Little Saint Bride [Death and the Maiden, #1]

Chapter Eleven: A Mask of Half-Baked Lies

'We both know that's not true.'

I bite my lip. 'Just have sex with me, then.'

Hadrian whips his head around to look at me. I'm amazed that a pink blush has flooded his cheeks, making him appear puffed out. He gapes at me.

'Has nobody told you?'

'Are you gay? I mean, I suspected, but--'

'Nerissa. Once I "form a bond"  with one person, man or woman-- that is, sleep with them-- then we're bound together.'

My continued puzzlement must have showed through my stumped silence, because Hadrian sighs and turns back towards me. Looking at me gently, he says, 'Forever, Nerissa.'

Oh, Holy mother of Hadrian.

'What?' I screech, and my hands ball into fist. 'I have to stay here? Forever? Bound to you? What does that mean?'

Again, Hadrian's mouth forms a smirk, but this time, it's half a grimace. 'You know, it's never happened to me, so I don't really know.'

Groaning, I flop back onto the bed, staring up at the dark, domed ceilings. The noise of the waterfall pouring is oddly calming. Perhaps that's how Hadrian kept his sanity, all these years alone, doing...deathly things. 

We don't talk for a few seconds. Then, I say, 'If you don't know, how do you know that it's forever?'

'There's lots of prophecies, books, writings...' Hadrian gestures with a glum demeanor towards his bookcases. 'I've looked for everything to end this curse. But there's nothing, nothing at all to save me from it.'

'Save you?' I ask hotly, sitting back up again with a jolt. 'Why do you need saving?'

'I have spent nearly one thousand years collecting the souls of the dead,' Hadrian replies, and he turns away from me once more. I don't need to see his face, though. I can hear pain in his voice as he speaks. 

'One thousand years? Here, alone?'

With Jefferson, maybe, but that's no company.

'Yes,' he says, 'Alone. And there's no escaping my fate.'

I edge towards him, my fingers touching the small of his back. He's cold, and my touch makes him jump. 

'Not alone,' I say, 'I'm with you.'

Please, just give me your power!

Hadrian moves my hands away. 'No, you have one month. And then you follow the waterfall.'

My hands move to touch him once more. 'I don't have to. You can pick me. I'll stay. Forever.'

Or at least until I take revenge on whoever thought it was a good idea to bring my brother back to life. 

'Have you not been listening?' Hadrian growls, and he grabs my wrists forcefully. I pretend to simper, wondering if that will stroke his ego. 'I can't force this curse on you too. Trust me, it's hell.'

'Of course it's hell,' I laugh, 'We're in hell, aren't we? I signed up for this, Hadrian!'

At the sound of his name, I see his pupils dilate. His thumbs stroke the bones of my wrist, sending funny impulses down my arms that lead straight to my chest. His mouth opens, and my eyes focus on it, recalling kissing him earlier, and how much I'd enjoyed it. 

How much he had enjoyed it. 

He leans closer. 'You signed up to be a bride. A bride is not what I need...'