“I found a newspaper clipping about you, Isoline,” Dr. Shore said, offering her a piece of paper.

“If it is about me having luncheon in a public house, I’ve seen it,” Isoline said, not taking the offered news bit.

“Oh no,” he said. “This is about your accident, when you first went to Thornrush.”

She didn’t realize the accident had been reported in the paper, but she supposed that the near-death of a duchess’s niece and presumptive heir would be something newsworthy. She reluctantly accepted the paper and read it.

“But I didn’t pull myself from the wreckage,” Isoline said. “Tristan did.”

“Not according to his account,” Dr. Shore said taking the clipping back. “He said that he found you in the rain, nearly frozen to death. He thinks that many of your problems might be related to your shock from the accident that you never recovered from.”

Isoline sighed and shook her head. She did have some initial fears after the accident. She remembered hesitating before climbing into the carriage when she wanted to attend church for the first time. But she had overcome her fear since then.

What troubled her more was Tristan’s account of the event. Why would he deny rescuing her from the fire? Wouldn’t that have been an even more dramatic story? But if Tristan hadn’t saved her from the carriage, then who did?

“Tell me about your dreams, Isoline,” Dr. Shore asked, interrupting her thoughts as he sat across from her, a notepad on his lap, pen at the ready.

Isoline crossed her arms and refused to look at him or answer his questions. She had been inconsolable since she woke up from her dream with Auberon. He said he would not abandon her forever, but he had abandoned her for now, and that was bad enough. She was alone and scared. She had been unable to sleep without the strange injection, so she was exhausted. Even though they offered her plenty of the thick, tasteless gruel, she was starving for something satisfying. Meat, eggs, a bit of wine.

“You have read Descartes, yes?” Dr. Shore asked. Isoline tried to remain uninterested, but in her weakened state, she knew her eyes flickered. “I believe he said something along the lines of, ‘I am a slave who dreams he is free—’”

“A prisoner,” Isoline interrupted him to correct. She knew she should remain silent, but she could not all this man to misquote her darling Descartes. “The original French was prisonnier.”

“And do you feel like you are a prisoner, Isoline?” the doctor asked as he leaned forward anxiously.

Isoline chuckled. “How could I be anything else within these walls?”

“You are a guest,” the doctor said. “Simply here for a short rest to ease your troubled mind.”

“Why do you sit there and lie to me?” Isoline asked, her hands clenching in anger. “Even if you think I’m insane, I’m not a fool. I cannot simply walk out of here of my own accord. What is that if not a prisoner?”

“Everyone here is a patient, not a prisoner,” Dr. Shore rationalized. “Once you get better, you will, of course, be allowed to leave.”

Isoline pondered over this for a moment. “And what would that look like to you?” she asked. “If I were better, how would I act differently than I do now?”

Dr. Shore paused for a moment, and Isoline thought she saw a bit of sweat bead upon his brow.

“Why don’t you tell me,” he finally said, clearing his throat. “What do you think a mentally healthy Isoline would look like.”

Isoline rolled her eyes and looked away. It was as she suspected. He was never going to release her without the consent of her father or her aunt. The doctor tried a few more times to engage her in self-incriminating conversation, but Isoline refused to take part. Finally, the doctor sighed and had one of the men in white uniforms take her back to the main sitting room where some of the better behaved women were allowed to associate. Catherine and two other women were sitting around a table playing cards and waved Isoline over.

“How did it go?” Catherine asked as she dealt everyone a new hand.

“Same as always,” Isoline said. “But I think I confirmed what I already knew—that I’m never getting out of here.”

“I’m sorry to hear that,” Sabine, a mulatto girl who had been committed by her father’s wife to keep everyone from finding out he had a mixed-race child. “At least it didn’t come as any great shock to you, unlike poor Elisa here.”

Elisa nodded, but didn’t say anything. Isoline suspected that Elisa did have some sort of mental condition. She never spoke to anyone about anything and had been in the institution for years. Though whether she had gone mad before or after entering the asylum was some matter for debate.

“If only I could escape,” Isoline lamented as she looked at her cards, but she was surprised when the other women laughed at her. “What?” she asked. “Don’t you dream of escaping this place.”

“And go where?” Catherine asked.

“There’s nowhere safe for us on the outside,” Sabine said. “We’d end up selling ourselves on the street just for a bit of crusty bread. At least we don’t have to sell our bodies for food here, just endure a little touching or kissing once in a while.”

Isoline felt a chill up the back of her spine and turned her head to see one of the men in white suits watching them. She knew that some of the male doctors and enforcers took advantage of the women here, but thankfully she had not been victimized yet. She knew, though, that is was only a matter of time.

“You shouldn’t have to put up with that,” Isoline whispered harshly. “None of us should.”

“We don’t have a choice,” Catherine said. “We live here, or we die here. That’s it.”

Isoline felt sick to her stomach at Catherine’s words because she knew they were true.

Her hope was finally gone.

“Miss Beresford.” One of the men in white called her name while she was sitting, looking out a window in the common room. She looked at him, but didn’t respond. “Come with me, please.”

She didn’t remember having an appointment with Dr. Shore today, but it was possible. All the days seemed to blur together anymore.

She followed him down the hallway, but when they went past Dr. Shore’s office, she began to feel alarmed.

“Where are we going?” she asked as her steps slowed.

“Just follow me, miss,” he said.

She hesitated, but the man gripped her arm firmly. She tried to pull away, but then he placed his finger on his lips to shush her.

“Don’t make a scene if you want to get out of here,” he whispered.

“Get out of here?” she asked, confused.

He nodded and urged her to continue following him down the hallway. They turned a corner, and he opened the door to a room she had not been in before. When she looked inside, her heart swelled.

Auberon was there.

She had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn’t dreaming. All the anger, the fear, the resentment she felt melted away when she saw him. She ran to him and jumped into his arms. He held her tightly and kissed her neck, her cheek, her lips.

“You’re here!” she cried through happy tears. “You’re really here.”

“Yes,” he said. “But we must leave now, before we are caught. Come with me.” He started to pull her toward another door, but she held back.

“Wait,” she said. “Just like that, after what you and my aunt put me through, you think I am going to go with you?”

“I will explain everything on the way,” he said. “But we must leave this place now if you want to escape.”

“Escape?” she asked, alarmed. “You mean I’m not being released?”

“Of course not,” he said. “I tried everything to get Bellamira to sign the release papers, but she refused. I paid a handsome bribe to that man to let me in here. But we must go now, before anyone realizes you are gone.”

“But…you abandoned me,” she said. “You betrayed me. Why would I trust you now?”

“I didn’t…” he tried to explain, but seemed unable to find the right words. “I acted poorly. I didn’t mean to betray you. I never stopped loving you. But I had a…a duty to Bellamira. I didn’t want to betray her either. But she has acted so badly toward you, I realized I had to make a choice. And I chose you, Isoline. For now and always, I will forever choose you.”

She felt her defenses melt away at his words. She didn’t know what would happen, but she believed his words to be genuine. And going with him was surely better than staying here.

“But my friends,” she said. “I need to say goodbye.”

“There is no time,” he said. “If you go back in there, they will know something is going on. We must leave.”

She felt torn. She knew that she needed to take this chance to escape, but she felt guilty simply walking away from Catherine, Sabine, and the others.

“I must ask you something,” Isoline said. “Are you…wealthy?”

He took a step back as though she had slapped him. “I thought you didn’t care about money,” he said.

“I don’t,” she said. “It’s not for me. But the women here, they are suffering. If I leave them, if I go with you, would you give me money to help them?”

He sighed in relief and then laughed. He turned to her and took her face in his hands. “Even now, when your own life in on the line, you would risk your own safety for someone else?”

“I would not have survived in here without them,” Isoline said. “Their friendship sustained me when I thought all else was lost.”

He kissed her forehead. “I am not as wealthy as Bellamira, but you will never want for anything,” he said. “And I will do what I can to help your friends after you are safe.”

Isoline realized she could ask no more of him in the moment than that. She had to escape this place. She could not help herself or her friends from within these walls.

“Let’s go,” she said.

He handed her a hooded cape and led her out a side door where a carriage was waiting. She was surprised to see James there, holding the door open for her.

“James?” was all she could manage to get out, she was so happy to see him.

“I hope one day you can forgive me, Miss Isoline,” he said.

She squeezed his arm as tears formed in her eyes. “Already done,” she said. He gave her a small bow as he closed the door after she and Auberon were inside. As the horses lurched the carriage forward, she let out a breath of relief she thought she must have been holding since the day she arrived at this cursed place.

She looked at Auberon, and she could see a hunger in his eyes. She felt a desire flutter in her belly. She leaned over and kissed him.

“Thank you,” she said.

He nearly growled with need as he held her face tightly and devoured her mouth with his. As they kissed, she realized that he truly was the man of her dreams. He was the man she had shared the night of passion with. The man who had bitten her neck…

“Who are you?” she whispered in his ear as he held her close.

He sighed, as though he had not wanted to have this conversation now but knew he could put it off no longer. He looked her deep in the eyes.

“I am a vampire,” he said.

She gasped and pulled away from him. “What?” she asked. “How can that be true?” She had read about vampires in books, but never imagined they could be real.

Auberon opened his mouth and she watched as two of his teeth descended into fangs. Her heart beat rapidly in her chest, not from fear, but from excitement. From the realization of the truth.

“So you were the one who sent love letters to Bellamira when she was a young woman?” she asked. “When she was first married.”

“I had nearly forgotten about those,” he said. “I didn’t realize she kept them. I thought she would have destroyed them to keep her husband from finding them.”

“And you painted the portrait of her, when she was my age?”

He nodded. “I did.”

“And you signed the rental agreements.”

He nodded again.

“How old are you?” she asked.

“I was born in the old country in 1648,” he said. That was over two hundred years ago.

“You mean Romania?” she asked, even though she knew it was a stupid question but wasn’t sure what else to say.

He shrugged. “It has had many names since then.”

“So that is how you came to me in my dreams, because you are a vampire?” she asked.

“I have many powers,” he said. “Being able to walk in someone else’s dreams is one of them, but it is not my strongest asset.”

“Do you…drink blood?” she was almost afraid to ask.

“Yes,” he admitted, and her heart stilled. She reached up as though to protect her neck, and he laughed. “I will not bite you if you do not wish it.”

“Don’t you need blood to survive?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “But I have many willing hosts.” He waved his hand toward the front of the carriage, and she knew he was referencing James and the groom.

“They let you feed from them?” she prodded further for clarification. She did not want to leave any stone unturned.

“Yes,” he said. “They are rewarded with eternal youth for as long as they want it. The vampire’s embrace is a gift. James is nearly seventy years old. Bess is over forty.”

Isoline laughed. She knew Bess was older than she looked!

“Aunt Bellamira!” she said. “That is why she looked so young when I arrived.”

He nodded, but did not respond at first. He looked pained. “Bellamira was…a special case.”

“Because you love her,” Isoline said.

“Because I did love her,” he said. “I drank her blood and she drank mine. It was supposed to symbolize our eternal bond. But she was worried about the state of her immortal soul. She ended things with me many years ago. She said she wanted to die a natural death and meet God with a pure soul.”

“So that is why she was aging?” Isoline asked. “She stopped letting you feed from her?”

“Yes,” he said. “She broke my heart. I thought we would be together until the end of the world. But I would not let her die alone. I told her I would stay by her side until she died. But then I saw your picture. You looked so much like her when she was young. I couldn’t help but fall in love with you. Bellamira found out, and she encouraged me to reach out to you. That was why I started coming to you in your dreams. When your father’s letter arrived seeking a placement for you, we both agreed it was fate. That you and I were meant to be together. Bellamira knew she would die, but she wanted me to be happy after she was gone.”

“So what happened?” Isoline asked. “Why did she turn on me? On us? Why did she send me to that dreadful place?”

“I don’t know,” he said. “She refuses to speak to me other than to say she wants everything to go back to the way it was. But I cannot take her back. I do not want to be with her anymore. I love you, Isoline!”

“But you loved her too,” Isoline said. “How can I believe you don’t love her anymore?”

“Have you ever had to watch someone you love grow old and die?” he asked her. She was not sure how to respond to that. She had not watched someone grow old, but she had watched her mother wither away, slowly and painfully.

“Not exactly,” she said softly. “But I can understand some of what you say.”

“Bellamira broke my heart,” he said. “But more than that, she has spent the last twenty years torturing me, making me watch as she slowly dies and will not let me do anything to save her. The pain she has caused me, it is something that I cannot forgive. The woman I loved has already died. There is only a cruel, heartless woman in her place.”

Isoline reached over and squeezed Auberon’s hand. “I am sorry for your loss,” she said.

He leaned over and kissed her again. He groped at her body, urging her onto his lap.

“But now, we can run away together,” he whispered in her ear. “Just you and me. We will be happy and safe.”

“But we don’t know why she turned on us,” Isoline said, pulling away. “We should try to find out, try to mend things between us. She is still my family.”

“She will be angry when she sees you again,” he said. “You should not return to Thornrush Manor.”

“But what of Bess and the other servants?” she asked. “If you are not there, they will grow old and die.”

He did not reply.

“You cannot abandon them after decades of loyalty,” she pressed.

He hesitated, but then he banged on the side of the carriage. “Take us back to Thornrush,” he ordered.

“Yes, sir,” James called back.

“We are going to regret this,” Auberon said.

Isoline pulled up her skirt and straddled his lap. He moaned as she nestled herself over his bulging manhood.

“You will never regret doing the right thing,” she said.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” he asked her as he reached between her thighs and found his way through her layers of clothing to stroke her opening. “Here, in a carriage, without being married?”

She undid his belt and unbuttoned his pants. “I have waited so many years for this,” she said. “Dreamed of you. Fantasized about you. Longed for you.”

She kissed him and pressed her body against his. She felt his naked flesh searching for hers and her whole body shuddered.

“I want you to take me,” she said. “And then I want you to bite me. I want you to make me yours.”

“As you command,” he said as he pushed her to the floor of the carriage and ripped open her undergarments while leaving her dress unmarred. He thrust into her, and she could not suppress her moans of ecstasy. As he filled her, there was some pain, yes, but it paled in comparison to the pure joy of having this man she had wanted, needed for so many years was finally fulfilling her every wish. Her every desire. Her every dream. She wrapped her legs around him, willing him deeper. Harder. Faster.

When they reached their pinnacle of pleasure, he roared and his fangs descended. He leaned over her and bit into her neck, and she screamed in pain and fright, but then she melted into him and held him tightly to her as she achieved her pleasure again and again.

Finally, after they were both satisfied, she curled up in his arms and let him hold her. York was hours away from Thornrush Manor, so they did not need to hurry and make themselves presentable again, though her face did blush at what James and the groom might have heard.

She felt so safe and warm in his arms, feelings she had not felt since Dr. Shore had dragged her away many days before. She was about to drift off when the carriage hit a large rock and jolted. She gasped and remembered the horrid accident she had been in on this very road many months ago when she first went to Thornrush Manor.

“Auberon?” she asked.

“Hmm?” he asked, as though he too had been near to sleep.

“Did you save my life?” she asked. “Was it you who saved me from the fire when my carriage crashed?”

He squeezed her tightly. “I would never let any harm come to you, dragă mea,” he said.

“Dragă mea,” she repeated. “What does that mean?”

“My love,” he said.

She sighed and nestled into his chest. “I love you, too,” she said.