Fated to the Vampire Prince

13 • Choisir

One would think so.

While I struggled with the unfairness of my situation, a cold finger of dread wrapped itself around my heart, unsettling me. My vampiric senses heightened, and I listened for any movement around the bathhouse or within it but found nothing. 

Nothing but this building sense of dread. Something was wrong. Very wrong. But what? 

My gaze snagged on the gem dangling from my neck, and I noticed the light in my bloodstone had gone out.

I held it up, turning it back and forth to see if my eyes were playing tricks on me. But no. It was no trick. The light had gone out for the first time in twenty years.

But that would only happen if...

I turned, searching for Claire's figure in the water, but didn't see her figure amongst the steam.

Had she...?

I didn't allow myself to finish the thought. I dove underwater, swimming hard, when I saw her beneath the surface, unmoving.

Dread's cold fingers squeezed my heart until I felt sick. 

This was my fault. I was too distracted. Too in my own head to notice her struggling.

I got my arms around her and clutched her to my chest as I climbed out of the pool. Water dripping from our naked bodies. She was limp in my arms, and that scared me more than I could quite understand.

"Claire! Claire, can you hear me?"

Her head lolled to the side, bouncing off my chest, but she didn't answer.

I laid her down on the warm tile to assess her condition. Her lips were blue, and her chest was still. If I didn't breathe air into her lungs and restart her heart, she was dead.

But sealing my lips to hers would solidify the mate bond, and there would be no turning back. I'd never be able to deny her. I'd be at her whim.

Which wasn't what I wanted.

The longer I stared at her lifeless face, the more restless I became. I had to do something to save her, but there were serious repercussions if I chose that path.  

For the longest second of my life, I considered letting her go. If I did nothing, I'd be free of her. Of the temptation. Of the problem she presented. Of all the ways she could ruin the life I'd built for myself.

Water beaded down my chin and from the tips of my hair, dripping onto her pale cheeks like tears.

My heart twisted with anguish, and I knew I couldn't let her die. She was a complication in my life, but I couldn't be responsible for her death. I had to save her. 

Lacing my fingers together, I pressed them to her breastbone, compressing her chest and forcing her heart to beat. After as many as I dared, I pinched her nose and lowered my lips to hers. Hovering over their perfect bow shape for just a moment, just long enough feel the weight of this decision, before carefully tilting her chin back and fitting my lips to hers.

The tingle of magick buzzed between us, and it felt like my whole world grinded to a halt. Then slowly, my world began rotating around her, like she was the earth and I was her moon.

Some primal urge tore through me. Something I couldn't fight. 

Mine. She was mine.

And she needed to live.

I gave her two full breaths before going back to compressions.

"Come on, Claire. Wake up. You have to wake up."