Free Where Loyalty Lies by Hannah Valentine

pretending to be interested in the one piece of artwork I had on the wall, while I thought about my decision. I knew his interest was false because the painting had cost £14.99 and was the exact same picture of the New York skyline at night that millions of people had on their walls. The way Holt was studying it, you’d have thought it was the original Mona Lisa.
    “Why are you doing this?” I asked. “I know you said it’s because you think it must be difficult to live my life when I don’t understand why I am the way I am, but I don’t buy it. Nobody is this considerate to a complete stranger.”
    Holt, as intuitive as always, seemed to sense that I wasn’t going to accept any old placating answer. He sighed and rubbed his hand over his face as if he wasn’t sure where to start.
    “I’ve made many mistakes in my life, Faine. You’d think that, after you’d lived for several hundred years, you’d have learnt all the lessons life has to teach you and would always know the right thing to do, but that’s far from the truth. I’ve done a lot of people wrong and I guess I feel that doing right by you goes part way towards making up for my past sins.”
    “When you say you’ve done people wrong, do you mean...” I let my sentence trail off as I gave a not-so-subtle glance at his cache of weapons.
    “No, I don’t mean that,” Holt said. “I have killed vampires but none that didn’t deserve it. What I meant was that I haven’t always made the right decision. There’s nothing I can do to change the past and the decisions I’ve made, but I can ease my conscience by trying to make the right choices in the future. I believe that you need help and I’m in a position to give it to you. It was the right choice for me to come and find you and to help you in any way that I can, but it’s your choice to decide if it’s the right thing for you to leave your current life to come to Rillith with me. Only you can know what the right choice is.”
    With sudden clarity, I realised that Holt was right. It didn’t matter what Holt had told me, what mattered was what I was going to say. I had a decision to make. I could either accept his offer and find out for myself what was really going on, or I could tell him I wasn’t interested and carry on with my life. It was suddenly all so clear. If I went to Rillith, the whole thing could be a terrible mistake, but I hoped I’d be able to live with it, whereas if I didn’t go, I’d never forgive myself for not grasping life by the horns and seeing where it took me.
    “I’m in,” I said, suddenly full of excitement over my new decision.
    “You want to come to Rillith with me?” Holt asked, taken aback by my abrupt decision.
    “Yes.”
    Holt smiled. “I think you’re making the right choice. I have to be back at Rillith in three days, I know that’s too soon for you, but I’ll be able to come back this way in about a month. If you like, I can...”
    “It’s not too soon,” I interrupted. “I can be ready in three days.”
    That was the beauty of working cash-in-hand. Besides, if I had to wait a month, I’d drive myself insane questioning whether I was making the right decision.
    “You’re sure?” Holt asked.
    “Absolutely,” I said.
    “Well then, I actually wrapped up my business yesterday, so I’ll leave it up to you when you want to leave.”
    “Okay.” I wracked my brain, “Well, I guess the day after tomorrow?” That gave me plenty of time.
    “The day after tomorrow it is,” Holt said. “Is eleven alright with you?”
    I nodded, already feeling apprehensive.
    “Right, well I’ll leave and let you get on.” Holt stood and started re-holstering his weapons. “Not a great deal of luggage will fit in my car, but if you bring two or three small cases, we can get the rest shipped up later.”
    “Okay,” I said, already mentally packing my bags. I followed Holt to the front door and held it open while he put on his jacket.
    “If you need