Free Angels and Hunters (Stoker Sisters 2) by Kailin Gow

luxury of coming to find you before now.”
    “How long before you simply vanish again?”
    “Sadie,” he said, bringing her hand to his lips. “I’m here for you now, and I have no intention of going anywhere. Please, trust that I have your best interest at heart. Trust that I will do all I can to protect you from Skars. I have every intention of keeping my promise to Dracule.”
    “Dracule?” Sadie repeated. Again, he was going back to Dracule. How was he tied to Dracule?
    “Yes,” Ashwin said. “Or, as the Americans say, Dracula.”
    Startled, Sadie sat back as a young waitress came to take their order. She could barely make out what Ashwin said as he ordered for them.
    “You okay?” he asked once the waitress left them alone again.
    “It’s been such a hyped up myth. And unbelievable legend.”
    “You do know you’re his descendants, don’t you?”
    Staring blindly at the blue tablecloth that covered the small table, Sadie nodded, shook her head, then nodded again. “Yes,” she said softly. “Well, we didn’t really believe it.”
    Ashwin leaned forward, urging Sadie to look at him.
    “Delilah told us, Alexis and I, but… It was just so farfetched, so unbelievable. We didn’t argue, and perhaps Alexis believed it right away, but I just… it doesn’t make sense.”
    “I admit there is something rather amusing about the Stoker/Dracule connection.”
    “Yes. Father’s brother was always thought to have such a fertile imagination. The fabrication of such a beast, such a man. He knew how to reach inside the heart of every woman and create immense fear all while…”  Her voice trailed off as she thought of the romantic mystique that so surrounded Dracule.
    “All while evoking primitive emotions many women refused to admit.”
    She smiled, remembering the number of times she’d heard young women yearning to be bitten, yearning for the touch of a man such as Dracule.
    The book may have been romanticized, the man not so much. Dracule was far more intent on maintaining the power he had over the vampires he ruled than seducing young women.
    “Mother and Father. What was their connection to Dracule? How did we come to have such normal parents?”
    “Dracule wanted you to be raised away from the lifestyle he was condemned to. He knew of your mother through the hired help he had at his manor. She was newly married then, and, sadly, barren. Her misfortune turned out to be the answer to Dracule’s problem.”
    “If he did all he could to ensure we would be raised as normal human beings, why did you turn us? Isn’t that contradictory to what Dracule wanted for us?”
    “I’ve questioned that a thousand times. But you were about to die, Sadie. That night, at the fire, your breathing was shallow, your pulse barely distinguishable, and help was miles away. Would Dracule prefer I allow you to die, right there in my arms, while I held within my power the ability to give you immortality? Perhaps, but I wasn’t about to allow it to happen. I couldn’t.” He closed his eyes, his lips pressed into a pensive and solemn line. “I loved you already then. It was selfish of me, I know, but I didn’t want to let you go.”
    Sadie brought her hand to his cheek and traced a line over his jaw and down his neck. “I’ve often been confused about the sudden transformation Alexis and I underwent. We had no guidance, no way of knowing what we were meant to do, to be. And, yes, there have been moments I wished I’d never met you, but…” She nodded as she thought of the years since she’d last seen him. “I’ve more often found myself thankful. I don’t bemoan the fate I met. I’m grateful.”
    He looked at her, his love evident and clear.
    “You turned Alexis, too,” Sadie went on. “Did you love her as well? Do you love her?”
    Ashwin cocked his brow and smirked. “I’ll admit I may have been confused for a while. Your sister could be very convincing when she chooses. But, no, I’ve never loved