Page 262 of Of Sins and Sacrifice

“How did you know?” he asks. “I do find myself rather speechless. I didn’t know it was your supernatural charms…” His lips curve up.

It takes me a moment to realize he’s making fun of me.

“Mine!”

“I’m more in love with you today than ever before. Is that better?” he asks with a wiggle of his brows.

I huff aloud, though the words please me immensely. And to show him how magnanimous I am, I roll my sleeves up my arms and go behind him to wash his hair.

He leans into my touch, sighing as my fingers massage his scalp.

His eyes are closed, and he hums a low melody.

I smile as I lean forward and press a kiss to his forehead.

His eyes snap open, his irises a light green that sparkles with intensity. He suddenly grabs one of my hands and holds me in place.

“How long will you stay in Anthropa this time?” His voice is no longer playful.

“I don’t know,” I answer truthfully. “I will do my best to stay as long as possible.”

He’s quiet. Wrenching himself from me, he turns around in the small tub so he’s facing me.

“Will you stay with me until my last days?” he asks quietly.

My brows furrow in confusion.

“What do you mean your last days?”

A sad smile touches his lips. “I am still ill, Minnie. Though your blood can heal the immediate manifestations of the disease, it cannot cure me. Now more than ever it is slowly festering inside of me.”

“W-what?” I mutter in shock.

“It is the truth. I don’t know how much longer I have left.”

“Don’t say that!” I cry out. “Don’t even think it, Mine. I’m warning you.”

“It is not up to you, or me, though I am thankful I lasted this long so I could meet you.”

“You’re not dying! I am not going to allow you to die, Mine. You hear me?”

“I hear you, Minnie,” he replies softly. “But if it happens… Will you stay with me for the time I have left?”

“I would never leave you willingly.”

“Good.” He nods, then resumes his bath as if nothing happened, as if he didn’t just stab a dagger through my heart with his words.

He finishes washing and dries himself before putting on the clean clothes.

Though still troubled by the notion of him dying—no, he willnotdie. But the fact that he believes he will… It makes me wonder if he told me everything about his illness. If he omitted some information.

As I ponder how to approach the situation and learn more about his condition—it is the only way I can find a way to help him—I realize this is not the best time to open the discussion again.

He’s tired and in pain. Who knows what type of torture he experienced at the hands of those nasty Nazis? In Aperion, enemies are pushed to the brink of death if they are captured. I can only assume humans do the same in times of war.

Closing my eyes, I mentally search some of the venues I’ve been to in Anthropa and find a high-end hotel with good food. This is technically stealing, but what’s one more rule broken?

Mine audibly gasps when he notices an array of fine foods appear in front of him.

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