't actively loathe me," I said lightly, not wanting to get into a discussion of our respective emotions. "But I think we both know that you're not exactly yipping for joy that I'm your Beloved."
"No more than you are," he said, his eyes narrowing on me. "You thought you were Alec's Beloved."
An unspoken accusation hung heavily on the air. I turned away, wandering over to the window, pulling aside a gauzy curtain to look out at Vienna. The sun was setting, lights starting to come on up and down the street as people, normal people, hurried to their homes and loved ones. For a moment a yearning so strong it hurt swept through me. I wanted to be one of those people. I wanted the loving husband, and happy children, and a home that radiated happiness and contentment.
But I wasn't normal. With a sigh I let the curtain drop. I wasn't a normal person anymore, and the one man I might be able to love could never give me his heart. "So here we are, bound together for all eternity, you mourning your dead girlfriend, and me having lost Alec because I'm tied to you, not him. Sometimes you have to admit that life really is the pits, but I guess there's nothing we can do about that. I take it you'll be popping in on me for a quick bite to eat whenever you're tired of dieting or drinking animal blood?"
Kristoff was silent for a moment before he rose somewhat unsteadily to his feet. I took a step forward, ready to help him if he needed it, but he kept a firm grip on the back of the chair. The blood was evidently doing its job, because he looked stronger with each passing minute. "You truly do not know what has happened, do you? You fed me, Pia."
"So? You've fed off me before."
His face was carefully devoid of emotion, but he wasn't able to stop it from burning brightly in his eyes. "I told you before that a Dark One can only feed from his Beloved."
"Which is obviously not exactly true, since you've existed without me," I pointed out.
His lips thinned. "That I was able to do so was simply because you had not fed me after the Joining was complete. Now that you have, my body won't tolerate any blood but yours. My existence now depends on you. There will be no popping in on you. From this time forward, we cannot be separated for more than a few days without the direst of repercussions for me."
I stared at him as comprehension dawned in my slow-witted mind, my heart sinking with the knowledge of what I'd just set into motion. "Hell," I said, speaking more literally than figuratively. My life was hell-as hard as it had been to not have contact with Kristoff for the last two months, at least I had managed to have some sort of a semblance of a life. Oh, he haunted my dreams, and I was prone to a strange depression when I wasn't thinking of him, but all that, I was confident, would fade with time. But now... Dear God, how was I to cope with having him in my life every day?
I glanced at him. His gaze was on his hands; he was looking, I thought, at the ring on the middle finger of his left hand. I'd seen it before, but thought nothing of it-it was just a simple silver band, a strange, sinuous design etched on the face of the ring, but with a sudden flash of horror I realized the significance of it-it was a ring marking his commitment to his deceased girlfriend. Not a wedding ring per se, but something so similar as to make little difference.
My shoulders slumped as pain stabbed through my heart, but before I could apologize to him, the door opened and Andreas entered, followed almost immediately by Rowan, Christian, and Sebastian.
"Don't even think of trying to keep me out," Allie said, hurrying in through the door with a glare at Sebastian. "And don't tell me you weren't, because I heard you telling Christian he ought to have better control over me. If there's one thing I hate, it's someone assuming I'm a frail little Beloved who doesn't have a mind of her own."
Sebastian looked somewhat abashed as he said, "I thought you would be tending to your child."
"Oh, please," Allie said with a snort, taking the hand Christian held out to her. "Josef is happily scarfing down the blood squeezed from a steak, and that always makes me a bit queasy to watch. Besides, someone has to keep an eye out for Pia and Kristoff, since you guys are so determined to be blind to the truth and condemn them without the slightest concern whether or not they're guilty."
Sebastian shot Christian an irritated look. "Are you going to tolerate this? Ysabelle would never speak with such brashness to me."
"Get over yourself, Vlad," Allie said with a roll of her eyes.
Christian, to my surprise, defended his wife. "Allegra has always been free to speak her mind, and will continue to do so. I will not have you attempting to control her."
Sebastian looked surprised for a moment at the undertone of threat in Christian's voice before making a cold little bow in his direction. "I would not dream of correcting your Beloved. I simply objected to accusations she felt comfortable flinging at us."
"That sounds like a guilty conscience talking," Allie said.
"This council has always been interested in seeing justice done," Christian said calmly, holding out a chair for his wife. "It will do us no harm to examine our behavior to ensure that it continues to do so."
Sebastian shot him a thin-lipped look.
"You wouldn't know it, but these two are actually very old friends," Allie told me. "As close as brothers, to be honest." Her gaze slid over to where Andreas stood in stony silence, watching Kristoff with suspicious eyes. "Closer, even," she amended.
Christian, who had been eyeing Kristoff, merely said, "You look better. I take it there was no trouble with the feeding?"
"Trouble as in I might have refused to save his life?" I shook my head, confused as to why everyone suddenly thought I had turned into a cold, heartless bitch. "I'm his Beloved. I can't do that, can I?"
"No, of course you can't," Allie answered quickly, elbowing Christian. "It would be impossible. No Beloved in the world would ever torment her man that way. Right, my little love squash?"