Page 9 of Night Fall
Erik dropped his hand from her, and his face fell. “I—”
“I am yours, Erik”—Mya fiddled with the cloth of his tunic, unable to meet his eyes—“in every sense of the word.”
When she finally gathered her courage to look up, the look of shock on his face caused her to laugh even as a tear slid down her cheek. Erik caught the droplet with his thumb, wiping away the wetness from her cheek, and yet the heartbreak in his gaze caused another one to fall.
“You are a gift, fagr skjaldmær min. One that I do not deserve, and one that I cannot accept no matter how much I want to.”
The arrow of heartbreak buried itself deeper in Mya’s chest, but she nodded. Mya bit her lip, using the pain to keep the weight of her sadness from spilling over, and whispered, “If you cannot accept me or take me, I will never allow another the chance.”
“Mya,” he began, but she shook her head. Erik took a breath and rubbed her cheek again, his touch bringing a warmth that only hurt her more because of how much she craved it. “Let me do what I can for you. Let me protect you. Let me be your shield, your guard. Please,” he begged when she did not answer.
In all the years she had known Erik, he had never once begged her. Convinced her? Yes. Toyed with her? Yes. But begged her? No. Resisting him was hard enough, but once the plea had passed his lips, she knew that there was nothing she would not give him.
Taking a deep breath, she said, “Gilbert and Randolph Bennet. Richard Browne. Walter Godfrey.”
Simply saying their names brought her so much anxiety and disgust that bile rose up her throat. She swallowed it down and continued, knowing she had no other choice.
“I hurt Walter, and the other three saw me turn. Tubert and Albin tried to defend me, and that is when I ran away. I do not think they saw what I-I am.” She shook her head as fresh tears came to her eyes. “I am sorry. I am so sor—”
“Shh,” Erik whispered as he hugged her tightly, his warmth chasing at the coldness in her bones. “You have done well, fagr skjaldmær min. So, so well,” he murmured into her hair.
“But the nobles, they saw me,” she cried into his chest.
“That was unavoidable, fagr skjaldmær min. You did the best you could, far better than I would have.” He pulled back just slightly, enough to wipe the tears from her eyes. “I never doubted you for a moment. Your bravery knows no bounds.”
She shook her head. “I am not brave. I am not like you.”
“No, fagr skjaldmær min, you are better. Now, I need to call on your bravery once more.”
Erik grasped her arms, leading her away from the wall. He checked her cloak and tightened it around her, hiding the rips in her gown. “Can you make it home safely for me?”
“Yes, but they may have told someone by now. If they did, the church—”
Erik stroked her cheek with his palm. “Mya, do not worry about me. I can handle this. Even if they told the church, I would happily kill the members and send them to their new god if it means I can keep you safe for one more day. Now go,” he ordered.
She knew there would be no more trying, reasoning, or attempts at convincing; Erik had made up his mind and was now on his mission, and there would be nothing she could do to stop it.
She took a few steps, then paused and turned back to him. “Come home to me,” she said.
She did not hear his reply, but she swore she saw him mouth the words, “I could never stay away.”
FOUR
Erik did not come home that night.
Mya waited for him in her room. When he did not come to her, she searched every room of the house. She even asked the staff if they had seen him, but everyone gave her the same story: Erik had left the grounds for an important meeting and would be back in due course.
That information should have made her feel more at ease, except Mya could not smell Erik’s scent anywhere. His rooms were empty and his bed was made. There was not a single crinkle in the bed sheets or a curtain pulled back too far; nothing that would indicate someone had slept there. If he had not come home, who had given the household staff that message?
The only other people Erik trusted were Gregori and Lucas. But if he had spoken to them, how much had he told them? Mya did not believe Erik would have told them about yesterday’s events, but it was possible they could have assumed what had happened. If they did not know and Mya went to ask them about Erik’s whereabouts, they would pester her until she finally gave them the truth, and then both her brother and cousin would go on the same murderous rampage Erik was now on.
She did not want that. Mya wanted her family to live blissfully unaware of her troubles, and so she bit her tongue and held her curiosity. She would simply wait. While Erik often needed to go away for a week or two at a time, he always took staff with him and made ample preparations. This spontaneity was not like him, which meant it would only be a matter of time until the staff grew suspicious.
Another day came and went, and there was still no sign of Erik. Mya stayed awake the whole night awaiting his arrival, but he never entered their house. There was no creak of a floorboard, no whine of a door opening, no sudden breeze from a window. There was nothing.
The household staff gave Mya the same answer as the day before, and she was beginning to grow frustrated. She did not know where to turn. Not only was she worried about Erik, not sleeping had wreaked havoc on her metabolism. While a vampire did not need to eat or sleep, doing so allowed their body to enter a rested state where their metabolism would be better controlled. Without those, Mya needed to consume more blood, if she did not, it would be easier for her to lose control again.
That night she drank an extra cup of pig’s blood and forced herself to settle down in bed, but her mind refused to calm, leaving her tossing and turning in a half-asleep state for hours. When she began to settle and finally drifted to sleep, she dreamed of warm arms wrapping around her.
