“I suppose you could say that.”
“I haven’t spoken with another vampire in a hundred years. I mean, there are plenty of them in Vegas, but since I can go out in the sun, we don’t smell the same to each other. They smell dead to me and I smell like human to them. Actually, if any of them realized who and what I was, they’d sell me back to my murder so fast. Or maybe they’d pick me apart, trying to see what makes me tick and how they can walk in the sun, too.”
“How can you walk in the sun? Do you know? David misses the sun.”
“It’s not complicated. I don’t drink humans. Something about human blood enhances the sensitivity to sunlight. I’m also old enough that I could probably drink human blood now and still get away with a few minutes in the sun without turning to dust.”
“Tell me about your murder, about who is after you?”
“I guess I should. You keep asking, and I keep not answering. It’s dumb, but talking about them hurts. I miss them. As awful and horrible as they are, the bad things they want to make me do, I still miss them. I still love them.”
Parker drew her close to him and she turned her face against his chest, allowing herself the luxury of his comfort. It would be so easy to get used to this.
“They’re your family. Of course you feel those things. I can’t imagine living without my pack. My brothers. My uncle. Their mates. No matter what horrible things they’d done.”
“My murder is one of the oldest. We trace our parent murder back to Mesopotamia. We are Asakku.”
At his sharp intake of breath, she knew that he’d heard of them. Who hadn’t? They were only the most feared of the murders, Kumarin coming in as a close second.
“The Asakku in some places are worshipped as old gods. I was born to a priestess who’d given herself to the murder. I shudder to think what kind of dark magic she used to bring me into the world, but here I am.” Belle shrugged. “I ran away many times, but it wasn’t until the 1700’s when I came to America that I was able to hide successfully from them. Now, they’ve caught my scent and I can guarantee you they will stop at nothing to get me back. My father wanted to marry me to Kumarin.” After he’d turned him. When Kumarin had been human, she’d loved him.
“Well, that’s just disgusting,” Parker said, holding her tighter. “I won’t let that happen to you. Woolven has a lot of resources at our disposal. We have witches, dragons, hunters… we have the hunter Lenore Breslin. We have humans, too.”
“What can humans do?”
“They’re far more terrible in their schemes than any supe ever could be. You know this. There’s a government agency my brother has brokered a deal with. But that’s not for anyone you love. At least, not as a first resort.”
She looked up at him. “I’ve never seen a dragon.”
“The outlaw biker gang, Drago Knights?”
“Everyone knows who they are. They’re like the Hell’s Angels, at least as far as notoriety.”
“Yeah, they’re dragons. Actual dragons.”
“That’s so cool. How is it I’ve lived so long and don’t know these things?” she sighed.
“Because you’ve been alone, but you don’t have to be alone anymore. Woolven will be your murder. I know it’s not the same, and I can’t imagine the pain you’re in, but you don’t have to go through it alone.”
She realized this had all gone so far off the rails. He was talking about forever, and as pretty as it sounded, that wasn’t for them. “All for agreeing to fake marriage?”
He stilled, and his body had gone like marble. Had she hurt him? But that’s what this was. It was all an accident. It was all fake.
Except for the sex.
Wasn’t it?
He was talking like she was his mate, and that wasn’t a thing that happened. Vampires and wolves didn’t do that.
“Yes, Belle. All for agreeing to be my fake wife.” He released her and started getting dressed.
Playing pretend was over. They weren’t anything to each other, except a means to an end.
Except she didn’t want it to be over.
Which was why she had to put fairy tales out of her head. That was how they’d caught her the last time, and it had ended in blood. Which, most fairy tales did. The blood of the villain, but he’d been the hero.
Just like Parker.
Well, no one was like Parker.
But she wouldn’t allow him to step into the role, only to lose his life, while she still had to face endless eternity with the weight of her sins.
Chapter 5
Aphelion loomed, dark and perhaps sinister to some, but for Parker, it was home. While he had his own various residences around the world, nothing caused that warmth to bloom in his chest like the long, winding drive to the giant sleeping beast that overlooked the small village below.