ears, “Beethoven’s Moonlight Sonata.” My heart leaped at the sound of my favorite piece.
There Gavin sat, perched at the grand piano in the corner, his back to me as he played. I eyed his apparel, the same black suit he’d worn the night of our ill-fated date.
I allowed my feet to slide me toward where he sat, my eyes glued to the keys as fingers moved over them. When I neared the side of the bench, he didn’t acknowledge my presence, didn’t even move, but instead concluded the sonata. I walked to the enormous window that sat next to the piano and stared off into the night, and my hair blew against the side of my face as his feet lifted from the floor and flew next to me in a soft flash.
“You knew I was coming.” I didn’t look at him.
“Yes. Audrey said you might come tonight.”
“Figures.”
“I hate for you to see me like this.”
At once I turned my eyes to his. The moon’s grim hue shone on his pale, already luminous skin, his eyes darker than normal, yet not quite the dead black I’d seen the night of my attack. There was a heavy sadness in them, an apology lurking behind the irises.
“I would have seen you like this at some point,” I said. “It’s about time I see you as you are.”
“Not telling you is inexcusable,” he agreed, his sharp fangs revealing themselves from behind his lips as he spoke. At first sight, it was hard to look away. “I know that all of this is a lot to process.”
“It alters my entire reality,” I replied, letting my lingering hurt show. He looked down, tucked his hands in his pockets. “I just have to know one thing.”
“One thing?”
“What did you expect to happen? I mean, even if Andrew never came for me. If that whole night never happened. I would have found out, or you would’ve had to tell me anyway.” I pried my eyes away from his teeth and back to his eyes, awaited his response. He began to speak but paused; the room filled with silence. “You planned on keeping it from me indefinitely, didn’t you.”
“No.”
“So, what? You were just going to wait around until I accidentally stumbled over to your house after midnight to find you like this?”
“Camille, no. Nothing like that.” He ran his hand across his forehead and through his hair. “There’s so much you don’t know, there’s so much to explain.” He sighed heavily, turned to stare out the window.
I straightened my posture and folded my arms, furrowed my brows. “So explain.”
“I can promise you, I honestly never expected you to find out this way. Not in a million years. I had no idea you were seeing Andrew. That he was the one you were trying to get away from.”
“Audrey told me. She said you and Gabe were forced to tell me the truth because of the attack. I can’t even fathom how you honestly thought you could keep it from me in the first place.”
“I wasn’t planning on it being part of the equation. That’s how I thought it would be possible.”
I bit my lip and began to fidget, distracted by his fangs. “What are you talking about?”
“Look. I know this entire thing is insane to you, but I was hoping I wouldn’t be what I am … for much longer.”
“By going to see Samira?”
He jutted his head backward. “You know about Samira?”
“You forget that your best friend is now in love with the nosiest vampire in the world. When she dishes details, she doesn’t leave anything out.”
“Oh, right,” he started to chuckle but stopped himself. “Well, yes, that’s a part of it. I planned on leaving with Gabe for a while and then coming back—”
“But you still willingly got involved with me before you even knew for sure that this creator of yours could grant your request. To make matters worse, you set another vampire up with my best friend, my only family. You’re responsible for what’s happened to Audrey, too. She’ll never be the same because of you.” My voice grew shaky and I stepped farther away from him, wrapped my arms tight around my body.
“I know I don’t deserve it,” he said, his voice rough, “but please listen. Lying to you is the most selfish thing I’ve ever done, in all of my existence. I have no other defense than I had to know you. I felt like I would regret it for the duration of my