Page 78 of Tears of Revenge

“I am, but if it keeps you from killing, I’ll let you butcher me. I’ll heal again after all, he won’t.”

“I want to hurt him like he hurt me, make him pay because thinking of it all makes me furious. But I don’t know if that is what I want.” She sighed with annoyance spilling into her next words. “I know that doesn’t make any sense. I just don’t know how else to explain it.”

“You want him to pay, but you aren’t sure you want to do that. If you want to see him suffer, I’m happy to get my hands dirty.”

“So, this wouldn’t be new to you.”

“As I said: I can be a sick bastard.” Avalon’s silence made him feel guilty for not sharing his past, but he had his reasons. He had blood on his hands—and he’d enjoyed it. “I want to tell you who I am. Especially since you’ve been so open with me. I’m just afraid you’ll resent me.”

“I guess torturing and holding people prisoner is part of that?”

“Yes.”

“I won’t judge you or run away. Maybe before I would have been afraid of you, but I have a feeling I could hold my ground now.”

“I would never hurt you.”

“I know you wouldn’t, but just a few weeks ago it would have haunted me that you would’ve been able to do it.”

“Now you’ll just kick my ass while Lysander and Varos cheer you on,” he chuckled, the image far too vivid in his mind.

“If you want to share your past, I will listen.”

He sighed, then relented. “Before the lycans caught me, I was an assassin for my maker—the one who turned me. Vampires used to live in clans. Though they still exist, clans aren’t as present now. The New World is making it harder to hide so we don’t act as vicious and brutal as we did then. He turned me for that reason. He wanted someone he could groom to his will, to be his trusted blade.”

“Why you?”

“Because I was already full of hate. Even as a human, I had been raised to fight–to kill. I was born as a slave, trained to entertain the rich and free in arenas. I learned quickly that my life was worth nothing to them. After I had turned, Lorell allowed me to take down my previous masters. I hunted, drained, and killed them in the most gruesome way one could imagine. I only agreed to be freed by Lysander because he allowed me to make his family pay.”

“If not, you would’ve just stayed in captivity?”

“Gladly so.”

“Why are you different now?”

“The older I got, the more I could manage my anger. Varos and Lysander are quite peaceful beings, so I guess they rubbed off on me.”

“They do say old age calms people,” Avalon giggled.

He snorted. “You didn’t think I was old a few weeks ago.” Then he sobered. “Varos and I still hunt occasionally. That’s when I see a shadow of my old self again.”

“Thank you for sharing that with me.”

“So what date should I mark for you to leave me?”

“I’m not leaving you. I guess we’re all different. It’s odd because I still think in terms of human laws and societal expectations, but you grew up in another world. You’re also not human—we’re not human—so can I really judge either of us as I would have before? Probably not. I just need time to wrap my head around everything. The fact that the whole world bows at my feet still overwhelms me.” Avalon stood, but not before kissing him on the cheek. “Don’t move.”

A few moments later, she returned with two glasses and curled back up in his lap, settling in for the night.

Twenty-Eight

Avalon

She sat on Lysander’s lap, watching him scroll through a list of their properties. They’d spent two days trying to get her to decide where to go, but she was far too scared to leave the house, much less flying to another country.

“Maybe the list is too long,” Varos suggested, rounding the desk to stand behind them. “We should narrow it down.”

“Less populated areas might ease her mind,” Marcus offered.