Page 94 of As Darkness Fall
There was an empty pack on the table as well. Despite that, Aaron still looked rough. His feet and legs were mostly blackened, and his fingers were only just now beginning to regain some color.
“I long ago stopped caring about where my blood came from, as long as I can get it,” he said. “The younger vampires only kill because they are wilder and often not restrained by someone older and wiser. Most of us are not murderers but rather beings who would prefer to go about our lives peacefully. Much like the humans we used to be. Unfortunately, that doesn’t apply toallof us.”
“Yeah,” I said. “Same-same. We all have our faults. Including those who prefer death and mayhem.”
A silence stretched between us as I stood near his bed. But not too near. For all my sudden need to check on him, I was still keeping some distance.
“Thank you,” I said. “For what you did. For helping. You nearly died for my parents.”
Aaron smiled at me, a sad thing. “I signed a contract. I honor my contracts.”
“So noble of you,” I said, smiling at him as well. I forced myself to reach out, to take the hand nearest me that was now nearly back to being its perfectly pale self. I didn’t speak. Just let my hand rest there. Proving to both of us that I would get over my initial reaction to seeing his vampire side for the first time.
Aaron frowned. It wasn’t the look I’d expected. He glanced down at his hand and pulled it away from me.
“What is it?” I asked, wondering what I’d done wrong.
“That hurt,” he said, and I gasped as I saw the top of his hand.
It was all red. With the outline of my fingers easily visible.
“What the hell?” I said, looking at my palm. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to–I’m so sorry. I didn’t–”
“It wasn’t your fault,” Aaron said, shaking his head.
“What? But those are my fingers? You can see the outlines,” I said.
“I know,” he said.
“How did it happen? I don’t get it.”
Aaron smiled up at me, a facade of happiness covering profound sadness. My heart nearly broke just looking at it.
“Love,” he said quietly.
I stared at him for a long time. “I’m sorry,” I said, feeling bad. “You’re intriguing, and you promise a very good time in bed, but I’m not in love with you, Aaron. Not yet.”
“Not ever,” he corrected, looking at his hand, the marks starting to fade.
“What do you mean?” I was growing more confused instead of less.
“It means that you care for another,” he said quietly. “That’s why your touch burns. If it were fully realized, I might very well have burst into flames. True love is…powerful like that. My kind cannot bear it. It makes those who are truly in love impossible for us to feed off of.”
“Oh.” I didn’t know what else to say. “I’m sorry.”
Aaron shrugged. “I never had a claim on you.”
“No, I guess not,” I said, wrestling with the implications of this.
If I wasn’t falling for Aaron, and I certainly hadn’t fallen for Johnathan, then there was only one person it could be. Not even a person.
“You should talk to him,” Aaron said quietly. “He’s just as unsure about this as you are.”
I snorted. “I don’t believe that.”
Aaron smiled up at me. “Think about it, Dani. He’s an immortal being. Who has never loved, or even felt love, before. He’s been alone his entire life. Now, he’s been told that he’s mated to a mortal. At last, he gets to feel, and yet, to him, your life will be a fleeting thing, a blink of his eye at best. For the rest of his life, he will have to deal with your loss.”
That was a very good point and one I hadn’t truly considered. Not from Vir’s side, at least.
