But at least he'd be alive.
I tried to pull myself together and slowly, very slowly, I did.
Gideon would pay dearly for this. The devil would get his due. The ball was now in my court. Les jeux sont faits.
I sniffed. And other sayings appropriate to the situation.
I pushed my tears away. I'd go home to George's place and pull a Scarlett. Tomorrow was another day. My first day as a vampire without Thierry in my life.
Dammit. Here come the waterworks again.
Interlude
Toronto, Ontario, Present Day
Thierry watched in silence as Sarah left his office.
She'd left him. His throat felt suddenly tight at the thought. He'd always feared that the day would come that she would see him for the man he truly was and that she would turn her back on him forever. However, he had never realized how much it would hurt.
He'd believed that she was different. That perhaps she wouldn't leave. That perhaps she was someone he could finally, at long last, open his heart to.
That perhaps the fortune teller from so long ago had been right.
Sarah Dearly was so incredibly wrong for him. So different. So young and sweet.
It had surprised him to hear such cruel things from her beautiful lips, although he had to agree that a great deal of it was very true and needed to be said. Perhaps he should have tried to defend himself, but from what? He had hurt her. That was the truth. His fortune was drained, although not nearly as much as she seemed to think. His stubborn, estranged wife—who had her own life on a separate continent—refused to give him the freedom to truly commit to their new relationship.
All true. And all reasons for harsh words.
He leaned back in his leather chair behind the desk that would no longer be his as of tomorrow.
Sarah had always claimed to him that she once wanted to be an actress of stage and screen, but it had never worked out for her. He'd always wondered why.
But now he finally knew.
Sarah Dearly was a horrible actress.
Horrible.
Completely and absolutely dreadful in every way.
She had lied to him tonight. Completely and shamelessly.
Instead of making him angry, this realization made him happier than he had felt in centuries, if not ever.
She loved him. Of everything in his long difficult life, of this he had no doubt. His money meant nothing to her. If it had, she would have accepted his many attempts to give her spending money and then asked for more.
He loved her so deeply it made his heart ache.
She'd made every day a gift instead of a curse. Before he'd met her he'd believed that he had nothing left to live for. But now he knew that he was wrong. Now he lived for her and the promise of a future together.
It was all very clear.
It was also very clear that she was being coerced into her current actions. Forced to leave him. He frowned deeply at the thought.
It couldn't have been Veronique's doing. Of this, too, he was certain. Veronique might have many faults, but she wasn't an evil woman.
No, something else had happened. Something that had scared Sarah so badly that she had no choice but to lie to him. He had considered calling her on this during her tirade of hurtful words but had decided against it.
Something had happened. Someone else was involved with this, and he was willing to bet that it had to do with the false Red Devil.
He had threatened Sarah. It was obvious. She was afraid.
The thought made him furious. Whoever was responsible would be very sorry.
He picked up the eternity band from where she'd left it on his desk and slid it into his front jacket pocket.
Sarah had told him that she didn't love him. That it was over between them once and for all.
He'd once wished for this—for her to walk away from him and not look back. Only a short time ago he wouldn't have fought for her; fought for their relationship and for a future together. But that was before he realized how very much he loved her.
A small grin of determination turned up the side of Thierry's mouth.
He was different now.
"How did it go, Sarah?"
Gideon's low voice in the darkness of the alley outside Haven startled me. I raised my damp eyeballs in his direction expecting to see him grinning or looking proud of himself for what he'd made me do.
Instead he simply looked at me. The black scarf was wrapped around his scarred face again so all I could see were his eyes, but that was enough for me to know that he wasn't smiling.
Neither was I. To say the least.
"How the hell do you think it went?" I managed.
He studied me for a moment longer. "You've done the right thing. I will assume he didn't question your decision to end your relationship?"
I swallowed past the large lump in my throat. "No, he didn't. Are you happy now?"
"This doesn't make me happy."
"Sure. I believe that." I started to move past him, but he stepped in front of me to block my path.
"Where are you going?" he asked.
"Home. To bed."