idea. She didn’t want to know, and she declined it each time. The only blood she wanted was Gunner’s.
Maybe it was stupid to reject it; her hunger grew with each day, her body growing weaker, but she couldn’t make herself drink it. And her ability to go without this long was proof that she’d finally flushed Azel out of her system.
What she craved most, though, was Gunner—his arms around her, his scent, his rough, deep voice soothing her, calling her “love,” just talking to him. Being near him. Everything. She missed everything about him.
She missed him so much it actually caused her pain. Who knew that was possible? And the longer she was away from him, the deeper was her…despair.
In her condition, and with how strong Ronan was, if he chose to keep her hidden from Gunner, he would never find her. She would be lost to him forever.
Azel would never let her out of his sight ever again.
So when Ronan began his questions, the same ones he asked every morning—going over what she’d told him the first day she was brought there—it was a struggle to lift her head. Four days without feeding, plus a broken heart—because that’s what this had to be—all she could do was snap out her answers.
“You’re agitated this morning? Why?” Ronan asked, that same expressionless look on his face, the robotic voice.
Luna made herself sit up. “Because I’m sad and I’m scared,” she said, telling him the truth.
“Why?”
“I miss Gunner so much I hurt. I’m scared I’ll never see him again, and I’m terrified that Azel will show up at any moment and lock me away all over again.”
“You truly believe he treated you badly?”
She rubbed her hands over her face, then looked up at him. “I know he did. He treated me…and you, like property. Like weapons. Like playthings. That’s not right, Ronan.” Why was he doing this, asking her the same questions every day? Dare she hope he was having doubts about all of it?
Something moved through his gaze, something other than indifference. Confusion yes, but also something else. Unease? Doubt? Could it be?
“Azel killed our mother for our powers. How can you be loyal to that monster?”
“Like I said, I have no recollection of that. You could be lying,” he said without heat or accusation.
“Why would I lie about it?” It took everything in her to keep her voice from trembling.
He slid his hands into the pockets of his trousers. “Because you want to be reunited with the knight.”
“I’m not lying. It’s the truth.” She stood and moved closer.
Ronan looked so different now, his face was more angular, harder than the boy she remembered. His gaze used to be warm. She’d only been little, but now she remembered the way her brother used to smile at her, the way they’d played. He’d been older, and she’d struggled to recall their time as a family before she regained her emotions. It was all coming back, so many memories. “Do you remember her?” Luna asked, looking up at him.
His gaze grew distant. “Not really. She had black hair like you and me, didn’t she?”
Luna swallowed as emotion tried to clog her throat. She fought it back. “Yeah, she did. She used to smile and laugh all the time. I remember that much. She’d read us stories before bed, funny ones that would make us laugh.”
Ronan blinked, confusion in his gaze.
Didn’t he know?
“Dhampir aren’t born emotionless. Only the ones who’ve had the bond with their mothers severed lose their emotions. You felt it once, like I did before Azel killed her and took us.”
His shoulders stiffened. “How is that possible?”
“You don’t know our histories?”
He shook his head slowly. The “only what Azel told me” went unspoken. She’d managed to learn a little about their kind during that time, but Ronan obviously hadn’t.
She motioned to the chair, and he thankfully sat. She took that as a good sign. For now, he was willing to listen. Maybe then he’d look into it as well, and he’d see for himself she was telling the truth.
Luna sat on the bed, crossed her legs, and tried to stay calm, to speak only facts. The last thing she needed was him accusing her of being overly emotional again and disregarding everything she said, or leaving without hearing it.
“Dhampir are born with emotions like any other being, but they need their human mothers and the bond they share to remain unbroken until they reach adulthood. If it’s severed, like ours was,