Page 194 of Eternal Craving

He deserved the truth at least. “Nearly twenty years.”

His face paled even more.

I ran my fingers through my hair. “I wanted to be the one to tell you.”

“You should have.”

I turned away. “I never asked for this.”

“But it’s meant to be a myth, folklore,” he said.

“People are comforted by that.”

Jacob took a seat near the fireplace, but then stood up again, fidgeting. “Are you really my father?”

The question stunned me. “Of course I am.”

Jacob’s face softened. “Someone did this to you?”

“I chose this life so that I could save yours. I was hanging by a thread, literally seconds from death, and I had to make a choice.”

“Don’t blame me for what you are.”

“I don’t.”

“How is it done?”

The courtyard. My arms pulled back in their bindings. A scarlet flow that seeped from my wound. Sunaria’s voice, her scent mingling with her taste. Death summoning me and then that dark decision…

Outside, a crow squawked, shattering the silence.

“Rachel cut her wrist.” Jacob gulped. “And it healed instantly.”

“She wanted to show you proof of what we are. Where is she?”

“I don’t know.” Jacob’s voice almost broke. “Do you drink blood?”

I avoided his gaze.

He walked in front of me, forcing me to look at him. “Have you murdered people?”

I picked up a lit candle and approached the bookcase, then yanked at a hidden lever and the shelves swung open, revealing a doorway.

“Where does that lead?” he asked. “You don’t expect me to go in there?”

I headed on through, paused for a moment, and waited for him to join me.

Jacob let out a deep sigh and then took his first step into my world.

There was no going back, no denying anything.

Still, I had to send him out into the world with the kind of answers he could live with.

Jacob leaned his back against the door with his hands wrapped around his legs, while I rested atop the long, black coffin.

His pupils had adjusted to the dark, but the candlelight helped. The luminescent glare of mine spooked him for a moment, but then he calmed down.

My philosophy had come up short. I refused to accept my lot in the great scheme of things, preferring to strive for a glorious life, being true to myself and learning to live with the consequences. But now my relationship with Jacob felt threatened.