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A sob broke free from me. I stepped in front of him, trying to force him to look at me. He couldn’t mean any of this, not after what he’d said. He loved me. I loved him. But Julian’s eyes looked past me. “Why are you doing this? We love each other.”

“Sometimes you are so human,” he said in a brittle voice. “I suppose it’s easy to believe love is enough when your life is a blink of an eye.”

“Love will be enough.” I believed that. Why couldn’t he? “We’ll find a way.”

“You weren’t meant for my world.”

“I’m meant for you,” I said in a soft voice. He was my mate. Maybe it wasn’t official, but that didn’t change anything for me. Not the way I felt about him. Not what I was willing to do to be with him. But staring at him now, I knew something had changed for him.

And then he delivered one final blow. “I can’t marry a human. I can’t marry you.”

“Because they told you that you couldn’t?” Was that why Sabine had been here?

“Because I won’t. You were just a pet. I always knew that.” His words sliced through my heart. I couldn’t breathe. I shook my head, unwilling to believe him. He couldn’t mean that.

I reached for his hand and clasped it. Julian didn’t pull away. His eyes shuttered, his body stilling under my touch. He understood what I was saying.

If it was true–if he didn’t want me, he wouldn’t let me touch him like this. He’d told me it was the most intimate act for a vampire. I knew then he was lying. I just didn’t understand why. I opened my mouth to demand an answer.

Instead, Julian stepped away and yanked his hand from mine, his rejection strong but not violent. My reaction was the opposite. I crumpled into a chair, sobs racking through me. He loved me. I was sure of it. Knowing that only made the pain more acute. He couldn’t love me as much as I loved him. If so, he wouldn’t be able to endure this now. He wouldn’t be staring at me with a placid, unyielding gaze. He wouldn’t be walking away.

“I’ll arrange your travel.” And then Julian left me there to pick up the pieces of my broken heart.

I sat there for a few minutes or perhaps hours. I lost track of time until Jacqueline peered into the room. I looked up at her, my face saying what I couldn’t. She rushed over, dropped to the ground next to where I sat, and wrapped her arms around my shoulders. I wasn’t crying anymore. I didn’t think I could find another tear inside me. Not for him.

“Poor darling,” she murmured, “I will never understand males.”

Behind her, someone entered, and for a moment, my heart soared with hope. It crashed when I spotted Sebastian hanging back. He watched us silently. He didn’t look surprised or concerned, only somewhat wary. If he had an opinion on his brother’s actions, he kept it to himself.

I’d been stupid to think I could fit into his world. Not when his entire family refused to give me a place in it. Why was he even here?

“The plane is seen to,” Sebastian said, answering my unspoken question. “We can leave when you’re ready.”

He’d been summoned to take me away.

The last of my hope died. Julian wouldn’t even take me to the airport. It was too much to process. But I knew one thing. My eyes drifted toward the ceiling to where my belongings waited. “We can go now.”

“You’re already packed?” Jacqueline asked, her eyes narrowing with suspicion.

“I don’t want any of it,” I said softly. I couldn’t stomach the idea of being reminded of the future I’d lost–the future Julian had ripped away from us.

“Nonsense.” Jacqueline got up and brushed off the knees of her leather pants. “You’re taking all of it and some of his shit, too. I’ll pack.”

I didn’t try to argue with her. She was probably right. I should take it all. I didn’t know what had happened to my mom, but I did know that there would be more medical bills now. I could sell the designer clothes to help pay for them. It would only cost me a bit of my soul each time.

Jacqueline disappeared up the stairs, and I waited. I wasn’t even certain what I was waiting for. Sebastian stayed uncharacteristically silent. He didn’t crack a joke or smirk.

He knew something. I was sure of it.

But I couldn’t care anymore. The real world tugged at me, dragging me back to the life I was meant to live. Maybe this had all been a dream. My mother needed me. I wouldn’t waste more time on a man who broken my heart.

When Jacqueline reappeared, hauling an overstuffed suitcase, I was already on my feet. I walked toward the door. I’d just reached it when the sound of shattering glass stopped all of us. My body tried to turn toward the noise, and the man I knew made it. I closed my eyes and refused to allow myself to look. Still, I let myself linger a moment as though he might appear on the stairs.

But Julian didn’t come after me.

He didn’t say goodbye.

Neither would I.