Page 17 of Darkest Need

Vampires weren’t supposed to be so emotional.

Leave it to a child to bring out the worst of the human weaknesses in all of us. God forbid I ever felt such a thing.

“I love you, too, John.” He was one of the children she’d saved. He kept to himself. I don’t believe he survived—not many did.

Eva set the boy on his feet. He reached up and captured one of her dark curls between his fingers, then he dropped it, turned on his heel, and walked off.

“He’s precious,” she said aloud, already sensing my presence. “It was his birthday. I couldn’t allow him to think I didn’t care anymore.”

I crossed my arms. “Eva, there will always be something. A birthday, a holiday… You must leave him for good.”

“I want children.” Eva hung her head as I approached her from behind. “I’ve always wanted children.”

I could taste her desperation in the air as tension swirled between us. I’d known for a while that Eva felt strongly for me—the way I felt for her.

But a union between a Dark One and a vampire would do nothing but present us with hurt feelings when a bond failed to form. We could not mate with each other.

And children were impossible.

“I can’t give you that,” I whispered, setting my hand on her shoulder. She gripped my fingertips, and I shuddered from her warm touch.

Eva turned, her green eyes beautiful as they gazed up into my cold depths. “We could adopt.”

I smiled at that. “Humans adopt. And you and I…will never be.”

“Immortality.” She wrapped her arms around my neck. I never allowed such liberties. “Not for the faint of heart, hmm, Cassius?”

“No.” The temptation to kiss her was too strong to deny any longer. My mouth descended, fusing with hers, creating a hum of energy between us as her blood heated, getting out of control. My touch cooled her as fangs descended past her top lip.

Our tongues twisted in a fight for dominance as I lifted her into my arms. The last thing we needed was to be seen in a forbidden embrace. Not only was she a Council member, but she was also a vampire—not mine.

She would end up with a snotty-nosed human.

One who would get her pregnant.

One who would love her like I never could.

Slowly, I pulled away from her, my hands pressing against her wrists as I lowered her arms to her sides.

“One day…” Her voice was filled with sadness. “I’ll be mated to someone, and you’ll forget all about me.”

“I highly doubt I’ll ever forget your taste, Eva.”

A thick, flowery scent charged the air. Eva’s eyes widened just as a voice said from behind me, “What have you done?”

Slowly, I turned.

Sariel’s eyes were white, his hair a blazing rainbow of blue and black streaks. His feathers protruded, then shuddered as if tasting the wrongness in the air. “Survivors?”

He shoved past Eva and me and then pressed his fingertips to the door of the house.

“Two survivors. How many more? And why weren’t they destroyed?”

I couldn’t lie.

It wasn’t in my makeup as a Dark One to want to lie to my creator—my father.

“I saved them,” I admitted, grabbing Eva and shoving her behind me. “I saved twelve.”

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