Page 127 of The Ballad of the Vampire Prince

I keep my face straight, waiting for him to close his eyes.

Slowly, he shutters them.

“Ten.”

He begins the countdown. “Nine.”

“Eight.”

His voice begins to waver. “Seven.”

“Six.”

I hear the small hitch in his breath. “Five.”

“Four.”

He looks as if he might actually choke on the next number. It’s cruel to let him continue, so I give him my answer.

“I want you to return me to Windhaven.” My throat tightens as I say those words.

He opens his eyes.

I’ve never killed a person, but this must be what it’s like to take someone’s life. Because that look on his face is like I just brought about an apocalypse to his world.

Part of me hates doing this to him, but I need to set my limit. He can’t push me past this one.

“I also want you to stay with me.” I quickly add because I don’t like hurting him. The simple words bring a seed of light back into his face.

“My freedom or you? You gave me a cruel choice.” I narrow my eyes at him. “Why can’t I have both?”

Silence settles in the room and stretches.

“You freed me from my prison. I thought I’d free you from yours,” he finally says.

I ignore the way my heart clenches in response to the rawness in his voice. At the very core, I know he means well.

“I’m not like the bond. I won’t force you to stay with me if you don’t want to.” His voice thickens like smoke. “But I do want you to be happy. Go on, open your bakery, Nel. Visit the places you want to go, read the books you love to read. Live freely from the things that bind you. I’ll help you get the things you want.”

The beautiful dream he painted plays in my head. My own bakery. An unlimited free time to do whatever I want—to dance, to paint, to travel to any place I wish with someone I adore.

Him.

I swallow the hot coals in my throat and find my voice. “The things you promised me are everything I’ve ever wanted. But I don’t want it.”

“Why?”

I hold my chin high. “Because I didn’t choose it for myself. You set that path for me.”

That must have struck something in him because it renders him speechless.

“I merely offered you a shortcut.” He swallows thickly.

“I need to tread my own course in my journey, in my own time,” I say as firmly as I can.

“What if the current path you want to walk on is dark, dangerous, filled with thorns, barbs, and deceit?”

“You still have to let me walk through it.”

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