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His breath ruffled several strands of her hair "Nothing like that If she dies, then that means I failed in my duties That means I deserve to die, too"

They would ersup and down "No one would trust ain, and I would be shamed Believe ed to distract her "But you’re stronger than the vampires You can kill them with that liquid stuff in your claws I heard you tell Aden"

"That doesn’t make honor any less i the ht about leaving the vampires?"

"No We aren’t slaves We aren’t even servants But Vlad brought us into this world, and his people were once our guardians How can we not return the favor?"

Loyal to a fault Exactly as Victoria had said "But it’s the vampires you protect, and Aden isn’t a vampire, yet still you follow hiainst him?"

Several beats of quiet followed her question Then, "I have watched people live and die for centuries, and I’ve seen the chaos that springs from lack of leadership and rules Vlad created our rules hier than he was, they were to take his place Der than Dins, is fit to lead vampires and wolves alike I will defend hi breath, she thought Had he given that sairlfriends? And why did she suddenly want to beat those exes into a bloody pulp? Violence wasn’t usually her first choice Or her second Or her third

"How irls have you dated?" she asked

He handled the switch in topics with ease "Lots"

"Countless?"

He sighed, weary, as if she’d just asked him how fat her butt looked in her jeans

"You do know I’ve lived a long tiirls had won his heart Otherwise, sheon a stage, a beauty pageant in full swing, his exes all around her, pointing and laughing Silly, but true Especially since she and Riley wouldn’t last past the witches’ curse "Just ballpark it for oing to fight"

"We aren’t"

"If I answer you, we’ll fight"

He couldn’t even ballpark it, then Ouch "Have you ever been in love?"

"No"

What about withdo your relationships usually last?"

"Soer than others," he answered cautiously

Which meant some hadn’t even been relationships? Just quick, easy conquests? "Did you break up with theroaned "You’re killingherself Buton answers, so that leaving him--when the time came--would be easier She’d be able to tell herself she’d been one in a group of thousands, less, temporary That would hurt her, destroy her, but eventually, she would heal Right? She wouldn’t try to track hiain He would stay safe

"Please answer" His T-shirt ripped where she still fisted it One by one, she forced her fingers to release the h "Mostly…I did the breaking up"

"I see Why?"

"Different reasons"

Like…he’d gotten tired of them? Bored? "I know you dated Lauren, and you told me before, e first met, that you’d once dated a witch and she was the one who cursed you and your brothers, but that you died soon after and when you were revived, you were freed fros ended with Lauren, and I can guess why they ended with the witch"

"Wait I didn’t die soon after the curse More like a few years I was stabbed in the side and bled out Victoria gavelife in those years since no one wanted to date uess you could say I went a little crazy afterward, when girls started noticingto tell h "Maybe Does that disappoint you?"

"No" He ho he was, but she orried His anseren’t convincing her of anything She wasn’t distancing herself "You’ve slept with a lot of girls, then?"

Every muscle in his body stiffened Underneath her cheek, his heart sped out of control "With some"

"With Lauren?"

His hand left her completely and scrubbed down his face "I won’t talk about that Just like I would never talk with other people about what you and I do"

So that was a yes She was jealous, of course, and suddenly so self-conscious she wanted to screa What was Mary Ann? I "I’le" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>