Page 55 of A Vow of Shadows
My hand reached for her, settling upon the small mound of her foot beneath the blanket.
She blew out a breath and a single tear traced a line down her shadowed cheek. “Do you think I’m a fool?”
“Not at all,” I answered honestly.
“But I’m selfish.”
“You are not selfish for wanting to live.”
She stayed silent for a long time. “Was it all for naught?”
“What do you mean?” My brow furrowed as I leaned closer.
“It is the nature of living things, is it not? That we should die. Who am I to prolong the inevitable? Who am I to alter fate’s design?”
My thumb stroked small circles atop her foot. “It is human nature to desire control over your destiny. Do not let Sam or anyone else tell you otherwise.”
“You did the same when you bargained with Death.”
I nodded slowly. “Livia and I had been engaged since we were children. Our parents arranged it when I was eleven.” Katrin shot me a look, and I shrugged. “I didn’t mind. We grew up together, and I loved her.Everyoneloved her, and I thought I wasin lovewith her.” I shook my head to clear the memory. “She was bright and joyful, kind and beautiful. She was everything I wasn’t. But then she fell ill.”
When Katrin’s hand landed on mine, I didn’t pull away.
“The doctors had done all they could for her, but it wasn’t enough. You know the rest. I made a fool’s bargain, but it did the job. It saved her, and I never saw her again.”
“Would you do it again?”
“What?”
“Knowing what you know now, would you sacrifice your life for hers again?”
I considered my answer carefully. “I don’t regret what I did, though I’ll always wish there could have been a way for us to be together. I wouldn’t choose differently.”
“I would.”
Katrin and I startled apart at the sound of Sam’s voice through the doorway. His dark form passed through the beads a moment later.
He’d donned his top hat and cloak, looking more aristocrat than reaper.
“Duty calls,” he explained. “You heading out tonight, Van?”
I shook my head, glancing at Katrin fast enough to catch the relief that flickered across her face. I’d felt the call of a soul since the sun had set, but I wasn’t keen to leave her without protection. The soul could wait.
Sam raised a brow knowingly but didn’t comment. Strolling from the room, he called over his shoulder “I’ll be back before sunrise.”
I stood to follow. “I should let you rest.”
“Evander.”
The note of panic in Katrin’s voice halted my feet.
“Will you stay with me? Just until I fall asleep. Please? I don’t want to be alone right now.”
I scrubbed a hand over the rough stubble on my chin, a refusal poised at the tip of my tongue. The blanket draped over her form accentuated the curve of her hip, the dip of her waist. Her cheeks flamed at my open perusal, but she didn’t rescind her request, didn’t apologize for her boldness.
My arguments died before I could voice them. I loosed a breath and motioned for her to move over. “Make room, then. I’ll not perch at the foot of the bed for hours like an animal.”
She pushed back on the bed unable to hide her smile of triumph.