“You only told the truth.” Aidan closed his book but remained seated, studying me closely. I could feel the hurt radiating off him in waves.
Tentatively, I took a step toward him. “Aidan, I . . . There’s so much I have to say to you. I’m just . . . I’m going to take down the wall around my thoughts, okay? It’ll be easier.”
I saw his eyes widen a fraction. “Are you sure?”
I nodded, dropping the barrier.
His cool gaze met mine, his head tipped to one side in concentration. I could feel it now, the invasion of my mind, like invisible tentacles that poked and prodded. I forced myself to allow it, to concentrate on my remorse, my shame.
Aidan’s poker face was severely lacking—I could see his every reaction to my thoughts mirrored in his features.
“Okay?” I asked once I was convinced that he understood.
“It’s more than okay, Vi.” He rose, closing the distance between us.
I let out a sigh as he wrapped his arms around me, his lips pressed to my forehead.
“We’re good, then?”
He nodded. “We’re good. If you can forgive me for missing the funeral, that is.”
“I wasn’t surprised you took off, not after the way I treated you.”
“It wasn’t that, Vi. It was Mrs. Girard. She didn’t think it was safe, that’s all. She’s convinced that whoever that vampire was, she was after me. An assassin.”
“Because she knew about the whole Dauphin thing?”
“Probably. Our enemies know that Mrs. Girard is protecting me—they know something’s up. They’ve heard whispers about the Dauphin, and they want to remove the threat. Mrs. Girard is convinced this isn’t the end of it, that they’ll keep sending out scouts—individual assassins—even before there’s full-scale war.”
“But why assassins, if they know the Dauphin can’t be destroyed by one of their kind?”
“Apparently, that’s the one part of the legend that Mrs. Girard and Luc withheld from the rest of the Tribunal. That’s their trump card. Obviously, Dr. Blackwell figured it out, but they think that knowledge died with him and Julius and those two females.”
“So what do we do?”
“For now, we sit tight. Mrs. Girard has upped security—there’s a full force of guards around Winterhaven at all times now.”
I suppressed a shudder. “Vampire guards?”
He nodded. “They’re not a threat. Your bracelet is still glowing white, right?”
I glanced down, noting the now-familiar sight of the glowing moonstones. The bloodstone was totally unaffected. Whoever these vampires were, they were on our side. I let out a sigh of relief. “It’s white. We’re good.”
“Of course, if you ask me, this security force is sending our enemies a clear signal that they’re right—that I am being protected. That I’m a key player in Mrs. Girard’s scheme. That I am the Dauphin. But they didn’t ask me.”
“So you’re not allowed to leave campus anymore?”
“No. I’m on total lockdown here. That’s why I wasn’t at the funeral. But I should have been there for you. It must have been . . . awful.”
I inhaled sharply. “It was awful. I can’t even stand thinking about it. Can you just . . . I don’t know . . . help me forget? Just for a little while?”
“I can try.” He gathered me close, hugging me tightly. “Do you need to be somewhere, or can you stay?”
“I can stay. What’d you have in mind?” I teased, desperate to lighten the mood.
He released me then, peering down at me with one raised brow. “Oh, really now. Going there, are we?” he asked, laying the British accent on thick.
I couldn’t help but laugh. “You just sounded so much like an aristocrat. I feel like I should curtsy or something.”
He swept one hand in a grand gesture. “Hey, don’t let me stop you. I’m all for girls falling at my feet.”
“Now you’re starting to sound like Tyler,” I said, rolling my eyes.
“Minus that annoying Texas drawl, I should hope.”
“Hey, I’m a Georgia peach, remember?” I laid on my accent as thick as possible, drawing out each syllable. “There ain’t nothin’ wrong with a drawl.”
Aidan sat on the edge of the daybed, holding out a hand to me. “Come here, then, Georgia peach.”
I complied, settling myself beside him. I laid my head on his shoulder and sighed, feeling my tense muscles relax as I inhaled his familiar scent. “Thank you,” I said, realizing just how much my mood had improved since I’d walked through that door.
“For what?”
“For making me smile. I needed that.”
“It’ll get easier, Vi. Just take it one day at a time.”
I nodded. “I know.” After all, I was no stranger to loss. Neither was Aidan. Maybe it was why we worked so well. “Do you mind if I put on some music?” I asked, reaching into my back pocket to retrieve my cell.
“Breaking the rules again, I see.”
“I figured since I was already breaking a big one by coming to your room, I might as well go all out. Anyway, I’m obsessed with this song. Makes me think of you,” I added, hitting play.
The opening notes of my current favorite song began to play—low, quiet. Melodious. A tambourine joined the acoustic guitar and mandolin as the tempo increased.
“Ugh, angsty Irish rock,” Aidan said dismissively as the chorus began, and I looked up at him in surprise.
“They’re not Irish,” I said.
“Scottish? Welsh?”
I narrowed my eyes. “They’re from Colorado. You don’t like this song?”
“It has a boring beat,” he grumbled.
“A simple beat,” I corrected. “But the lyrics . . .” I trailed off, unable to put my thoughts into words. The lyrics were simply . . . perfect.
“I can’t get past the beat to hear the lyrics,” he said.
“Okay, whatever,” I said, holding up my hands in surrender.
Aidan reached for my right hand. Turning it over, he ran the pad of his thumb over my now fully healed tattoo. “I’d almost forgotten about this. It really does look nice, doesn’t it?”
I nodded. “I love it.”
He released my hand, looking thoughtful now.
“What is it?” I asked.
His gaze met mine, and only then did I notice the faintest trace of red creeping in. The sight should have frightened me, but it didn’t. “I’m sorry your birthday was ruined,” he said at last. “I had such plans for after. Our own private party.”
“I know.” My pulse leapt, my mouth suddenly dry.
“Tell me, Vi,” he said, his brow knitted as he trailed a finger down the side of my face. “Do you believe in the whole concept of soul mates?”
I shook my head. “Honestly, I’m not sure. I mean, you just threw me off there with that whole music thing,” I added with a smile.
“I think most people misinterpret the concept,” Aidan began hesitantly. “They expect that their soul mate will be just like them. You know, that a soft, gentle intellectual will fit only with another soft, gentle intellectual. Or a fiery personality can match only another fiery personality. But I think it’s just the opposite, that soul mates are more like two sides of a coin.”
“Oh, really?” I said, intrigued now. It was clear that he’d put a lot of thought into this.
The corners of his mouth twitched with a smile. “Yes, really. And you and I . . . well, we’re so very different, aren’t we? And yet . . . that connection between us was almost instantaneous. You’re the lightheartedness to my solemnity, the spontaneity to my careful planning, the light to my dark. If you’re heads, then I’m tails. Together we’re a whole. Maybe that’s what a soul mate truly is.”