Page 55 of King of the Damned
Brisk evening air dances over my body as I roll onto my back and sigh. I slept so well, with my dreams draped in…contentment.
When I stretch my arms, the curve of my neck aches and the memories come rushing back to me. The pleasure, the blood, the way Kaius worshiped the most sensitive parts of my body just as much as he worshiped the rest. I sit up with a satisfied groan and clutch the sheets to my chest as I rub the remaining sleep out of my eyes.
My back stiffens when I feel a cold finger trace down my spine. I turn and find Kaius still with me, his lower half covered by the same thin sheet and his naked torso on display. He is a beautiful man, with a thousand years of memories carved into his flesh. Scars where he’s been stabbed with wooden stakes litter his chest and abdomen. I reach out to feel them. He does not seem ashamed of these scars as I am of mine. His fingers fold around mine and he squeezes them lightly.
“How are you feeling?” he asks, before his eyes lock on the marks on my neck. He gulps, but sheepishly smiles. “Forgive me…I lost myself in you. In your body. In your blood.” The veins around his eyes darken as he remembers the taste. “You are invigorating.” He pulls me easily on top of him, throwing the covers away so he can see all of me. My center quivers at his nearness.
“Can I ask you something?” I prompt. He nods. My cheeks reveal my embarrassment. “Is there a risk?” I ask, and then sigh as I elaborate. “Iphigenia told me that vampires can’t reproduce. Was she telling the truth?”
His jaw hardens for a fraction of a moment, and then he nods. “Malevampires cannot reproduce. Female vampires can get pregnant by humans and even give birth, but the babes never survive infancy. They die slowly of starvation as they don’t have fangs and their mothers do not produce milk.”
“That’s awful.”
“Yes it is,” he agrees. “But I am glad for it all the same. I would not wish this life on anyone–certainly not a child. If there were a way for me to enforce the cessation of transformations entirely, I would.” He looks away from me and frowns. “To know that I am responsible for ruining so many lives with this curse is a burden I bear every day.” His eyes meet mine and he pushes my messy hair away from my face to cup my cheeks. “Do you want to be a mother, Adelasia? Do not lie to me.”
My mouth falls open slightly. “I…I’m not sure. I’ve never considered a future outside of dance. I know maybe it’s not realistic to believe I could do it forever, but I did.” I shrug. “I suppose that probably sounds pathetic to someone who has lived as many lifetimes as you.”
“No,” he says firmly. “It’s not pathetic to be passionate about something you love. I envy you–I wish I had spent all these lifetimes being passionate about anything other than revenge. Perhaps I wouldn’t have been so lonely.”
“But you’re not lonely anymore,” I whisper, leaning in to press my lips to his. “You have me. Forever. I’m yours.”
He furrows his brow as if in pain and turns his face from me slightly. I suddenly feel dejected as all the intimacy dissipates from the room. “You can’t say things like that to me,” he growls. “You know as well as I do that we do not have forever, nor could you possibly understand such a commitment.”
Hoping to reason with him, I say, “Maybe you’re right, I can’t understand forever because I’ve only lived a small fraction of a life where you have lived many. But even if our forever is limited, isn’t that enough? Aren’tIenough?”
“Of course you are,” he whines. He pulls me down slightly so our foreheads are pressed together. “But Adelasia, for me, forever without you issomuch longer than forever with you.”
“What if there was a way–”
“There’s not.”
“But–”
“There is not,” he repeats.
I open my mouth to protest but shut it quickly. His eyes are closed as if in deep thought, and I can’t help it when the next sentence falls from my lips.
“You could turn me into a vampire,” I whisper.
Instantly, his body goes rigid and his eyes open with deep red fury. His loving embrace is gone and he practically shoves me off of his lap.
“That is out of the question!” he growls as he stands, using magic to clothe us both, me in my thin gown and him in his trousers. “I will not change you and I will hear no more suggestion of it.”
“But–”
He approaches me with his unnatural speed and covers my mouth with his cold hand. He’s furious–so furious he’s shaking. “Do not dare to say those words again. Ever. The answer is no. It will always be no.”
A bitterness seeps into my bones, an equal retaliation against his anger. As soon as he releases my mouth, I spit, “So I can give you my body, but surrendering my heart is too much?” I pull the invisible knife out of my chest and plunge it into his. “You’re beginning to sound like Yekaterina.”
“What did you just say to me?” he challenges, daring me to repeat myself. I scoff when he holds my neck, trying to threaten me, but his fingers only give the lightest of pressure. It’s as if he knows I’m right, and he hates himself for it. “You don’t understand–”
“I understand perfectly!” I shout. Kaius and I both stumble when the palace unexpectedly shudders at my voice, the delicate chandelier above the bed losing a few crystals as a result. I gulp and take a deep breath, and we resume scowling at each other. “I understand perfectly. Everything about you Kaius–you are predictable to a fault. I’m beginning to wonder if it wasyouwho took advantage of the Priestesses all those years ago and that’s why you were cursed. You treat my heart like a child’s toy that they can drop and pick up as they please. Everything we do together is on your terms. I can’t even trust a word you say unless you swear your life on it!”
He pauses, the color draining from his face as he drops to his knees. The energy shifts completely and he stares blankly at the room in front of him. He sags his head and shoulders in defeat. “I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m sorry. But I cannot change you, Adelasia. Please don’t ask it of me.”
I close my eyes and sigh before kneeling next to him, running my fingers along his jaw. “Kai, are you afraid that I’ll hate being immortal like you? Or are you scared that I won’t?”
“Neither,” he says, finally meeting my eyes. “It has nothing to do with immortality at all.”
