Page 40 of Watch Me Turn
The weight of it is too much to bear.
I drop to my knees and land on one of the plush Persian rugs that line her room. And with tears streaking my cheeks, I grasp at her feet and kiss them.
"Whatever it takes," I say in between wet sobs. "Whatever you need, I'll do it."
"It's not that simple."
"It is. I swear it is. No more independent jobs. No more going rogue. I'll stay here. I'll clean cars again. I'll run errands. I'll do everything in my power until you forgive me. Even if it takes decades."
"I know what you did, Sophia."
I freeze. My mouth hovering above her toes, a thin line of bloody saliva connecting my lip to her skin.
How could she know? Did she feel it? The moment my blood flowed into Angel and made him whole again?
I back away from her feet and rest on my haunches. Even though she's only five feet tall, she looms over me.
"I know what you did," she repeats, harsher this time.
I swallow. "What do you?—"
"Our bloodline has been tainted because of you," La Madre says, her voice shaking with rage. "Nearly one thousand years of keeping this magic sacred, keeping it within our sisterhood,keeping it away from men who would use it as a weapon—and you gave it away for a man you barely knew."
Fuck.
"I was trying to save him.” I stamer. “He was dying. I... I took an oath. I swore to protect and defend and..."
"That's not why you did it, Sophia." She's matter-of-fact. "A sacrifice like that only comes from a place of love."
I open my mouth to speak, but no sound comes out. All I can do is sob.
"Sophia, am I right?"
I nod.
She grimaces. "I thought so. Nothing good ever comes from men. No such love is worth that kind of sacrifice."
"You don't know him," I croak. "You don't see what I see. There's something in him. Something fierce. Something passionate and kind."
"I don't care to." La Madre walks over to her antique desk, her back to me. "What's done is done. That man carries our magic in his veins now. He's bonded to you forever. And Lazaro—" She turns back to face me. "Lazaro knew exactly what he was doing."
"What do you mean?"
"He manipulated you, Sophia. He set the entire thing up. Can't you see it?" Her eyes bore into mine. "He knew I would refuse. I just didn’t think that one of my own girls would be gullible enough to fall for his tricks. I thought I’d trained you better than that."
I start to protest, but the realization hits me like a brick. The suited guy who came by the shop when all my sisters were out and pushed his business card into my palm. The Sangre Negada poisoning. The locked room. It was all too convenient. I was way too naive.
"He wanted your blood," La Madre continues. "Wanted rare Maldita magic in one of his vampires. And he knew the only way to get it was to make you give it willingly." She shakes her head. "And you did. You walked right into his trap."
"No," I whisper. "No, that's not—he didn't know?—"
"Didn't he?" La Madre's voice is sharp. "Did he seem surprised when that door opened? Did he seem pleased with himself?"
I think about Lazaro's smile. The way he called Angel special. One of a kind.
Oh god.
"He knew," I breathe. "He knew what I did. He wanted it to happen."
