Page 25 of My Blood Is Yours

“Much more.”

Her eyes widened again, darting between each of mine as if they would reveal the answers. I heave a sigh, trying to exhale my trepidation. “Because you are mortal, when we fulfill the bond, my blood and my venom will cause your body to shift… from then on, your life will be tied to mine. You will live an immortal life alongside me, you will need blood to survive, you will even grow fangs similar to mine, and perhaps experience other shifts, though we cannot be sure which precisely.”

Her lips part in shock. Silence descends between us, and with each passing fraction of a second, my fear grows more immense.

“Wow…”

Oh, fuck.

“Is this something you are opposed to?”

She shakes her head with certainty, easing some of my fear. “No… I just… It’s a lot.”

Akash almighty.It really is. And we’re only halfway through.

“There are a few other things to take into consideration as well.”

Her delicate brows leap yet again before she chuckles, and a wistful grin dances across her face. “How extraordinary… Even though Iknewyou in my soul, even if only in my dreams, I would never in a million years have fathomed such things for myself. I think I only ever imagined being stuck with Forsythe, serving him in all ways, until I grew old and he grew tired of me.”

Dark satisfaction rises in me. “Now we will grow old together, in many years’ time, and Forsythe will soon be dead.”

Like her thoughts, Elowen’s eyes drift for several moments, not looking nearly as excited as I’d hoped before she breaks the silence. “What else do I need to know?”

“Well, first and foremost, because my parents are the Archdaemons, and they are already nearly a thousand years old, they are more than ready to step down from their thrones. And because my brother isn’t here…”

“They expect you to take their place.”

I nod.

“Which means that what? I will have to become a... Archdaemoness?”

My unease is obvious as I nod again.

“Anything else?”

“I’m afraid so.”

She blows out a breath. “Jesus. Well, let’s hear it.”

“They will expect you to provide an heir unless we find my brother.”

Elowen’s expression, for the first time, is unreadable. Flat. My anxiety returns. “Well then… I suppose we’ll just have to find your brother.”

I’m not entirely sure which of the myriad changes forced upon her I’d have preferred her to be resistant towards, but bearing my children certainly wouldn’t be it. I will be a happy and fulfilled husband to Elowen regardless of children, but I can’t help the sadness welling in my chest like a sad little puddle.

“You do not wish to have children? Ever?”

Her own sadness is palpable as she studies me with forlorn eyes.

“I fear they would have my mother’s illness.”

I do not think your mother was ill, Elowen. I think Forsythe lied to you.But these are things I cannot yet say. So instead, I speak another truth.

“No, they would be immortal. Like us.”

“Her illness was not merely of the body, but the mind. I would not wish it upon anyone. I sometimes have feared that I possess it myself, though meeting you has dispelled much of that fear—since it has been proven that you were not merely a figment of my imagination.”

Just as I’m about to ask more about her mother’s ‘symptoms’, I hear the squeak of a metal door far down the corridor leading to my cell and the soft clicking of booted heels, followed by a whiff of Forsythe’s scent mixed with a cocktail of other chemical scents that make my skin crawl.

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