Page 93 of The Vampire’s Temptation

He liked Toni, mostly because she so obviously cared for Alessandra. He didn’t need to understand the psychology of body language to see that the two women shared a special bond.

It had been easier to plead his case to her since he’d already decided he wouldn’t give up. His mind was made up. He wouldn’t leave Stone Haven without first making his case to Alessandra.

“Ten minutes,” he said. “That’s all I ask. After that, if you want me out of your life, I will leave Stone Haven tonight and never return.”

A furrow formed in her brow and she opened her mouth.

He was suddenly certain she was going to say no.

That indomitable will of hers was one of the things that fascinated him most about Alessandra Fiore. Though Kenton suspected it had something to do with her father leaving. Or perhaps her mother, who’d raised her quite capably as a single parent, had instilled that forcefulness in her. Either way, he watched with fear and a healthy measure of respect as she battled her demons.

She was rightfully angry at him, but she leaned closer nonetheless.

“Sit,” she said.

The word was practically growled, and yet it was the sweetest word he’d ever heard.

Kenton wouldn’t waste any time.

“I should have told you sooner,” he said, taking her invitation. “And you’re right not to trust me.”

Alessandra said nothing. She merely looked at him in a way that indicated he’d better say his piece now or forever hold his peace.

So he did.

“I came to Stone Haven to kill you. My brothers and I have been hunting Cheld for many years.”

“I know it well,” she said, her voice flat.

“He’s gone,” Kenton said. “I can promise you that.”

She already knew he was. Alessandra hadn’t felt Rowan’s presence since the incident.

“Please let me explain.”

She waited for him to do just that.

“We woke one morning with a powerful bloodlust none of us understood. Unlike Lawrence and his family, we didn’t have the benefit of understanding what was happening. Lady Isobel was there to explain what she’d done and guided them through the darkest days. We had no idea what was happening to us or why. Uncontrolled, we killed innocents . . . and we nearly tore apart everything my great-grandfather had built. Just when we thought to flee, to leave the earldom and all of the people we loved behind, my brother Drake discovered by chance that it was possible to feed without killing.” He smiled. “He’s always been the best of us.”

At least she was still listening.

“Over time, we learned to live with it, even live somewhat normal lives. Until, of course, the people around us started to wonder why we did not appear to be aging. And, just like that, the four of us found ourselves alone, isolated from the rest of the world. We resorted to moving from place to place, trusting only in each other.”

He took a sip of his drink.

“My father was killed only a few years after we were turned by one of the original Cheld in a battle with Clan Karyn, a stake through the heart he never saw coming. My mother was never the same after that. Theirs was a love match even though their marriage had been arranged, a rare thing for nobility in the Middle Ages. Nearly two hundred years later, as my brother Rowan stood with her in front of our townhouse in London, a Cheld ripped out her heart in broad daylight. She’d wandered outside, drawn to the vampire hunter, and had been caught unaware.”

He hated to think of either incident, and bringing them up now made his stomach roil. But she had to understand. It was the only way she might forgive him.

“Gleaning what we could from the Derricksons, we began to understand what had happened—that the Balance had created what we believed to be a bloodline of hunters intent on wiping out every single vampire from the earth.”

He stopped. Had the frown lines around her mouth softened, if just slightly?

“We blamed them for the curse. For the counter-curse. For our parents’ deaths.” He shrugged. “It was easier to do that than to accept there was nothing for us, really, except an eternal life of growing close to people who would die in the end.”

“But you could turn them into vampires. If you fell in love, I mean.”

I’ve only ever truly loved once, Alessandra. You’ve helped me see that.