Adrian: Bonus Material for A Touch of Crimson Read Free Page A

ones.”
     
    “That’s part of being human,” I point
out.
     
    “But I’m not human.”
     
    Right. I consider him further. “What haven’t
you done that you would like to do?”
     
    “Take Lindsay away,” he says without
hesitation. “For a week at least, longer if we could manage
it.”
     
    “Where would you go?”
     
    “She likes the water. I like the
mountains.”
     
    “So you can fly.”
     
    “Yes.” He smiles, which is a sign of how
Lindsay is changing him. “So I suppose it would be somewhere with
mountains overlooking the ocean.”
     
    “Something to look forward to.”
     
    “Yes.”
     
    “What are you most afraid of?”
     
    “Failure,” he responds, with the same
alacrity as the previous question. “Too much is riding on me... too
many people are dependent on my getting the job done. There’s too
much at stake. And I have Lindsay now.”
     
    “You won’t fail.” I have no doubt about
that.
     
    “No,” he agrees with conviction. “I
won’t.”
     
    And really, that’s the number one thing there
is to know about Adrian right there.

The following interview appeared on
DarhkPortal.com, Oct 2011.
    Monday MANdy
    Interview with Adrian Mitchell
     
     
    Have you ever melted a trackball on your
Blackberry?
    No, but I’ve crushed a few in my fist when
I’ve been aggravated enough.
     
    What is the one thing you find most
interesting about mortals?
    Decisions are so mutable to mortals. Sayings
such as, “Rules are made to be broken.” Even when the lines are
clear and it’s apparent they’ve been crossed, emotions guide the
response to those transgressions as much as the law does. That
fascinates me. There are so few hard and fast rules in mortal lives
and so many reasons you come up with for why a particular rule
applies in one instance and not another.
     
    Looking back, now that you have Lindsay in
your life, is there anything you wish you had done differently
regarding Helena?
    I’m torn by this question. Helena came to me
for two things: permission to break a law and help in doing so. It
was rather like one police officer approaching another to ask for
permission to rob a bank, assistance with disabling the alarm
systems, and then a promise that she’d face no consequences for the
theft. Can you see how impossible it was for me to give her what
she wanted?
     
    There’s precedence for what could happen if
I’d made a different decision. Syre was faced with the same
situation when he fell in love with his mortal mate and he
responded differently. He gave the Watchers permission to do as he
did and the result was that they all fell, even those who hadn’t
taken mates. He damned them all for his mistake. In his situation,
most of the Watchers had fallen in one way or another—certainly his
permission was encouragement for some—but my Sentinels have stayed
true to their mission. Aside from Helena and me, the rest have been
inviolate. How could I risk all of them for the transgressions of
just two of us?
     
    That said, I could have been a better
friend.
     
    I had two roles with her—leader and
friend—and I focused on the first to the detriment of the latter. I
should’ve asked for more time to think. I should never have
proceeded so quickly, when I was still reeling from the knowledge
of her fall. I wasn’t thinking clearly. Then Lindsay left and I was
barely thinking at all. It’s possible Helena didn’t realize that I
haven’t escaped retribution for my sins. Lindsay, too, believed I’d
face the same punishment as the Watchers, but that’s not my fate
and I’ve always known that. Losing Shadoe over and over again,
losing Phineas, knowing I’m no better than those I’ve punished, the
sacrifice Lindsay ended up making for me... Even Elijah’s very
existence. It’s no coincidence that he entered my life at the same
time as Lindsay, wielding the power he does over the other
lycans.
     
    My punishment is insidious, like a spreading
stain, eating through