Fanged Love - Kylie Gilmore Page 0,67
they live forever too?”
“If he turns them, sure.”
I look down. My entire family and me, vampires. How would that work? Would we all have to sleep in coffins? Would Eliza and Mabel still want to bake? Wait. No more eating and enjoying their famous chocolate chip cookies? No. I can’t ask them to follow me into the unknown supernatural world. I’m not even sure I want to be there. “So, reality is, I’d have to watch my family and everyone I know die of old age, while I’m left behind never to have a family of my own. Is that the gist of it?”
“Yes, but—”
I stand. “I’ve heard enough. I’m sorry, Neli, but I can’t take your place. He’ll need to find another mate.”
I hurry back inside, ignoring her frantic pleas. “Wait! Stella! There is no other mate. It’s only you!”
I duck back inside the exhibition hall and then keep going out the door, racing to the ladies’ room. I need a moment to pull it together.
I turn the sink on and splash cold water on my face, my charm bracelet jangling with the movement. I stare at it and then frantically undo the clasp and throw it in the garbage. He put some kind of spell over me with this thing, and I refuse to be drawn in anymore.
I’ll forget Boz, even if it kills me to lose the only man I’ve ever had these kinds of feelings for. That is, until I discovered he’s a vampire. My stomach churns. This is awful. I thought our connection was straight out of a fairy tale. He was even a prince!
Now I know the horrific truth—he’s a prince of the night.
CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
Boz
“What do you mean ‘Stella left’?” I clench my fists, having just woken from a very restless slumber. Things had gone so poorly with Stella last night that I could not stop replaying the entire scene in my mind. One moment, we were in the throes of ecstasy, the likes of which I have never known with any woman, and the next, I was taking a vampire hunter’s life. The horror on Stella’s face made me see the evil monster I am.
Or was? The truth is, I do not know who I am anymore. Killing people used to be so much fun. But now I find myself wanting to enjoy life in other ways. For example, helping Stella’s family. Knowing I can bring that kind of joy to Stella’s existence has lit a satisfying warmth deep inside me. Is it because she is my mate? Is it because when I am near her, my heart beats anew? I am unsure, but I suddenly have the desire to commit acts of goodness.
I never want Stella to look at me like she did last night. I want to be the sort of bloodthirsty, dangerous, supremely handsome, well-endowed, and highly intelligent vampire who can make her feel loved. I want her to feel safe.
And now she is gone!
Neli stares down at her heels in her elegant black satin woman-suit. The crowd files past us, dressed to the nines for the cocktail reception and awards ceremony.
Once inside the large open modern space, I notice the floor-to-ceiling windows Neli warned me about are blocked by large black panels. The floor is black, and the lights overhead are dimmed. The result is a comfortable ambiance that reminds me of the last rays of sunset. They’ve cleared most of the space for the mingling humans, leaving only a few tables to the edges of the room for the judges’ panel. The ball tomorrow night will be in another venue, which I am no longer looking forward to. My Stella is gone. I was meant to win her over in a romantic dance while I whispered sweetness in her ear.
“I’m sorry, Boz,” Neli says sheepishly, likely noting I am stewing. “I really am. I tried to talk Stella through everything, but she’s in shock.”
“Sorry? Do you think sorry is good enough? You lost my mate,” I growl.
Neli’s head whips up, her green eyes tearing and shooting poison arrows. “Do you think I wanted that? Do you? I’m the one who’ll have to listen to you whine and moan for the next eight hundred years because you decided to kill some idiot vampire hunter right in front of her. But yeah. It’s all my fault.” She whisks away a stray tear and sighs. “I wanted this more than you did.”
I note the pain in Neli’s gaze and realize that