Page 42 of Deceived By a Warrior

“And how nice it is to meet you.” Her voice was low but sweet, reminding her of a timid girl in a playground attempting to make new friends.

“I don’t suppose Darius sent you?” Eva asked, turning her attention to the barred window. Endless snow capped mountains and dead trees greeted her.

“No, he didn’t.”

Why couldn’t Eva help but feel disappointed to hear that?

“I came here on my own, but I do want to talk about him. I want to defend him.”

There was a certain kindness in Karina’s voice that had Eva hesitating before shooting any smart remarks her way. “Defend him for throwing me to the dogs?” In this case, a very evil dog. “I never met him before. So, what did I do to him to deserve this?”

“You may not have known him, but he knew you.”

Eva looked back at Karina, her attention piqued. “Maybe he knew me, but that doesn’t mean I did anything to deserve this.”How did he know me?Eva wondered, but didn’t ask. “I think what sucked the most was the fact that your brother tricked me into trusting him. I was actually beginning to like him.”I was beginning toreally like him,she thought.“There’s not many people I like, so that’s saying a lot.” She didn’t like anyone. How could she?

Karina gave Eva a sympathetic look as she walked forward, coming to a stop beside Eva and looking out the window. “I know the last thing you want to do is forgive him,” she said, pressing her hands against the window sill, leaning forward. “You have to understand that he wasn’t given much of a choice.”

Eva remembered him trying to tell her he didn’t have a choice.Doesn’t matter, it still happened.“So he said.”

“Did he tell you why he didn’t have a choice?” She was looking out the window. Snowflakes reflected off the moonlight and onto her face.

“We didn’t have much time to discuss everything.” Instead of learning why he did what he did, Eva decided to kiss him instead.Stupid, stupid girl.

“Then I’ll tell you-”

“If you’re thinking of convincing me he did the right thing, I’m not going to believe it. What he did was wrong. Period.”

“I’m not going to try to convince you of that.” Despite Eva raising her voice, Karina’s voice remained eerily calm. “I don’t believe he did the right thing. I’m only going to tell you why he did it.”

Eva was entirely too curious about why Darius did what he did to stop Karina from speaking. “I’m listening.”

“Since we were young, Darius has done everything in his power to keep me safe the last few centuries. I’m his only surviving family.”

“Lucky you,” Eva spoke before thinking. “Sorry,” she muttered. “Sometimes I speak before thinking.”

“No worries. But can I ask why you consider me to be lucky?” She gave Eva a quizzical look.

Eva shrugged. “To have family that loves you. Honestly, to haveanyonethat loves you. It must be nice.” Eva’s only family disowned her. Eva didn’t know love like Karina did. It hurt to not know what it was like to love and be loved. She supposed she should appreciate that she didn’t exactly know what it was that she was missing out on.

Karina reached a hand for Eva’s wrist, and Eva didn’t flinch. She allowed the vampire to gently rest her hand over it, much like a friend would do to someone they cared about. “I’m sorry you never knew love.” Kindness. This girl projected kindness.

Eva remained still for a few moments, savoring this foreign moment of compassion. “I…” Eva shook her head, finally finding it in her to rip her hand free of Karina’s. “Love isn’t for everyone,” she shrugged, trying to make it look like she didn’t care about having never been on the receiving end of love.

I care more than anyone could understand.

“Why wouldn’t it be?”

Eva bit her bottom lip, trying to control her emotions. It was like talking to a therapist with this one. She was bringing out emotions Eva had been hiding for years. “Doesn’t really matter. In fact, it might be better to not love or be loved. If I love no one and no one loves me, no one gets hurt. Right?” The villains throughout history reveled in hurting heroes by taking the life of those they loved. At least Eva’s current suffering wasn’t hurting anyone.

“So, you understand that it’s possible to hurt someone by using those they love most against them.”

Of course Eva understood that. Almost every blockbuster hit made millions over that premise. Eva admittedly ate those movies up. “Yeah, totally understandable.”

“Then you can understand Darius was given no choice but to bring you to Artem because he loves me. Artem used my life against him.”

Eva hated Artem, but did hereallythreaten the life of this sweet girl? “Artem is a total dick.”

Karina chuckled. “That he is,” she said in agreement. Gods, how did someone as horrible as Artem hold so much power over so many people? “So, do you understand?”

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