Page 49 of A Vampire's Pain
“This feels very leading,” I said.
Lara chuckled.
“Okay, no games,” she said. “You and Gabriel.”
Damon wasn’t home, so we could freely talk, but still, my whole body tensed as I heard his name. I wasn’t sure if it was because I was scared some of our servants might hear and tell Damon, or if it was because the thought of Gabriel got me all excited.
“I don’t know if there is anything to talk about.”
“You’re mates,” she said.
“Are we?”
“I know it is different for vampires, but I have never seen Gabriel act like this,” she told me.
“No? It’s not a complicated and long game?”
Lara shook her head.
“If it is, he is hurting himself too,” she said.
“What do you mean?”
Lara sighed, and placed her mug down on the table, before she leaned back on the couch, looking like she was looking for the words to explain.
“He is … he usually jokes around a lot, and he always seems to be energized,” she said. “He is so quiet now.”
“He is?”
She nodded.
“I’m worried about him. Especially because Ace is behaving strangely too. I don’t know what is up with him, but the house just feels … strange,” she said. “Dominic and I seem to be the only ones behaving somewhat normally.”
“He is really not acting like himself?”
She shook her head.
“He barely eats, and I hear him wandering around in the middle of the day, clearly not able to sleep.”
I bit my lip. While I didn’t like to hear he was having such a hard time, it also made it clearer to me that Gabriel truly cared, and that I could trust him when he said we were mates.
“I really think this is worth fighting for Valeri,” Lara said.
I looked down.
“I think so too …” I whispered.
“Then why sneak away?”
“I can’t … be with him,” I said.
“Because of your brother?”
I nodded.
“I love him. He is all that I have, and I don’t want to betray him. It has been me and him for so long.”
“But this is your life, Valeri,” Lara said. “You really want to miss out on having something so wonderful as a mate?”
