Remi walked through the gardens between Luc and Paulette’s house and the building in the back. It was formerly a slave’s quarters, but Paulette had transformed it into a lavish guest suite, complete with all the amenities of a luxury home.

Taking care so that he wouldn’t be compelled to drink from Michelle, he had fortified himself by downing several pints of blood, before steeling himself for the inevitable conversation with the woman who’d delved her way into his heart. If not for the mating, he was sure he would have stayed with her and loved her for the years to come.

Under a trestle of purple wisteria, he knocked softly on the door. When it opened, Paulette was standing there.

“Remi, come in.”

“Where is she?”

“In the lounge.” He nodded and walked inside. “I’ll be in the house with Luc if either of you need me.”

“Merci.”

Closing the door with a soft latch, he heard Michelle say, “Remi!” She ran to him, throwing herself into his arms, clutching him to her. “Are you okay? I was so frightened!”

“Oui,” he said, pressing a kiss into her hair. “But we need to talk.”

Reaching for her hand, he led her to a sofa, and they sat together.

“What is it, Remi?”

“Something happened to me.”

Laying her palm on his forehead, she said, “Are you gonna be okay?”

“You need to know… I didn’t ask for this, Michelle. I wasn’t looking for it, for anyone else.”

“Remi, what’re you saying?”

“I’ve been mated to a woman.”

Jumping to her feet, she shouted, “You cheated on me?”

“Non. I haven’t touched any other female since we’ve been together.”

“You just said you mated. That sounds like fucking to me!”

She was pacing the room, chewing on her fingernails and glancing at him every once in a while.

“This is more serious than sex.”

“Are you saying you’re in love with her?” she shrieked.

“Come and sit down.” She didn’t move. “Please.”

She took a seat beside him, looking up at him with a trembling bottom lip.

“You haven’t called me ‘chér’ since you’ve been here.”

“You know that my thirst for blood has increased.” Michelle nodded. “There’s a reason for that. An ancient one.” She didn’t say anything, but he saw the fear in her eyes. “It’s very rare for this to happen.”

“I’m scared, Remi.”

“A thirst on the level that I’m experiencing... it only occurs when a vampire’s fated bloodmate is close by.”

“You were with me, Remi! Each time it happened, I was there! Remember? Either in the apartment or the car! I’ve been with you while you’ve been suffering! I was there to help you! That means it’s me!”

He shook his head and said, “I don’t wanna tell you this. I don’t wanna hurt you.”

“You assured me you meant what you said! That losing me would be unbearable!”

“And I meant it with all my being.”

“Now you’re saying it isn’t true?”

“I don’t love you, Michelle. Not anymore. It’s out of my hands.”

“But you did love me?”

He nodded, hating himself for the way he had to hurt her to make her hear him.

“Those feelings are gone as if they never existed.”

“No! No! I don’t believe that! You’re just confused because of this weird thing that’s happening! It’ll come back!”

“Non, I’m perfectly clear on what I need to do.”

“And what’s that?”

He whispered, “I have to find Sophie.”

“Why?” Remi looked into her eyes and then away when recognition of what he’d said crossed her face. “SOPHIE? The girl I helped at Marcel’s? She’s your mate instead of me? You’ve never even met her!”

“I know, yet I can’t fight this. Her clothes that were in the laundry room…. Once I found them, I felt whole on a level I’ve never known. Her scent is what’s driving me, compelling me, to be with her. She and I belong together.”

“No!”

“Michelle, listen to me. My desire for her surpasses anything I’ve ever felt in the past... for Grace or for you.”

“What? You don’t wanna try? For me?”

“I’ll keep my promise to take care of you.”

“How can you say that? You’re ripping my heart out, Remi! This can’t be happening!”

“Before this hit me, you made me so happy, and I intended to never let you go.”

With tears streaming down her cheeks, she slid off the sofa, down to the floor, and wrapped her arms around his leg, as she begged, “Then, please, Remi! Let’s run away, somewhere that whatever this thing is can’t touch you! Where we can be together!”

“I would end up killing you, Michelle. I came close once already! I won’t allow that to happen.”

“What do you mean?”

“It was when we were driving back from Luc’s, and you thought you passed out. I was overcome, Michelle. You offered to feed me, and… I became lost in your blood. You almost died because of me. I brought you back when you went limp in my arms. You were barely breathing.”

“I don’t believe you, Remi! You would never do that to me! I told you that Paulette—”

“I did!” he yelled, and then he lowered his voice. “We can’t outrun the Thirst. It will become more and more impossible for me to control. The night would come when I would drink you until your heart no longer beats, and I would have no desire to save you. Only being mated with Sophie will give me peace.”

“Not if I’m a vampire! You couldn’t kill me then! I’d already be dead!” Thrusting her wrist up to him, she cried, “Do it, Remi!”

“It doesn’t work that way!” he shouted, slapping his thighs with his hands.

“There’s no hope?” Remi shook his head. “The cards! Ask them! Play them on me like you used to do! They’ll tell you to keep me!”

Withdrawing the deck, he looked into her eyes and said, “Hold out your hands.”

After shuffling them, he laid one on her left palm and another on the right.

With tears of his own clouding his vision, he said, “If this one is higher, we try to find a solution. If the other is, the Thirst has won.”

Turning the first, he revealed a three of clubs.

“No! Please, God! Please!”

“Don’t make me do this, Michelle.”

“There’s still a chance!”

“You know which side will lose.”

“No, I don’t! And neither do you!”

Remi remained silent after flipping the second—the king of hearts.

He dropped his gaze to her trembling hands, not knowing what else he could do, as he was unable to lessen her pain. The cards said it all. He took them back and set the deck on the coffee table.

Michelle fell over and curled into a ball, wailing, screaming, her fingers bunched in her hair, as she understood the reality of what he’d told her.

“God, please! No! This isn’t happening! It can’t be! I’ve loved him since the night we met!”

Gathering her up into his arms, he sat back down and rocked her while she cried, as the Thirst raged through his veins.

“I am so very sorry.”