Page 70 of Forever Midnight

“Sold off?”

I nod. “Yes. At that time it was very common to sell your daughters to improve the family status. Wealthy men seeking beautiful virgins would pay a lot.”

“I can’t imagine.”

“One day, a man showed up in town. He charmed and seduced me into his bed and eventually I agreed to go to England with him for a much better life.”

“Oh wow.”

“I was fooled though. Lord Arden was a vulgar man. Very rich and very debauched. He lured young boys to his bed, women, aristocrats. He admired beauty and demanded to have it for himself. It wasn’t long before he mostly tired of me and made me a houseboy.”

Tru gasps. “Like a… servant?”

I nod. “Similar, yes. I was trapped though, forced to endure my circumstances. I felt nothing for Lord Arden except disgust, and he felt nothing for me except ownership. He realized quickly that his guests would love to spend a night or two with me in their beds, so he loaned me out. For a fee, of course.”

“Dude, he pimped you out?”

“He did. As the years went on, I knew he was tiring of me. He called me to his bed less and less. I knew sooner or later he would find someone younger, prettier, and then he would send me away. With no skills or education, I would be lost in the streets.” I smile, playing with Tru’s fingers. “And then one day, Yves arrived. Lord Arden thought himself showing off by parading me around, but Yves saw something in me. Something beyond my physical looks. Something he wanted. He played Arden’s game and took me away, never to return.”

“So cool,” Tru whispers.

“He brought me to the home he was staying at with Syn. They told me what they were and that if I chose, I could live with them forever. I would have a family, security, money, status, power—all the things a man like me could only dream of. Needless to say, I accepted Yves’s gift.”

“Just like that?”

“Easiest decision I ever made. I expected to be made their sex slave, but I was wrong. They treated me as their equal, taught me things, gave me books to read. With Yves and Syn, I became a gentleman.”

“Were you lovers?”

“With Yves, at first. Briefly. We weren’t compatible that way, and it didn’t take a genius to see he was in love with Syn.”

“But they weren’t a couple?”

“They tried off and on over the years, but it never clicked. Now we know why. Syn had a fated mate. It took a few centuries, but he did.”

“Bowie.”

“Yes. The amazing thing about Yves though, is that he doesn’t choose people solely based on attraction. He can see inside your soul. Heknowswhat kind of person you are. He wanted me to be part of his family with or without desire. Over time, we grew our family into what we are today.”

Tru worries his bottom lip with his teeth. “So vampires are real.”

“I sit before you.”

He rubs his forehead. “That’s a lot. You drink blood?”

“I have to. Not daily and not to the point of death if I don’t want to, but yeah, I drink human blood. Now you understand why we became assassins.”

His eyes go wide. “Oh damn, that makes so much sense now.”

“Yes.”

“Okay, so back to Benedict. You were in love with him?”

“Very much so. So much that I was willing to reveal myself to him, beg him to join me and allow me to love him for eternity. That was not to be.”

“Because?”

“Benedict came from a very prominent family. His father was a politician, his mother a high society lady. Benedict was never going to tell them he desired the touch of a man. Never. Out of desperation, I showed myself to him, and he ran. He was terrified of me. Disgusted.”

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