Page 85 of Protecting His Vampire Mate

But it was a noose that I had put there myself, wasn’t it?

Because, deep down, I wanted to be punished for what I had done. And I hadn’t done it. I never, never would have hurt any of those people. Not if I had been given a choice. I never would have take Teresa’s life from her. Or Phoebe’s. Or any of the other witches or warlocks I had been spelled to kill.

The noose around my neck wasn’t real. I had put it there myself.

But I also knew, with a strange clarity, that I could just let everything go and feed from Michael. I could make it all go away. I could sink my teeth into him and drink from his body until it was cold, and then from Danny, until nothing was left at all of either of them.

Or of me.

If I really let myself give in, I knew that I could live with no guilt, and no shame. And there would be no fear of suddenly one day losing myself. If I just let go of my humanity here and now, if I let myself become the monster that I feared myself to be, there would be no ugliness and no pain. I could just surrender to my darkest impulses and let them burn away everything else, forever.

It would be so easy.

And there was only one single truth remaining: it was my choice.

Tobias stepped forward. The wooden chair he’d been sitting on was a pile of ashes on the ground behind him. Another spell of his, surely. His eyes were wet with unshed tears.

“Bryan, I love you,” he said. “And I know that you aren’t this person. So please, I’m begging you. Don’t be this person. Come back to me. If you won’t try for you, then please do it for me.”

I swallowed, realizing he had just heard everything that was going through my mind. And the idea of hurting him, of leaving him again, forever this time…

It was impossible to fathom.

And I did want to try. I wanted to try for him. But I also wanted to try for me, too.

“Please let him go,” Danny said, something crumpling in his face as Michael gasped for breath, his life resting in the palm of my hand, so easily extinguished. He swallowed hard, gritting his teeth, like the admission cost him something. “I’m in love with him. I have been for a long time. And I can’t live my life without him. So, please, just let him go.”

In that moment, I decided who I wanted to be.

I dropped Michael to the ground and stepped away from him, letting out a strangled sound as something hot and vital wrenched free in my chest.

For the first time in months, I understood. I wasn’t a killer. And I didn’t ever want to be again. But most importantly, I could choose not to be.

Tobias caught me, his arms encircling me protectively, and he pulled me close to him.

I leaned into him, letting out a ragged breath. I didn’t need to breathe, but it was an instinct. Because, even though I was a vampire, I was still more human, even now, than I had let myself believe since waking up from the compulsion.

Michael fell onto his hands and knees, gasping for air.

“Thank you,” Danny said to me. Then he moved to Michael’s side and put a protective arm around him, attempting to pull him up.

Michael shrugged Danny off and then climbed to his feet of his own accord.

I didn’t miss the way that pain flashed for a split second in Danny’s eyes at the rejection. Whatever their relationship was, it was clearly complicated.

Michael stood there for a long time, just staring at me with wide, disbelieving eyes as he sucked in wheezing breaths. No one moved and no one spoke.

Safe in Tobias’s arms, I felt the last of my rage and terror subside. But I still didn’t trust the hunter for an instant.

But then, at last, Michael rubbed his throat, a mingling of surprise and fascination abruptly overtaking his face as he stared at me, motionless in my mate’s arms. “Huh. Well, I’ll be damned. You really are something different, aren’t you?”

CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT || TOBIAS

We left the hunters back at the factory. Michael had been staring at Bryan like he was Christmas morning or something and I didn’t like it one bit. Besides, any longer in his presence and I probably would have punched him in his smug, stupid face. He’d earned it, after everything he and Danny had put us through.

Bryan pulled me into an embrace the moment we stepped over the threshold into the motel room, kicking the door closed with his foot. His arms around me were firm and deliciously strong, but he still seemed somehow vulnerable. Like all he wanted in the world was for me to hold him.

“You scared the crap out of me,” he murmured, his voice rougher than it should have been.

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