Page 24 of Taste of Fate

I squeezed her fingers in a silent, gentle urge to rise out of that awful, traumatic scene. “But Kalix saved your life, didn’t he?”

It worked. Clarity returned to her eyes and a faint smile returned to her lips, but there was still so much sadness there.

“I must have fallen to the ground, because I remember looking up at his face. He looked so worried about me. I remember feeling so embarrassed. No one wants their crush to see them bleeding to death, it’s so undignified.”

A laugh choked out of me. She was definitely back in the present.

“Kal asked me one question. ‘Do you want to live?’ I immediately said yes, or I must have mouthed it because I couldn’t speak. I was so scared. My life hadn’t been great, but I wasn’t ready to die. The last thing I remember before waking up as a brusang was his wrist against my lips and the taste of his blood in my mouth.”

Bea paused there to finish off the rest of her drink, throwing it back and setting it down dramatically. “When I woke up, I was in the Blood ‘til Dawn compound looking like this.” She gestured to her eyes then touched her tongue to one of her fangs, which I realized were a bit shorter than a vampire’s.

“Thank fuck you got through it.” I polished off my beer, then hesitantly asked, “And Kalix?”

“Gone.”

I almost thought she would leave it at that until she said, “Imprisoned by that clan, Carpe Noctem. Blood ‘til Dawn was not the ruling clan at the time, so they didn’t have the power to overrule it. Cyan took me in and made sure I was taken care of. He said that was what Kal wanted.”

“Wait, back up.” I held up a palm. “Imprisoned, why? Because he turned you?”

“That’s my assumption, yes. My old employer would be petty and cruel enough to demand retribution for giving me a second life when he wanted me dead.”

“What the fuck?” I shook my head at the table. “So, he’s imprisoned for how long?”

Bea lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “Vampires don’t take half measures when it comes to these things. Punishments are either executions or imprisonment for life.”

Fuck. No wonder she talked about him like he had already died. As she said, he was simply gone.

“It hit Cyan hard too, he and Kal were close. Aside from telling me the most basic details after I woke up, we’ve never spoken about it.” Bea released a sigh. “I’m glad I talked to you, though. It’s a heavy thing to keep in your mind for twenty years. So, thanks for listening, Tavia.”

“Yeah, of course. I just, wow. That is heavy.” I rubbed my forehead. “It’s hard to imagine how Cyan would react to that kind of loss. He seems so…carefree. I had no idea he’d ever lost anyone.”

“Between you and me.” Bea’s voice lowered. “I think it’s a mask. He adored Kal, so I think he shoves that day far down that he doesn’t have to deal with the pain of it.”

“Was he there? I wonder if he blames himself.”

Bea nodded grimly. “I’m sure there’s an element of self-blame. There certainly is with me.”

“Hey.” I flattened my palms on the table, making sure I had her attention. “I’m really glad you’re here, okay? I would be so lost if you were dead. I’ll never meet Kal, but he sounds amazing. He saved you and I’m so grateful to him because he allowed me to have you as a friend. Live your new life, it is what he wanted. That’s why he gave it to you.”

“I’m usually good about gratitude, positivity, all that shit.” Bea sniffed and delicately wiped her eye. “But I have my moments where I wish I could talk to him for five minutes. Ask him why he did that for me. Or just been able to get to know him, you know? See if there was anything there, or if it was just my crush giving me false hope.”

There was nothing I could say to comfort her, except to commiserate in the fact that those unknowns absolutely sucked. Before I could say anything else, a presence loomed over our table. Thinking it was our waitress, I looked up with my mouth open for another round of drinks.

But it was a different vampire, a male. Someone I didn’t recognize. He was almost certainly not from Blood ‘til Dawn.

“Hi, ladies. How are we doing tonight?” His grin was cocky as he grabbed a nearby chair, turning it around so he could straddle the back of it.

I glanced at Bea, who looked just as perturbed as I felt.

“Can we help you?” Her tone was snitty, a clear signal to buzz off.

Naturally, like with human men, the signal went over this guy’s head.

“Just seeing what you’re up to, seeing if you’re in need of anything more fun than booze.” The moment I realized something was off about this guy, he produced a slim vial with a golden liquid inside and a squeeze dropper top. “You ladies ever tried drae?”

Bea sucked in a sharp breath. “You’re trying to push that here, really? Do you have a death wish or are you just stupid?”

“Come on, little brusang. Don’t act like you don’t miss the sun from your human days.” He turned his gaze to me, and I noticed his red eyes had a tinge of yellow that didn’t look good. It looked like sickness, like something wrong. “And I know you’re human, but give it a shot. You might see beautiful things when the sun comes out. Ever try LSD? I hear it’s like that for your kind.”

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