Page 57 of The Vampire Oracle

He shook his head. “The Revelations came as a curse; it brought us from the dark. I want to go back to the dark. I never meant for this to happen.”

I wasn’t sure whether to believe him just yet, but I trusted Kier.

After our conversation, Theron left and then we left shortly after. Half of the car ride home was silent.

“When do you come back?” I asked, eyes on the road ahead. I had been trying to think of what to say and if he wanted me to say anything.

“I’ll be at your test,” he said.

He would be gone for a few days, but even that made my chest ache. I didn’t think I would ever miss Kier, but today I was.

“Are you…” I started, trying to stop myself. He didn’t care about me, right? But he gave me a home for me and Cozen. “going to be alright?”

I could see his head moving to glance at me.

“Or are you going to come back hurt again?”

Kier let out a sigh. “I’ll be fine, you worry about your test. I want you to pass.”

I scoffed. “I want you to live.” The words came out so fast, I couldn’t stop it.

“Wow, Ashbourne.”

A noise escaped. We can never just have a good moment.

“I didn’t think you would have feelings for me.”

“I don’t,” I deadpanned.

“Then I could die and you won’t notice the difference.”

My mouth clamped shut as I stared at him. Did he really think that I would be okay without him? There was still so much to learn from him and still so many pranks and jokes I wanted to tell him. I wanted him to watch me pass this test.

Everyone was working hard to teach me, and if he died, it kind of felt like it was for nothing. He and I had a mission.

His dark eyes glanced at me. “I’ll be okay.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” I muttered as the SUV pulled up to the home. As soon as the car was parked in the garage, I got out and went inside. Some of my men were in the living room, but I just waved and went upstairs.

“What did you do to her?” I heard Osiris say as I closed my bedroom door. My eyes stung with tears, but I couldn’t figure out exactly why. Everything felt like it was more at stake and a lot could go wrong with him gone. Or would I just miss him?

I never noticed before that I’d miss him, but I knew I felt it. Cozen just left, and he left on bad terms. Now Kier was leaving, and it wasn’t on good terms either.

I slid the dress from my body, kicking off the boots. All my knives clattered to the ground, though I would at least get to use them on Kier, not Theron.

Running bath water, I poured bubbles and dropped a watermelon bath bomb into it. I glanced at myself in the mirrors, taking in my long chestnut curls. My bare body was covered with tattoos, even the skin on my fake arm. Various tattoos ran over my body. Reaching up, I pressed a few buttons on my right arm, and it changed to the black mechanical one.

That was a design feature that Cozen thought of. I wanted to blend in.

I sink into the water, sighing at the glorious heat. I didn’t miss running out of hot water.

But I always made do.

My men helped me out a lot. Beck, Abel, and Briar.

But I knew Osiris and Kier wanted me.

And I them, though I wasn’t really able to spend too much time with Osiris just yet.

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