Secrets of Hope by E. M. Knight

Author:E. M. Knight [Knight, E. M.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Edwards Publishing, Ltd.
Published: 2017-04-29T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twenty-Two

Raul

The stronghold

I pace through the empty outer hall, contemplating everything that’s happened.

Eleira has come to the vampires as Queen. And they have accepted her.

This should be one of the sweetest moments of my life.

Then why is there such a bitter taste on my tongue?

I know that I’m just worried for her. Concerned that all of this happened too soon, too quick, too fast. Her life was changed completely in a matter of weeks—weeks!—and I fear she won’t be able to—

I cut off with an angry snarl.

Able to what, Raul? I demand of myself. She’s proven capable of every obstacle thrown in her way!

I need to stop treating her like a child. It’s demeaning to me and to her.

But for whatever reason… I cannot. I cannot shake the protectiveness I feel over her. No matter how strong she grows, no matter how capable. I will always view her—at least partially—as the fresh-faced college girl we kidnapped from the university.

I growl again and slam a fist into my open hand. Dammit! Eleira’s a grown woman. Even before she was a vampire, she possessed incredible internal strength, and that is what I have to focus on!

It’s my own damn weakness, my own fatal flaw, that every woman or girl I interact with reminds me of Liana.

Particularly, it reminds me of my immense failure with her.

What a horrible, pathetic, stupid mindset. Eleira is not Liana. Just because I harmed one woman I loved does not mean I will do it again.

But you didn’t just harm her, that voice reminds me. You destroyed her in full, her mind, her body, and her soul. In the end, there was absolutely nothing left.

I spin round in a furious move and slam both fists against the wall. Will I forever be haunted by my failure with Liana? Why can I never find peace?

“It’s the curse of being immortal, brother”, a voice says.

I whip around. Phillip is standing there, quite close, in the hall with me. How he got through the guards on the other side without raising the alarm I’ll never know.

I eye him cautiously. I remind myself that even though this vampire looks the same, he is nothing like I remember of my gentle, placid younger brother.

“What do you mean, the curse?” I ask him, voice teeming with suspicion.

“I heard you muttering her name,” he tells me, as he lounges casually against the wall. “Liana, Liana.” He makes a face. “It’s humiliating.”

“How long have you been there?” I demand.

Am I so incompetent I don’t even notice when I speak out loud?

“Not long,” he shrugs and pushes off. “But long enough to tell the same nightmares are haunting you.”

“You weren’t at the introduction ceremony,” I tell him through my teeth.

“Of course not,” he sneers. “What did I need to see? I gave her the crown. I know Eleira’s Queen.”

“Attending would have shown your respect.”

He laughs in my face. “Respect? You’re going to lecture me about respect? Let’s not forget your Queen was the one who banished me from my post and bound me with witchcraft to a lamentable oath.

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