My Fated Mate Chose My Sister, So I Claimed the Vampire Heir novel · Chapter 16 of 24

Chapter 16: Thistle

"He knew in October," I said.

"He knew every week I lied to him." Evander locked the study door behind us. "He let me, so I'd feel safe, and he sat in his carriage and waited."

"Why wait?"

"Because he wanted to see what I'd do for you."

He crossed to the desk and braced both hands on it.

His coat was still torn across the ribs, and the scar underneath was bright pink.

"I need to tell you the rest," he said. "I told you my mother was kept in the cellar. I didn't tell you how I know she wasn't ill."

I sat down on the arm of the chair.

"Tell me."

"When I was four, she vanished from the cellar for one night. The bolts were still locked. I woke up and found her in my bed, soaked with rain, with her hands torn open."

"Where had she been?"

"I never found out. My father found out." His voice flattened. "After that night he stopped feeding her properly. She lasted two more years."

I could not say anything.

"Before she died, she gave me a needle case with a thistle sewn on the lid. She said, When you smell thistle on someone, don't let anyone take them."

My chest hurt.

I went to my bag by the door and took out the gray wool blanket, with the white thistle stitched in one corner.

I had carried it through every house I ever slept in.

I put it in his hands.

He did not unfold it.

He just held it against his chest and shut his eyes.

"Her stitch," he said. "Her left-handed stitch. It slants the wrong way."

"She put me at the tree line."

"She got out of the cellar for one night, and she took a baby with her." His voice broke. "A human woman had hidden in the woods and had her child alone. My mother knew where, from the servants' gossip. She went to bring the baby somewhere safe."

← Chapter 15 · All chapters · Chapter 17 →

Want to keep talking to characters like these? Chat with AI romance characters: AI Boyfriend · AI Girlfriend · Dark Romance · Fantasy Romance · BL (Boys’ Love) · Billionaire Boyfriend · Mafia Boyfriend · Possessive Boyfriend · Hockey Boyfriend · Older Boyfriend · K-Drama Boyfriend · Anime Boyfriend · Vampire Boyfriend · Werewolf Boyfriend · Demon Boyfriend · Fae Romance · GL (Girls’ Love) · Anime Girlfriend · Goth & Alt Girlfriend · Gamer Girlfriend · Tsundere Girlfriend · Fantasy Girlfriend