Fangs, Fate & Other Bad Decisions novel Chapter 108

hapter 108

I’ve never been more aware of every single detail of a moment in my life. The tension in the room wraps itself around me like a vice, squeezing tighter with every passing second, I study her face, watching for any hint or flicker of an emotion that might tell me what she’s really thinking. But Harley’s hard to read, even now, when I can almost hear the thoughts running through her head. I’ve seen her frustrated, sarcastic, and playful. But now? Now, there’s something else beneath the surface–a quiet fear. And I’m not sure if it’s fear of me or fear of herself.

She leans her head back slightly, her eyes darting away from mine and over my right shoulder for a moment, then she brings them back, like she’s trying to avoid something. Her jaw clenches ever so slightly, and her fingers fidget with the hem of her sweater sleeve. It’s a small movement, but it tells me more than I want to admit. She’s on the verge of making a decision. I can feel it.

ach for Iser. I want to take her hand so I can ground her in this, but I can’t. Not yet. Not until I know

My heart thuds in my chest, and I want to reach if she’s staying.

1 lean into her slightly, trying to catch her eye, but she’s too busy wringing her fingers, as if the weight of my stare is too much for her to bear.

“Harley,” I murmur, my voice low and careful, ‘I need to know, What do you want? My words feel too simple, too easy, but they’re all I can offer her in this moment. I can’t force her. I can’t make her choose me. And I’m not sure I could live with myself if I did,

Her lips part, and for a second, I think she’s going to say something. Maybe even something that could change everything. But instead, she blinks, takes a deep breath, and looks up at me, giving me her full attention. “Do I need to become a vampire?” she asks, her voice steady but laced with the uncertainty I know she’s feeling, “If I decide to stay?”

1 freeze, because her question lands like a punch to my chest. It’s a question I knew was coming. One that, in every way, should have been obvious. But hearing her say it–hearing it fall from her lips–makes everything feel more real.

She’s asking if she has to become like me. She’s asking if she has to give up her humanity to be with me. So we can have a future.

I swallow hard to try to keep my composure. This is the part I knew was inevitable. It’s the one part of our bond I can’t avoid. The one thing that, no matter how much I want to shield her from it, has to happen. I can’t simply mark her with my bite. It’s not just about claiming her; it’s about her survival. She can’t live the way I do unless I turn her. It’s the nature of what I am.

But the thought of making her like me, turning her into something she never asked for, shakes me to the core. She’s human. She’s alive. She has a life ahead of her that doesn’t involve immortality or the bloodlust that’s part of my world. The idea of taking that from her–of forcing her into this–makes my stomach turn.

I inhale slowly, gathering the courage to say the words she’s not going to want to hear. “Yes,” I answer simply, my voice rough with the weight of it. “If you want to stay with me, Harley, I’d have to turn you. It’s how it works. It’s how it’s always worked.”

Her expression doesn’t change right away. She’s processing, I can see that much. But then her gaze shifts slightly, and her brows furrow in thought. She doesn’t speak at first, and the silence between us grows thicker, until finally, she inhales deeply and meets my eyes again..

“But I don’t want to become a vampire,” she says quietly but firmly. It’s a statement that cuts me deeper than I expected it would, as the weight of her words sinks into my chest like a stone. She’s drawing a line in the sand by not asking me to make her immortal, nor begging me to turn her into one of my kind.

1 nod once, acknowledging the truth in her words. “I know,” I reply softly, my voice strained. “I know you don’t want that. But if you choose to stay, if you choose to be with me, it’s something that would eventually have to happen.”

There’s a small part of me that aches at the thought of taking her humanity from her. But there’s also a part of me that burns with the desire to keep her with me. Forever.

“Is there any way around it?” she asks, her voice quieter now, but full of a strength I can’t ignore,

I wish I could tell her there is. I wish I could promise her that she can stay the way she ls and still be mine, In every way imaginable. But the trality of what we are doesn’t allow for that.

“I don’t know,” I admit, the frustration seeping through my voice despite my best efforts to keep it under control. “But I’ll find a way, Harley. I’m the vampire king after all. There has to be a way around it. I’ll do whatever it takes,”

Her eyes search mine, and for a moment, she’s quiet and still. Then her lips part as if she’s about to say something else, but the words get lost

I can feel the pull between us growing stronger. I can feel the weight of everything she’s not saying. I know she’s trying to make sense of it all

I reach for her hand, wanting to reassure her, but I stop myself. She’s not ready for that yet, this pivotal moment.

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