Total pages in book: 88
Estimated words: 85029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85029 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 425(@200wpm)___ 340(@250wpm)___ 283(@300wpm)
“Well. I grew up with them.” She sighs, like it’s a lot more complicated than that. “I’m not sure what they are to me, but they used to be my family. Until they sent me to White River, that is.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah. They set me up. They told me that they were sending me somewhere safe—”
“And they sent you straight to me.”
“Yep.”
“Which turns out to be the very short end of the stick as far as deals go.”
She shrugs, but doesn’t disagree.
“So… why are you telling me? Why not just tell them so they can come get me?”
“Oh, they know where you are.” She holds up a finger. “And I didn’t tell them that, by the way. There’s a lounge in the general store in town.” She must read my confusion because she wipes a hand through the air. “Never mind all that. The point is, they can’t come get you. They’re afraid of you. They want me to talk you into this.”
“Is that what you’re doing?”
“No. I’m not going to talk you into anything. I don’t trust them and I don’t think you should either. I’m just telling you what happened because we’ve got enough shit between us right now, ya know? We don’t need secrets.”
This answer actually gives me hope. “You have no idea how much I appreciate what you just said.”
“Oh, I have an idea.” Then she laughs, letting out a long breath. “I like you, Ryet. I want you to know that. I’m confused, and I feel cheated, and I don’t know if we have a future together. But if I have to choose between you and them? I’m choosing you. I’m not going to leave you for them, even though Tristin promised that they will let me read the books.”
“What books?”
“The ones in the library. I was a librarian for them for the past several years, until you got too close when my grandma was dying and they made me leave. It’s filled with all kinds of information that I was never allowed to know. Things about me. Things that would explain me.”
“And now they’re using that to bribe you?”
“That’s how it feels.”
“What do they want with me?”
“I don’t know, really. Something about babies, I think.”
“Our babies?”
“Maybe? I don’t know. Like I said, they didn’t tell me anything all growing up. And what Tristin said to me in town was just a tease.”
“Do you need this information? This history of yours?”
“I wouldn’t mind having it. But I’m not going to turn—”
“Then we should go.”
“What? But what if they hurt you?”
“If they could hurt me, wouldn’t they do that instead of sending you to talk me into it?”
She frowns at me. “Are you doing this because it’s a fair trade for the blood?”
I actually laugh. “Um. Yes. But…” I hold up a finger. “I really do want to make you happy. I like you, Syrsee. If you want to go there so you can get your history, then fuck it. Let’s go. It’s not like we have other plans.”
“You’re not afraid?”
“Of…?”
“The Guild?”
“Maybe I should be, but no. I’m not. I think it’s gone too far.” I point at the emerging wings on my back. “There’s no going back from this. I’m a vampire. And I’ve spent enough time with Paul to understand what kind of power comes with this transformation. Maybe I’m not in control of it yet, but if they had a way to subdue vampires, they would’ve done it already.”
She and I just stare at each other for a moment. Then a small smile begins to creep up her face.
This is when I realize I’m giving her something she truly, truly wants. She wants to go home and I’m the only way she can do that. It is a fair trade. And I don’t care what these Guild people try to do to me, as long as Syrsee is happy, then I will let them do it. “Do you know the way, Syrsee?”
“Yes. It’s up in New Hampshire.”
“Should we leave tomorrow?”
Syrsee scoffs. “Tomorrow? No. We just got here, Ryet. I need a break. Don’t you need a break?”
“I need what you need. I want to give you whatever it is you need. And if you need to go home, that’s what we’ll do.”
Everything about her softens as these words of mine float through the air, drifting on some unseen current. Syrsee watches them, like they are real things that can be seen. And when her eyes meet mine again, she suddenly looks like the woman I met outside the diner that night. Someone who hadn’t yet met me. Who hadn’t yet been changed by me.
I want her back, that version of her. The happy one. I want her back.
She’s unhappy now. And maybe, in the future, we will get more moments where we come together on an issue, like we’re coming together on this one, but that’s not the same as happiness. It’s something far less than happiness.