Indulge Read Free Page B

only promised to ask, so don’t get too excited. I don’t remember him being very lenient, but maybe time has changed him.”
    “Thank you, thank you.” I held myself back from giving him another bear hug. We had enough problems and causing a car accident didn’t need to another one of them.
    The thought of getting to talk to Robin again filled my heart with renewed hope. I could only imagine what she thought when she saw the state my room was left in. Even worse when Dmitry told her what happened. That he and Arrick walked in on Ana drinking me nearly dry and Luka lying on the floor motionless. Poor Dmitry. He had left to get me help only to return to find me missing. Would he think that Arrick took me or that I ran away? I wondered if he would come looking for me, thinking he needed to save me from Arrick.
    I smiled inwardly at the thought of Dmitry coming to my rescue, even though I didn’t need rescuing. I envisioned his devilish smile in my head and the way my body heated when we danced at my coronation ball. Wow, I really was in trouble. My feelings for Dmitry were stronger than I let myself believe. I missed him as much as I missed Robin, if not more. If I got to speak with her then I would have to give her some kind of message that she could pass onto Dmitry to let him know I was okay.
    “What are you thinking about?” Arrick asked wryly, obviously sensing the passion in my emotions.
    “My friends.” Technically I wasn’t lying. They were both my friends. I just had deeper feelings for one of them.
    “Right…” Arrick sounded unconvinced.
    “Whatever. Just get us to Naos, so you can ask permission to let me contact them, okay?” I huffed and flipped on the radio only to find static.
    After a good half hour of silence, Arrick cleared his throat. “In about a hundred more miles," he said, “we should be able to pick up the radio signals of Naos. They will be a little fuzzy, but you might be able to get some stations.”
    I could tell he was trying to make peace so I smiled at him. “Thanks. So what are you going to do when we get back to Naos? You won’t have to watch over me anymore. You can live your own life.”
    He looked hurt by my words, which surprised me. I had meant them to be kind. He couldn’t have enjoyed giving up his life to pretty much babysit me for eighteen years.
    “This is my life, Claire. You are my purpose. Before I was assigned to you I was an ironworker. I dreamed of joining the Blood Guard. Then you were born and the entire region rejoiced at the miracle. Humans, vampires and Blood Mates from all over came to Naos to offer themselves into service. I was one of them.”
    “That just sounds so bizarre.” I had said it more to myself than to Arrick. I had never heard of vampires having children before. In fact, up until now I had never known it was possible. Apparently it was. And I had no clue what the Blood Guard was. Some kind of army?
    “Not bizarre. Just rare. It is a miracle that Nyx has passed only to the Zakarians.”
    “Sounds like Nyx plays favorites.” I could tell my comment came off as snotty when Arrick failed holding in a growl.
    “Must you always look at things so one dimensionally? It is not playing favorites,” he said, his tone rising in pitch. “It’s her granting the faithful a gift, so that they may live a full life even with such a great sacrifice.”
    “What great sacrifice is there for someone who will live forever?”
    Softer now, Arrick said simply, “Family.”
    I had hit a sensitive nerve with this subject and I made a mental note to be wary of it in the future. Growing up, I knew nothing of Nyx. But I had to admit that I probably wouldn’t have survived my transformation without her. Connecting with her as I locked onto the limitless night sky was probably the only thing that kept me alive during the most painful experience of my life. Well, one of the most painful.
    The more I thought about Arrick’s answer, the more I realized it