Total pages in book: 86
Estimated words: 85552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 85552 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 428(@200wpm)___ 342(@250wpm)___ 285(@300wpm)
Xander’s voice slipped into my head. You would regret it, Camille, but if you want me to kill him. . .I will.
Rage quaked through my body.
I gazed back at my sweet girls through tear-streaked eyes, and new that I couldn’t kill Ethan. It would destroy my girls.
Stupid Camille. . .
I fisted my hands.
Am I really going to sacrifice my feelings again and let that spineless coward live?
I moved my view from the girls and placed it back on the drawings that did not include me.
Here I was ready to wake up my daughters and tell them their mother was home and they probably didn’t remember who I was. And if they did know about me, clearly this new woman was their mother now. She’d been here helping to raise them while I sat off in the castle.
Even worse, once The Quiet King realized I was gone, he’d come here first.
That meant I couldn’t stay here.
I placed my view back on them.
What do I do now?
To my surprise, Xander did not speak. This would have to be my decision.
I swallowed down more sadness.
Minutes passed as I gazed at my girls. My heart shattered even more with each second.
In one moment, I was talking myself into running off with them.
I could take them. I could find us somewhere to be safe. It would be okay.
My skin moistened with tears as the rational part of me kicked in, the part that knew what was right and wrong.
So what will I do if I wake my babies?
I couldn’t drag my daughters around the planet, constantly keeping them in hiding and always in fear we would be caught and killed.
I held my stomach tighter.
Pain bit at my stomach. I could feel the weight of the night pressing down on me with the force of a thousand boulders.
Why?
A lump formed in my throat. I forced my eyes shut, understanding my new reality.
I would have to pretend like I didn’t exist anymore, to keep them safe.
It’s not fair.
I shook my head.
My daughters would never know I stood above them one moonlit night, sacrificing my wants for their needs.
Once again.
They’d never realize that on this massive planet walked a woman who would slice her heart into tiny pieces so they could have a fruitful life, one without strife and terror.
I opened my eyes and turned to the only person who cared about me now.
You were right, Xander. I ruined my life.
His words spun calmly in my head. You do exist to them. You have a statue of yourself in the city.
I gritted my teeth.
None of that matters if at the end of the day my girls call another woman their mother or my husband whispers I-love-yous to somebody else.
I rubbed my face with both my hands, drowning in embarrassment for myself and the choices I’d made.
They probably don’t even know it’s their mother. To them it could just be some good-hearted citizen.
Xander blurred my way and gathered me into his arms. Stop it. You saved hundreds of lives.
A hole emerged within my chest. It was like I’d been told someone had died.
But am I selfish to now regret it?
No, Camille. Xander lifted my body up and carried me out of their bedroom and through the house.
I shut my eyes, not wanting to see any more of my old home—my old life.
Once we got outside Xander shut the door behind us. He let me down and then wrapped those strong arms around me. “Don’t be sad, Camille.”
“I can’t help it. I. . .regret it all now. . .so stupid.”
“You’re human. It’s natural for you to feel regret, but stop it. You saved so many people.”
I looked at him. “And do vampires ever feel regret?”
“I regret taking you inside the house. I didn’t enjoy watching your heart break. I wanted to take Ethan’s life. I’m still not sure if I won’t.”
“No. You can’t hurt Ethan. You were right. I couldn’t have expected him to sit in this house with two young daughters and not want to give them a mother or experience love for himself.” I went to the steps, ready to leave my home, the yard with my dead relatives, the new garden that his wife probably planted, and all of Zumaya.
I can’t be here anymore.
Xander grabbed my hand, stopped my moving forward, and gave me my daughters’ drawings and a large photo of them outlined by a copper frame.
Shock hit me.
“When did you take this?” I grabbed them like valuables and held them to my chest.
“Earlier.”
“Thank you.”
Xander’s next words came out unsteadily. “Are you now coming with me?”
I displayed a grim smile. “I’m considering it.”
A dark chuckle left him. “Considering it?”
Xander’s hand possessively clasped on mine as we traveled through a sleeping Zumaya. “You’re my queen.”
I wiped the last bit of tears away.
Xander continued, “While that house behind us was your only escape, there was still no guarantee I would have left you there.”