Total pages in book: 36
Estimated words: 32116 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 128(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 32116 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 161(@200wpm)___ 128(@250wpm)___ 107(@300wpm)
“I was confined in the dark, cramped space, with only my thoughts as company. I became consumed with guilt over what happened to the poor woman. If I had told my father about myself sooner, perhaps I could have spared her life.”
“You can’t think like that,” I finally cut in. “You had no control over what your dad did. He cooked up that scheme all on his own instead of minding his own damn business. He alone killed that woman. You tried your best to stop him. There’s nothing else you could have done, and there is nothing for you to feel guilty about.” I couldn’t stand the thought of Viggo beating himself up for his father’s actions.
He gave me a small, sad smile. “Thank you, beloved one.” He leaned forward and kissed my forehead, nearly making my heart beat right out of my chest. “Over time, my sorrow turned to fury towards my father; especially when he would visit.”
My jaw dropped in disbelief, and Viggo nodded again as he said, “In the beginning, he often came to my grave to tell me what a disappointment I was to the family and our race. He said he told the woman’s family that I had killed their daughter in anger before attempting to murder my father; that he had no choice but to kill me in defense. No one knows I’m still alive.
“He said he was glad he didn’t actually kill me, because I deserved to eternally dwell with my shame. He wanted me to see that Fate would never dignify my depraved desires with a mate, and that I would never be anything more than a terrible memory. He would laugh as I pounded on the lid of the box, knowing I couldn’t get out. Every day he would spit on my grave. One day he told me I was no longer worth the trouble, and he never came back.”
“Oh, hell no!” I roared, and Viggo blinked in surprise. “No one treats my man like that!” I’d finally found someone who wanted forever with me - granted, he was a blood drinking vampire, but I’d come to terms with that surprisingly quickly. The point was, I’d fight tooth and nail for him. “Point him out to me and I’ll do more than remove his balls. I’ll remove his fucking head and piss on his grave.”
Viggo’s eyes grew dark once more, and I worried I’d gone too far. He gripped both of my cheeks in his strong hands and growled, “I love your fiery spirit.” It was a welcome change; every other man I’d met thought I was too much to handle, but Viggo was totally on board with my level of crazy. “The only things that kept me going were my desire to find you, and to seek revenge on my father.”
“Let’s do it,” I agreed with a determined nod. “Let’s find him and fuck his whole world up.”
Viggo gave a confused smile. “You do love that word.”
“It’s a good word,” I shrugged, making him grin brighter. “So, how do we do it?”
“I don’t know,” he replied with a sigh. “For as long as I’ve imagined it, I cannot find an answer. Like I said, he is much stronger than I am.”
Shit. If he was stronger than Viggo, I had a snowflake’s chance in hell against the guy. All I could do was cuss him out. It would feel nice, but then I’d undoubtedly get my head chopped right off.
“I suppose we can’t tell the police about a woman he killed over a hundred years ago,” I lamented. “That would raise some red flags.”
“The police are not an option,” Viggo agreed as he shook his head.
“You said the same thing when I was coming to get you from the cemetery,” I remembered. “Is it because of what you said about protecting your identity?”
To my surprise, he shook his head again. “The police know all about our identity.”
“What? How do they know about you guys but everyone else is clueless?”
“Humankind as a whole are afraid of what they do not understand,” he replied. “Fear leads to anger, anger leads to hatred, and hatred leads to action. In order to keep our species safe, it is necessary to keep our existence private. We never would have informed the police if it weren’t a matter of survival.”
I furrowed my brows and he explained, “Long ago, vampires were faced with a dilemma; they needed to feed on human blood to survive, but they feared persecution and retaliation. So, they approached law enforcement with a proposition.
“They vowed to only feed on criminals, as long as the police did not retaliate. The police pushed back at first, but finally agreed after a show of strength by the vampire race. Over time, the relationship grew more beneficial to law enforcement. As the population grew, so did crime.