Page 13 of Love Heals
"And you were willing to pay any price?" I demanded, my eyes flashing to Crimson.
"Aren't you glad he's gone?"
My mouth dropped open. Partly out of indignity, but partly because I felt… caught. As if Crimson knew about that tiny, tiny seed of treachery in me that I tried so hard to hide away.But no, he couldn’t know about that. It didn’t even really exist. "I'm not a traitor. I'm not like you."
"Only because you've spent far longer under Nicolai's control." Crimson's gaze on me was intense, and there was something like pity in his eyes. I recognized the sentiment immediately. Many of the other vampires used to look at me like that.
"You'll never get it."
"No, maybe not." Crimson sounded sad. "I really am sorry, though. For everyone who got hurt who wasn't Nicolai. There must have been some good vampires in the coven."
I slid my eyes away from him. His apology didn't make anything better and it didn't change my situation, so what was I supposed to do with it? "Nicolai wasn't all bad," I heard myself say before the thought had even fully formed in my brain. "None of the vampires in the basement that night were all bad."
Even without looking at Crimson, I could tell that he didn't agree with me. From the corner of my eyes, I saw him fiddle with his sleeves as he tried to come up with something to say. "I think we may have different definitions of bad," he offered in the end.
I almost laughed. "I don't think either of us really qualifies as judge."
To my surprise, he nodded. "You're probably right about that." He looked at his phone again as if desperate for some sort of distraction from the conversation we were having. I couldn't blame him. I wasn't eager to continue it myself. Really, I had only one thing left to say.
"I'm going to go back to the coven the first chance I get. I need to check up on everyone."
"Are you going to tell them about us?"
"No. You did save me. I owe you that much." I didn't like it, and I hadn't asked for it, but Crimson deserved at least a part of my gratitude all the same. I wouldn't sell him out. I would never even mention that he had saved me in the first place. It was better for everyone if I left and never came back.
I only needed to convince the family to let me go.
