Page 127 of Filthy Rich Vampires: For Eternity

Faint and racing and precious.

“The baby’s heartbeat,” I muttered, new tears spilling down my cheeks. “How?”

It wasn’t possible. She was only a few weeks along. The child couldn’t have survived her death.

“Your lives are bound,” my mother sounded amazed.

I knew that heartbeat—I’d heard it only this morning but I would never forget that soft whooshing, racing heartbeat. And if I lived and...

Thea gasped for air, her body jolting awake.

CHAPTER FORTY-TWO

THEA

I couldn’t get enough air. I drank down giant gulps of it, my fingers splaying over the bloodspot on my chest. I had died. Again.

Julian, pale with shock, stared at me from the foot of the bed. He didn’t move as our eyes met. The world rushed back to me as my senses flared to life.

The lap of water against the side of the boat.

The salty smell and taste of the ocean.

The buttery light flooding in from the porthole.

“I’ll leave you two,” someone murmured. Out of the corner of my eye, Sabine moved toward the door with a lethal grace. She paused when she reached it, “Or should I say you three?”

My hand shifted lower, eyes widening as I processed what had happened. But if I had died... “Is the baby…?”

My unfinished question snapped him from his stupor. He rose to his feet, nearly filling the small cabin with his massive frame. “Its heartbeat is strong,” he said thickly. His throat bobbed as he took one step toward me. “You were...”

“Dead,” I finished when he couldn’t.

Julian nodded, his gaze never straying from me as if he expected I might vanish if he looked away.

“Dying twice? I’m a regular Buffy.” I tried to make the words sound light, but they were coated in the same heaviness I felt.

Julian blinked. “What’s a buffy?”

“The vampire slayer,” I prompted. His face remained blank, and I tried to smile. “I forget how much pop culture you missed.”

His mouth twisted, a hint of amusement slipping through. “I’m not sure vampire slayers are my thing.”

He made a really good point.

I started to swing my legs over the side of the bed, but he moved in a blur toward me. “You should rest.”

“I feel fine. Great, actually.” Which made absolutely no sense. I stretched my arms over my head as if demonstrating this fact. But even though there was no physical pain, something dark tapped against my mind. Thoughts. Questions. I should ask them, but I didn’t want to, not after emerging from that shrouded oblivion so recently.

Julian’s brows furrowed, watching me intently. Even in his weary state, he was so beautiful. Maybe a little more beautiful on the other side of death. He hesitated, then spoke softly. “Thea, you…died.”

I my eyes from his to a snag on the quilt. “I know,” I said softly. “But it’s too much…”

I can’t.

He nodded, and we both continued to stare.

“You look afraid of me,” I finally said. “Did I miss something?”

---