Page 52 of Married to the Vampire Prince

I swallowed hard. Of course, it made sense that if Silas had taken on forty men, one had managed to slip through his defenses and injure him.

“Vampires have accelerated healing. Will he be okay?” I couldn’t hide my worry.

“Eventually, yes,” one of the men said. “But he needs time and rest.”

“I will stay with him and take care of the wound,” I decided.

The men nodded. “If you need any further help, call someone.”

“I will,” I said.

The men left. After a few minutes someone came in with fresh cloth and bandages to show me how to properly dress my husband’s wound. From then on, I spent hours sitting next to him, changing his bandages and cleaning him up.

At some point I felt Silas’ start to burn up. He had a fever; his body was trying to fight off the poison.

I changed his clothes and the damp cloth on his temple.

The soldiers brought me food, but I only nibbled on it, not really having an appetite. I was too worried about Silas to care about food.

I fell asleep next to him and later woke up to the sound of him mumbling something under his breath.

“Grace, Grace,” he called for me.

My heart clenched. “I’m here.” I grabbed and squeezed his hand.

“Grace, Grace,” he continued calling.

Silas couldn’t hear me.

Tears welled up in my eyes. I let them flow freely down my cheeks. I laid down next to him and placed a kiss on his temple. I couldn’t deny my feelings anymore.

I cared for my husband, more than I wanted to admit.

No, now wasn’t the time to hold back, not anymore. I had to face the truth. No matter who my husband really was – a kind man or a dangerous killer – it didn’t really matter. He could be both, but I would care for all of him, always.

I loved Silas.

“Please come back to me,” I whispered, sobbing.

“Grace,” he continued calling to me. “I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize about,” I shook my head. “I was the one who was wrong. I’m sorry that I called you a monster. You’re not a monster. You’re just Silas, my husband. I love you for who you are; a complex, caring person.”

“Grace,” Silas called to me again. “I’m sorry.”

“No, I’m sorry, Silas. I love you. I really do. Come back to me,” I chanted.

How could I have been so stupid and pushed away this wonderful man? Regardless of his actions in battles past or present, he had been nothing but affectionate towards me. So what if he was much older than I was? So what if we weredifferent species? True, our differences made understanding him difficult for me, but had I even given him a chance to explain himself yet? No, I had not.

Instead, I had pushed him away without considering his feelings.

What if he never recovered from this illness that burned his body? What if he died? I didn’t know if it was possible for a vampire to die from oak wood poisoning. The soldiers had claimed it wasn’t, but what if Silas ended up being the first one in centuries to do so?

No, I had to trust that he would be okay. He wouldn’t leave me behind, right?

I didn’t want to live without him. I loved him too much to imagine a life without him in it; no more of his rare smiles, his looks of lust during our lovemaking, his thoughtful gazes whenever he gave me his full attention while speaking to me.

When we had first met, I had been a nobody. I’d had no one to care for besides my parents. I had drifted through life without really living.

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