Chapter 83

Dimitri let out a long, wordless breath and collapsed against her, hugging her like the world was ending, like he never wanted to let her go again. "I'm a fool," he said. "And an asshole. You ought to run as far away from me as you can. I am so sorry."

"If I run, you run with me," Blanca muttered. "Are you all right?"

He held up his right hand. It looked red and a little swollen. "Feral bite," he sighed. "Nothing I can't handle."

Blanca took his hand in both of hers, cradling it, and put it gently on her cheek. He was staring at her with a hungry expression, one that seemed to her to be more about hope than anything else.

"Just like that," he said. "Just like that, you're going to let it go. All the things I did. What I said. God, Blanca…"