It was beautiful… and it would spell certain death for Vivienne.
“We can’t leave,” he decided.
She sucked in a breath. “That’s not smart, Your Highness. If we stay here, that creature could find us.”
“It might not.” The ruins were massive.
She kept going as if he hadn’t spoken. “We should try to locate the heart of the house now.” According to Luna’s research, that was where they’d find the water. “There’s a chance the sunlight won’t hurt me. After all, the shadows seem to be getting thicker.”
Marius’s gut twisted in warning. “No.”
Another scream rose. It sounded closer.
“Marius—”
“No,” he repeated as the hairs on his arms lifted, and he shivered. “I refuse to risk your life.”
She had quickly become one of the most valuable people in his life. He couldn’t chance losing her.
“You should,” she argued. “The sooner you get the vial of water, the better.”
He gripped the hilts of his daggers tighter, frustration running through him. Why was she arguing with him about this? “We’re staying.”
“Marius—”
“I said, ‘no,’ Vivienne.” He infused his voice with princely authority. “I refuse to put you at risk. If the creature comes to us, so be it.”
A frustrated huff came from beside him. Even though he couldn’t see the vampire, he imagined fire flashing through her gaze.
“My job is to put myself at risk to protect you,” she said, as if he wasn’t already aware of that. “That’s our relationship.Ikeepyousafe.”
The air thickened, and Marius slid one of his daggers back into the sheath.
“Is that so?” He stepped towards her, catching her wrist. She was far colder than him, but heat flared at the contact. “There’s nothing else between us?”
She hitched a breath, and a long moment passed before she whispered, “Nothing at all.”
The shaking of her voice and the trembling of her hand in his gave away her true feelings.
He leaned down and inhaled her scent. Gods, he could drown in her unique aroma. “Do you know what, Viv?”
“What?” she breathed a heartbeat later.
“I don’t believe you.” Memories of the heat that had run through him during their kiss flashed through his mind, and he bit down on the groan that threatened to rise from his throat. “Not after what we just shared.” He raised a brow. “Unless you go around kissing all the men you’re duty-bound to serve?”
Her hand tensed, and an endless moment seemed to pass.
“No,” she whispered, her words barely more than a breath. “I don’t.”
He smirked and lifted her hand to his mouth, kissing the back of it. “That’s what I thought.”
“But—”
“No ‘buts.’ My word stands, and we stay here. I won’t endanger you.”
Her hand twitched, but before she could argue, another wailing shriek rose in the air.
When silence fell upon them once again, she hissed, “Fine.”