It took me a few moments to collect myself before I realized I wouldn’t get anywhere by pushing him away. Yes, his plan was stupid. No, I would not sleep with someone else just to clear the way for us to be together. I had no idea where that left us, but we wouldn’t get anywhere unless we faced our problems together.
I went to the closet and got dressed in case the bell I’d heard earlier meant guests had arrived. The last thing I needed was to walk into a roomful of vampires half-naked. I pulled on a pair of the designer jeans Jacqueline had picked out and then found a soft cashmere sweater. Slipping on a pair of velvet flats, I made it nearly out of the bedroom when I heard the alert on my phone.
I’d placed it on the charger when I got back from the opera, determined to call my mother when the time was right in California. After what I’d experienced tonight, I regretted not calling her sooner. She might still be mad at me for taking the semester off, but I didn’t care. Life was short. I’d had a front-row seat to that lesson tonight.
I unplugged it and saw a half dozen missed calls from her. Before I could hit redial, the phone started to ring again.
“Mom?” I answered swiftly. “I’m so sorry. I was going to call you in a bit.”
“Am I speaking to Thea Melbourne?” a stranger’s voice asked me.
I froze, my heart leaping into my throat. I nodded.
“Um, hello?” the stranger said.
“Oh!” I startled. “Yes, this is Thea.” I checked my screen and saw that the call was definitely coming from my mother’s phone. The heart in my throat plummeted to the floor.
“This is St. John’s hospital. A patient was brought into the emergency room earlier, and we found this number listed as her emergency contact. Do you know the owner of this phone?”
“It’s my mom,” I whispered, clutching the phone like it could anchor me.
“Would it be possible for you to come to the hospital?”
“I’m in Paris.” A raw ache crept into my words. I fought to control my panic. “Is something wrong?”
“Normally, a doctor would want to speak with you in person, but I guess it might take you a while to get here.” I heard fingers typing on a keyboard. How could anyone multitask at a time like this?
“Is my mother dead?” I blurted out.
“Oh, sugar, no!” she said gently. “But she’s not awake. The doctors are trying to figure out what happened. Should I have them call you when they know more?”
“Yes,” I said so quietly I wasn’t sure she’d hear me.
“And is it okay for them to call when they have a minute?”
“As soon as they know anything,” I said, snapping into action. I was already out the bedroom door and racing toward the stairs. I froze when I caught a glimpse of several people leaving. As Hughes saw them out, I recognized the dark, perfectly coiffed hair of the one lingering at the rear. “And I’m on my way.”
Sabine swiveled toward my voice, her eyes pinning me to the spot. The look on her face sent a chill racing through me. But she didn’t say anything. She simply murmured something to Hughes and stepped out behind the other guests.
“I’ll let them know,” the nurse on the other end said.
“Thanks.” I hung up with her and dashed down the stairs.
“Where is he?” I asked Hughes.
“In the drawing room.” But I was already racing down the hall. “Can I be of service, mademoiselle?”
I shook my head, my heart pounding as I rounded the corner and found Julian staring out the window into the sparkling night.
“My mom,” I said, gasping. I was barely holding back tears. “I’m sorry. I need to get home right away. The hospital called.”
Julian didn’t turn toward me. He continued to look out the window. His palm rested on its sill, and I found myself calling out again, “My mom! Look, I know we’re fighting, but–”
“We aren’t fighting,” he said quietly. “Is that what you think?”
I paused, unsure how to answer that question. “Look, it’s not important. My mom is in the hospital. I need to be with her.”
“I understand.” Julian didn’t look at me as he spoke. He walked past me and deposited a handful of glass on the bar. I gawked at his bloody palm, trying to figure out how he’d injured himself and why he was acting so weird.
“It looks like you should be in the hospital, too.” I went to him, but he continued to stare past me. “Julian?”
“It will heal,” he said dismissively. “So. You need to go home.”
“Yes, can we leave soon?” I asked.
There was a pause before he answered, “I’m afraid I need to stay here.”
I nodded. I wanted to understand his position. He was expected to stay here. But it hurt that he wouldn’t come with me. “Can you come soon?”
“Oh, pet.” Something about the way he said it made my stomach clench. “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
“I don’t understand,” I said slowly. I searched his face for clues to his sudden distance. We’d just been holding hands in bed. Was he that upset that I didn’t want to sleep with another man? But I might as well have been analyzing a mask. His face betrayed nothing.
“I believe this is our swan song,” he said in a hollow tone.
Tiny fissures cracked my heart. “A swan song is an ending…”
“Exactly.” He glanced at me for just a moment. His blue eyes burned through me, but he quickly looked away. “This was always inevitable. I guess it’s better to end it now before anyone gets hurt.”
“Hurt?” I stared at him. What was he saying? What was going on? “Does this have something to do with your mother–”
“No. I’ve been fooling myself. I see that now.”
A sob broke free from me. I stepped in front of him, trying to force him to look at me. He couldn’t mean any of this, not after what he’d said. He loved me. I loved him. But Julian’s eyes looked past me. “Why are you doing this? We love each other.”
“Sometimes you are so human,” he said in a brittle voice. “I suppose it’s easy to believe love is enough when your life is a blink of an eye.”
“Love will be enough.” I believed that. Why couldn’t he? “We’ll find a way.”
“You weren’t meant for my world.”
“I’m meant for you,” I said in a soft voice. He was my mate. Maybe it wasn’t official, but that didn’t change anything for me. Not the way I felt about him. Not what I was willing to do to be with him. But staring at him now, I knew something had changed for him.
And then he delivered one final blow. “I can’t marry a human. I can’t marry you.”
“Because they told you that you couldn’t?” Was that why Sabine had been here?
“Because I won’t. You were just a pet. I always knew that.” His words sliced through my heart. I couldn’t breathe. I shook my head, unwilling to believe him. He couldn’t mean that.
I reached for his hand and clasped it. Julian didn’t pull away. His eyes shuttered, his body stilling under my touch. He understood what I was saying.
If it was true–if he didn’t want me, he wouldn’t let me touch him like this. He’d told me it was the most intimate act for a vampire. I knew then he was lying. I just didn’t understand why. I opened my mouth to demand an answer.
Instead, Julian stepped away and yanked his hand from mine, his rejection strong but not violent. My reaction was the opposite. I crumpled into a chair, sobs racking through me. He loved me. I was sure of it. Knowing that only made the pain more acute. He couldn’t love me as much as I loved him. If so, he wouldn’t be able to endure this now. He wouldn’t be staring at me with a placid, unyielding gaze. He wouldn’t be walking away.
“I’ll arrange your travel.” And then Julian left me there to pick up the pieces of my broken heart.
I sat there for a few minutes or perhaps hours. I lost track of time until Jacqueline peered into the room. I looked up at her, my face saying what I couldn’t. She rushed over, dropped to the ground next to where I sat, and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I wasn’t crying anymore. I didn’t think I could find another tear inside me. Not for him.
“Poor darling,” she murmured, “I will never understand males.”
Behind her, someone entered, and for a moment, my heart soared with hope. It crashed when I spotted Sebastian hanging back. He watched us silently. He didn’t look surprised or concerned, only somewhat wary. If he had an opinion on his brother’s actions, he kept it to himself.
I’d been stupid to think I could fit into his world. Not when his entire family refused to give me a place in it. Why was he even here?
“The plane is seen to,” Sebastian said, answering my unspoken question. “We can leave when you’re ready.”
He’d been summoned to take me away.
The last of my hope died. Julian wouldn’t even take me to the airport. It was too much to process. But I knew one thing. My eyes drifted toward the ceiling to where my belongings waited. “We can go now.”
“You’re already packed?” Jacqueline asked, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.
“I don’t want any of it,” I said softly. I couldn’t stomach the idea of being reminded of the future I’d lost–the future Julian had ripped away from us.
“Nonsense.” Jacqueline got up and brushed off the knees of her leather pants. “You’re taking all of it and some of his shit, too. I’ll pack.”
I didn’t try to argue with her. She was probably right. I should take it all. I didn’t know what had happened to my mom, but I did know that there would be more medical bills now. I could sell the designer clothes to help pay for them. It would only cost me a bit of my soul each time.
Jacqueline disappeared up the stairs, and I waited. I wasn’t even certain what I was waiting for. Sebastian stayed uncharacteristically silent. He didn’t crack a joke or smirk.
He knew something. I was sure of it.
But I couldn’t care anymore. The real world tugged at me, dragging me back to the life I was meant to live. Maybe this had all been a dream. My mother needed me. I wouldn’t waste more time on a man who broken my heart.
When Jacqueline reappeared, hauling an overstuffed suitcase, I was already on my feet. I walked toward the door. I’d just reached it when the sound of shattering glass stopped all of us. My body tried to turn toward the noise, and the man I knew made it. I closed my eyes and refused to allow myself to look. Still, I let myself linger a moment as though he might appear on the stairs.
But Julian didn’t come after me.
He didn’t say goodbye.
Neither would I.
