Page 49 of Dark Princess Ascending

As his body tensed against hers, and his steps nearly faltered, she realized how he could have misinterpreted her words and quickly added, "I love you, and I always will. It's not about that."

The tension in his back eased. "I love you too." His thumb caressed her waist. "What do you want to talk about?"

Morelle glanced around at the other couples dancing on the tightly packed dance floor. "Later," she said. "When we're in our room with the door closed."

A smile tugged at his lips. "Anything that involves you and me behind closed doors sounds good."

She pressed closer to him. "I agree, but that'snot why I want to talk to you in private. I just need to tell you something important."

Brandon studied her face for a long moment. "I don't think I can wait that long. Would you like to take a walk with me?"

Morelle would have preferred to have more time to think about the best way to tell him, but he was right about it causing tension that would prevent them from enjoying the rest of the evening. It was better to get it over with sooner rather than later.

"The village walkways are abandoned," he added. "Almost everyone is here."

"Won't we be missed?"

His hand on her waist tightened. "We can say that you needed a breather from being surrounded by so many people."

She chuckled. "And it wouldn't even be a lie. I'm not used to so many bodies so close to me. It's overwhelming."

He took her hand. "Let's go. Just a short walk." He led her off the dance floor, through the sprawling lawn, all the way to the walkway.

Morelle took a deep breath. "I didn't realize how anxious it made me to have so many people surrounding me. I love this community and I'm grateful for how welcoming everyone is, but I need more time to adjust to the hive."

"So, what is this about?" Brandon asked.

She hesitated.

What if he was frightened by the parasitic nature of her power? What if he thought that she was dangerous and should be kept away from Annani and anyone else who had a paranormal talent?

"You can tell me anything, Morelle. I won't judge, and I won't criticize, and I will keep on loving you no matter what."

She wanted desperately to believe that, but the fear still coiled in her gut.

"Hey." Brandon stopped, turned to her, and cupped her cheek. "I'm sure that you're working yourself up over nothing."

She snorted. "Oh, it's definitely something. I'm just trying to figure out a way to say it the right way."

"Don't overthink it. I promise that there is no wrong way for you to say whatever it is that you are obsessing about."

"Okay. Here it goes. I'm a vampire."

30

BRANDON

Avampire?

She didn't even have fangs.

What had gotten into her?

Was it a faulty translation?

Yeah, that must be the issue. There was no way Anumati had vampire mythology like Earth, given that a large portion of its population was the Kra-ell, who actually were vampires.

Was that what she was trying to tell him?