I woke up a few hours later. The fire had been out for quite a while by then. I looked for Bastian beside me but without finding him, I imagined he had left long before. I took my coat off and carefully folded it on the chair, I did not want to crease it rather I should have returned it as soon as possible.

By now it was daylight so I imagined that Bastian had returned to his house before dawn. Now that I knew his true identity I had begun to understand his behaviors better. I heard the front door open a short time later and saw my brothers returning from work.

Paul's death had been a very hard blow to them as well; they said goodbye to me and went to wash up as much as they could. I started to prepare something to eat for them but we consumed the meal in silence. None of us had the courage to be happy, as if we were wronging Paul if we smiled.

Memories of the previous night traveled in my mind, however, I still wondered about Bastian's motivations for rescuing me. I kept wondering why he had chosen to reveal his secret to me even though we had not known each other long.

As the days passed, we began to get over our grief and returned almost to who we were before. I worked hard for Lady Bipot and went to the houses of the nobles for deliveries more and more often. Bastian hadn't shown up for a long time now, so I didn't know whether to worry or not but I didn't have time to go and investigate.

We were overwhelmed with work to be completed, clothes to be packed and delivered in a very short time. Ladies of high society were very pleased with our work and kept mentioning the name of our tailor shop to everyone.

New customers were arriving every day and one of them was Mr. Blastor. He was part of high society and his mansion outside London was one of the most beautiful I had ever seen. I went to him to deliver the last of his orders and was totally fascinated by both him and his house.

Mr. Blastor was a handsome, brown-haired, hazel-eyed man in his thirties. He showered me with compliments from the first time we met in the tailor's shop, he liked both how I worked and the way I looked.

I was flattered by his compliments but I didn't give him much thought, I knew that someone like him wouldn't consider someone of my social rank. However, I accepted all his compliments with pleasure, even if my mind often took me back to Bastian.

One afternoon I was at Mr. Blastor's house, and I heard some of the maids talking about Bastian. Apparently, the two had known each other for some time but they were certainly not friends, on the contrary, I think they hated each other to the core.

They had very different political thoughts, but there was more to it than that. The questions discussed the fact that they had not seen Bastian Sonil at any of the political meetings or hunting trips.

I honestly began to worry too. In fact, he hadn't shown up for almost a month now, so to speak. He had not gone to the tailor's shop, he had not sent me any letters or replied to mine. I decided that as soon as I had some free time, I would go to his house to check on his condition.

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Under the pretext of running some errands for my family, I left Mr. Blastor's house and made my way to Bastian's house. By now my concern was skyrocketing and I had to make sure of his condition. By the time I arrived, it was already evening and I wasn't sure if anyone would open the door for me. Fortunately, the usual maid was already at the doorstep.

I greeted her and asked her about Bastian but she didn't answer, she blocked my way and denied me access. This made me even more worried, but despite my best efforts, I couldn't get over it.

I reluctantly left, but the maid promised to tell Bastian of my visit. I moved away from Bastian's house, but not by much. I would have waited until the maid had gone to sleep to try to get in. When I saw the lights go out, I sprang into action.

I entered the garden trying to make as little noise as possible and entered through one of the side doors. The burgundy dress helped me to blend in at night but it got in the way of my movements. Inside the villa I tried to orient myself according to my memory.

I hadn't visited it completely but I imagined that, on the second floor, there were the rooms. So I went upstairs. I walked slowly up the steps to avoid creaks that would make me discover. A soft light came from one of the rooms at the end of the dark corridor and I made my way to it.

The door was ajar and I didn't hear any voices coming from inside, only a few indistinct moans. I pushed the door lightly and entered the room. Bastian was lying on the bed, his shirt untied and open revealing the scar on his chest.

However, it was another wound that caught my attention, it was a cut on the side that was bleeding profusely.

«Bastian» I called softly.

He turned to look at me, he wasn't wearing his usual mask and his face was wonderful despite the deep scar on his eye.

«Bastian, what happened to you?» I asked trembling.

He tried to get up but only ended up bleeding more.

«Don't move, I'll help you» I almost implored him with those words. I rolled up the sleeves of my dress and helped him lean against the headboard.

You could tell he was struggling to stay in that position, but it was hard to change his mind.

«Miss Coral...» He said, his voice breaking with pain, «Why are you here?» he asked with a whimper.

«I was worried about you, you've been gone for a long time» I admitted worriedly.

I explained to him that I had broken into his house; it was my concern that made me act that way.

«You don't have to worry Coral it's nothing serious» he tried to downplay. I knew better and there had to be something else behind it.

«Aren't you supposed to heal faster than normal people?» I asked both intrigued and worried.

«Theoretically, yes» Bastian admitted in pain, «but not when you are injured with ash wood» he explained. As I understood it, that particular type of wood was capable of causing quite a few problems for vampires.

«What can I do to help you?» I asked. I wanted to help him, he had already saved me on several occasions so it was the least I could do.

«You know what I would need to heal» Bastian murmured, «but in this condition I certainly cannot go out to feed myself» he continued, pointing to the wound that was bleeding despite the bandages.

I took a deep breath and took courage before saying those words that I knew would change my life forever.

«Use me, I will be your cure for this time» I suggested without thinking of the consequences that might be involved.

«Are you sure about what you just said?» asked Bastian, taking my arm and pulling me to him.

«Yes I am sure» I said without allowing fear to take over. After my words I felt only Bastian's teeth sinking into my flesh.