Ruvan goes to move away. I grab his hand and his cheek, guiding his eyes back to mine.
“I’m going to hold you to it, you know,” I say softly, firmly.
“Do you hate me?” he whispers, eyes shining.
“Hate you again?” I grin faintly. He huffs in amusement. It’s the closest we can get to levity right now. “You weren’t the one to lay the curse. I don’t blame you for it and I don’t blame you for wanting to save your people. This curse, justified or not when it was made, is hurting all of us now. I believe the founders of the hamlet would’ve wanted it to end if they’d known their own people would be harmed and forever linked to the vampir. We have to move forward.”
Ruvan stares at me as if I am the source of the moon and stars. His lips part slightly, his face relaxing, and for a brief second, I think he is about to weep. But then, laughter.
“May I kiss you?” he asks. Given our actions around each other, I’m surprised he feels the need to ask. And yet, after our current discussion, I appreciate it—and him for it—all the more.
“You may.”
He pulls me to him, kissing me firmly but gently and, for a brief moment, the world pauses.
There’s nothing particularly sensual about the kiss. Perhaps it’s the lack of lust that makes it all the sweeter. This expression of pure joy and acceptance with someone I’ve come to know and care for. Exploring the museum today was possibly one of the best days of my life and this man—not the vampir lord or his forefathers—was the one to give it to me.
I intend to tell him so as we lean away, but the clouds shift in the distance. A beam of sunlight strikes us, turning everything golden. It would be picturesque, if not for Ruvan’s wince.
“Do you want to go inside?” I ask softly. I wonder if the sun is becoming more biting with the curse’s progression on him. It’s yet another reminder that he’s fading from this world. Not meant for much longer with us.
“No, I want to see the sunset. I don’t know how many I have left to see.” It’s somehow worse hearing him voice my thoughts aloud.
“Do you need my blood?” I ask.
“Not here,” he murmurs, suddenly oozing discomfort. Does he not want Winny or Callos to see? They certainly are aware of us by now. “I shouldn’t—I’ve asked too much of you, Floriane. Today truly put everything into perspective.”
“Everything?” I echo.
“My history. What my forefathers did for their own sakes, ignorant or uncaring to the cost it carried. I wanted to be better than them. Even when I was a brute and took you, I vowed I wouldn’t be the monster you thought I was.”
“What are you talking about?”
“I had no intention of using you for your blood. My only goal was to get you to open the door.”
“Never?” Is he honestly trying to say the thought never once crossed his mind?
“Well, perhaps if you became a problem,” he confesses with a somewhat sheepish smile that’s quickly abandoned. “But never like what’s happened.”
So much has happened in so little time. It’s hard to decide what, exactly, he’s primarily focused on. “What’s happened” between us hardly seems bad. But this could be him needing his own space to process. Our discussion has no doubt dredged up the voices of his past, just like I had mine surface this morning.
“Sorry for not becoming a problem.” I try and keep the levity. I enjoyed myself today, despite all odds, I truly did. I don’t want things to turn sour at its end.
“I think you definitely did,” he murmurs.
“Then it’s mutual,” I agree softly. You should be trying to kill him! a part of me still nags. Keep your hand on his, another voice, soft, strong, and foreign to everything I thought I was whispers from the pit of my chest. It echoes up from a previously smothered and mostly ignored place.
Footsteps crunch in the snow and ice behind us. I slowly, subtly shift my hand off his.
“Are you two about ready to head back?” Callos asks. “It’s getting late.”
Ruvan pushes away from the railing. I expect him to say yes, but he surprises me instead when he says, “Not just yet.”
“Oh?” Winny tilts her head slightly.
“I’ve decided to take Floriane to the academy.”
Winny and Callos exchange a look, one that holds an unspoken conversation that only they seem to be able to discern. Callos finally speaks. “I think that’s a good idea.”
