Grey Eyes: Book One of the Forever Trilogy

Chapter Twenty

“I’m sorry,” he said, finally pulling away.  It took a moment for me to get my bearings after experiencing such a surge of raw emotion.  “I don’t mean to hurt you,” he continued, “and it kills me to see you upset.  I just thought that with your memories gone, it was finally my chance to give you what you deserve.  But I understand now that you still feel it, even if you don’t remember why.”

Those beautiful green eyes stared into mine, and he let his fingertips graze my cheek.  His touch seemed to resonate through all of me and I felt myself slip into delirium.  I forced myself to speak.  If this was our last moment together, then I couldn’t risk leaving anything unsaid.

“These feelings that I have, I’ve never felt anything like this.”

He shot me a half smile.  “Technically you have.”

I dropped my head, feeling the emotion rushing into my face.  “What I mean is—well, I don’t know how I should act, or what I should say.  This is so new to me and I don’t want to do something that makes you change your mind again.”

He looked angry with himself now.  “I’m not going anywhere, Ana.  Not anymore.   Now that I know about your feelings, I’ll stay with you for as long as you want.  But you have to promise me something.”

Relief flooded into me. I would have promised him anything in that moment.  “What is it?”

“You won’t ask about the “bad thing” I was going to tell you about before.”

Well… maybe not anything.  “But…”

“Please,” he followed.  “It’s very important to me.”

I studied his flawless face. His eyes pleaded his case. So unfair.  “Okay,” I said finally.  “But you have to promise me something in return.”

His eyes widened before giving way to an amused stare.  “And what’s that?”

“You have to answer the rest of my questions.  I mean, you’re practically a stranger.”

He really laughed at that.  “Okay, fair enough.”

A million questions popped into my head all at once. I sifted through them until I found the first one with substance.  I wanted him to know that I was after real answers, but before I could ask, he volunteered something that shocked me.

“If you’ve been wondering if I was the one who saved you that night, I am.  I also carried your mother to the hospital.”

I was stunned.  I assumed my mother had prearranged some kind of “emergency” help for us.  I never imagined she’d turn to a vampire for help against, well, vampires.

He laid back on my bed, placing both hands behind his head.  My astonishment amused him even more.  “I used to check up on you two from time to time.  The first few times was just because I worried about Aleksandra’s little sister being out in the open like that.  It was common knowledge that she had taken the Rasputin heir with her, so I knew that she would be a high priority target for the vampires who’ve gone rogue.  But your mother got good at disappearing.  I lost track of her.  Then about three months ago, I saw you on a bus in South Carolina—

“Really?” I interrupted, more surprised, if possible, that I’d been in the same place with him even before the attack.

He nodded.  “It was a Saturday afternoon.  I’d just come from meeting with an old friend and you were sitting there, right near the front, looking miserable.  You looked right at me, and then promptly went back to looking miserable.  The resemblance startled me, but I didn’t say anything to you.  I suppose I was too disappointed.”