“I don’t want to be safe from you.” She leaned on her cane, shifting her weight off her injured leg, which was beginning to throb.
William didn’t respond.
“Do you want me to go?” Raven’s voice trembled.
“No.” His grip tightened on the stones. “But what I want doesn’t matter. With one letter, he’s destroyed everything I’ve built.”
She reached out and grazed his sleeve. “You have to explain it to me, because I don’t understand.”
William flexed his arms, moving back from the battlement.
“If I deliver you to him, I shall lose you. He’ll deprogram you or whatever it is they do to those who were in thrall to a vampyre. You’ll forget me and he’ll ensure I never see you again.”
His expression tightened. “If you remain here, the Curia will come, if not for you then to ensure my reign ends. No single principality has ever been able to fight off the Curia. I’ll be destroyed and you’ll be rescued, if you aren’t killed by accident.”
She gripped his arm, leaning on him. “We can leave. We can flee the city tonight.”
He gave her a look that was grim in its resolution. “I can’t.”
“But they’ll kill you! If we leave, the Curia will stay away.”
“I won’t leave my people to be butchered. Even if I cared nothing for the city I have loved and ruled for centuries, I still wouldn’t leave. Your priest is determined to save you. He’ll hunt us. Eventually we’ll be found.”
“Isn’t there another city you can appeal to? Can’t the other principalities band together?”
“And risk massacres on their own city streets? No. There was a time when all the vampyres stood together. That was how we were able to broker a treaty with the Curia. But times have changed. Many of the covens are weak and all are selfish. No one will come to my aid. They’ll simply watch, relieved Florence is being attacked and not them.”
“So you’re just giving up?” She pushed him in the chest. “You can’t give up!”
William retreated a step, his eyes sparking in anger. “Tell me, if you’re so wise, what should I do? Kill him?”
“I didn’t say that. I don’t want you to kill him. I don’t want him to kill you.”
“But that’s precisely what will happen. One of us will die and it will likely be me.”
She searched his eyes. “I could go to him, beg him to leave Florence alone.”
“No. I don’t know what they’ll do to you.” He lowered his voice. “If you go to them, I may as well hand over the keys to the city. I’d rather find myself in hell than remain here without you.”
She looked down at her shoes. “I never believed in hell. But I’m beginning to change my mind.”
“Hell is knowing your fate and knowing there isn’t a damn thing you can do about it.” William pushed a lock of hair back from her forehead.
“Father Kavanaugh said he didn’t rule the Curia. He doesn’t think he has a lot of influence with them.”
A muscle jumped in William’s jaw. “That may be the case. But since the Curia is already interested in Florence, his pleas will not land on deaf ears. He’s given them a reason to march on my city, something they haven’t had since the old prince ruled.”
Raven turned her head and looked at the Duomo. She looked at the tiled rooftops and buildings, the starry night sky, and the solemn structure of the bell tower that stood nearby.
“I’m not Helen of Troy. The Curia won’t wage a war with you over me, not when they risk worldwide panic and exposure. All we need is one bystander with a cell phone, and video of the Curia killing vampyres will be all over the Internet.”
“You underestimate their power.”
“I don’t care how powerful they are. They can’t control everyone and everything. War means exposure, for them and for you. That’s why Father wants me to come to him voluntarily. He doesn’t want a war any more than you do.”
William scowled. “I wouldn’t compare me to him if I were you.”
She lifted her chin. “I may not be able to choose my death, but I can choose my life. And I choose to spend whatever time I have left with you.”
“No!” he snapped.
She gave him a look that was more wounded than irritated. “Why not? Don’t you love me?”
He rubbed his chin roughly. “Of course I love you. That’s the point. I’m trying to save you. You could return to America. I could send for you when it’s safe to return.”
Raven watched him for a few seconds, the expression on his face, his body language, and the strange emptiness that filled his beautiful gray eyes.
“You’re lying. You know that if you send me away, we’ll never see one another again. It would be too dangerous for me to return and it’s possible the Curia will kill you for outsmarting them.”
He sighed his resignation. “I am already dead. The human I was died years ago and this body took its place. I’ve lived a long life, long enough to hold hope in my arms.”
William caught a lock of Raven’s hair and tenderly wound it around his finger. His expression grew anguished. “But you, Cassita, you have your whole life ahead of you. If you stay, you could be killed.”
Her green eyes flashed defiantly. “Then we die together.”
“It’s suicide. You can’t—”