Read Online To Honor: Vampire Assassin League #22 by Jackie Ivie - Free Book Online

him.
    “I...love you,” he replied.
    His voice shook. His declaration made her heart fall. Something in the room beyond her view did the same thing, only it made a clanking sound. Christine’s words contained the same warble as his. It was the best she could manage.
    “Takeshi, please. Not...now. We have an emergency to handle.”
    “And you worry without reason.”
    “The room is on fire!”
    “Everything has beauty, but not everyone can see it.”
    “You’re quoting Confucius? Again? Now? Are you crazy?” she asked.
    “You must learn to trust me.”
    “Takeshi!”
    “My country has a history with fire and its consequences. I would not have built without a fire response system. Even if I had not done so, I would save you.”
    “We’re going to die!”
    “Not possible, my love. I am already dead.”
    And just then, sprinklers activated, spraying water down on everything.

CHAPTER EIGHT
    He shouldn’t have told her.
    No . He had to tell her. That was one of the rules of the Vampire Assassin League. No human could be turned unless they knew the truth and agreed. That included mates. There’d been very few exceptions. Very few.
    He should have waited.
    No . Time did not solve anything. A thing did not become easier with procrastination. It became harder, and loomed larger.
    He could have used better words.
    How? He’d been raised to be introspective. Contemplative. Take time to consider each word, weigh the consequences. There were four things that could not be taken back. The careless word was one of them.
    And all of that had equaled what?
    He had his mate in his arms, he was still sheathed within her, but she was looking at him with something indefinable in her wide dragon green eyes. He didn’t recognize her expression. It looked like a combination of shock and horror, mixed with skepticism. He’d never come up against such a conundrum, nor a more inopportune time. His body was vibrating in place. He probably still glowed with the remaining throes of paradise. He’d just experienced bliss. Boundless joy. Absolute rapture.
    For the first time in his existence.
    He didn’t know how he’d managed to communicate at all. Everything was too satiated. Almost drugged. And he certainly hadn’t weighed anything before he said it. It appeared that he should also have taken her from the room before the sprinkling system activated.
    He’d been wet many times. Bathing. Rainfall. He’d forgotten what it felt like. The silk was getting saturated atop him. The material grew chilled and clammy, stealing warmth. The smell was another issue. Wet wood smell was combined with assorted other burnt items. It wasn’t pleasant.
    He decided, in hindsight, that there were a lot of things he should have done differently.
    “Um. Takeshi? We need to have a talk,” she informed him.
    Good. She wasn’t looking horrified or shocked anymore. He couldn’t tell about her eyes. She’d moved her gaze. She appeared to be focusing on his mouth. He nodded.
    “Before that, um. We need to get up,” she continued.
    He nodded again.
    “And then we need to get dressed. Okay?”
    A strange thing happened to him. Sudden. Intense. A sharp itch stung both eyes. It was accompanied by a blizzard of shivering. Cold shivers. He hadn’t anything to go by, but could this be...an urge to weep?
    No. Never . Takeshi Asourah of the Aka-sourah Clan sobbing? Never.
    The shiver worsened. He blinked rapidly and viciously, and started sucking for little bits of air. As he watched, a tear slid from beneath the lashes of one of her eyes. That’s when he knew for certain what the urge to weep felt like. He shuddered through each small breath, in tandem with her. Takeshi nearly joined her in crying. He conquered it with sheer willpower. Called on every bit of strength. And sent his mind back to his earliest years of training.
    Takeshi Asourah was a ninja. A shadow warrior. A death dealer. The entire Aka-sourah clan had been. They’d been raised with