


“Eternity is a long time to spend alone, without others of your kind.”


“I have a… proposition to make with you, Lady Belcourt.” Cain says, shoving his thick black fringe back, revealing the Mark of Cain freshly painted on his forehead. She thinks it’s not going to disappear for a while. She knows she’s right the moment he tells her what he wants.
“Train me to be a vampire, and a hunter… and I’ll grant your wish.” He finishes, a bit doubtfully in the end, but he says it anyway. She stares at his face, searching for something, and finds a lot of things. Despite his threats and the corpses behind him, she guesses he really is just a boy after all.
But then she shifts her attention to the floor, finds her guards and her family clan all dead, and she inhales sharply although she doesn’t need to. The lights are broken and there’s burning mark all over the walls, down to the floor, reaching the ceiling. It’s the Mark of Cain.
It’s the first time in a long time that Camille feels like she’s going to break. Her new recruits are all gone, and she has Cain—the Black Raven, the Daylighter, formerly known as Simon Lewis—to thank for it. He smiles like an angel falling from grace, makes a deal with her better than the crossroad demons, and she really has no choice at this doesn’t she?
“You hold your end of the bargain…” she starts, voice soft, knees buckle, body trembling. “And I’ll hold mine.”
Cain smiles, and reaches for her face.
“It’s a deal.” He says before crushing his lips to hers.