Still, I held nothing back for Cyrus’s sake as I explained to Bella how he had drained Nathan’s blood and left him weak for the Soul Eater. “After Jacob turned him, he tormented Nathan. The Soul Eater’s blood was already diluted from a year of not feeding, and it wasn’t enough for Nathan. But he didn’t offer him any hope of relief, and Nathan was helpless. He killed Marianne and fed from her because of the hunger.”

Cyrus sat with his arms wrapped around his bent knees, his face down. When he looked up, his eyes were rimmed with red.

He opened his mouth as if to speak, but Max cut him off. “If you talk now, I swear to God I’ll rip your fucking head off.”

“Max—” I began, but Bella interrupted.

Her voice was stern yet kind, like a mother admonishing her child. “You cannot change the past by killing him.”

To my utter astonishment, Max returned to her side, still shooting murderous looks at Cyrus, but seemingly pacified.

Bella looped her arm through his. “Has he confronted Cyrus about this?”

I nodded. “They didn’t have a big, tearful reconciliation or anything, but they exchanged angry words.”

“And the Soul Eater is controlling him now, so they have an open link.” Bella nodded decisively. “It will work.”

“That’s wonderful,” I said, dabbing my moist eyes with the sleeve of my shirt. “But do you mind cluing me in on what ‘it’ is?”

“Bella thinks that if Nathan has made peace with himself, the Soul Eater can’t use the memory to control him,” Max said, the muscles of his jaw ticking as he clenched his teeth.

“He has faced two of the parties involved, but it is the third he really desires closure with,” Bella explained patiently. She hesitated, clearly waiting for my light bulb moment before she continued.

“Marianne,” I breathed. Of course, Marianne. “But she’s dead.”

“So was I,” Cyrus interjected, his voice thick with recently spent tears. “But here I am.”

“You can bring Marianne back?” My stomach clenched in anticipation of her answer. If Marianne lived again, where would that leave me?

I scolded myself silently for my selfishness. What did it matter where my path lay in the scheme of things? I should just be happy Nathan could be with his wife and be happy again. If I could give him happiness, even through my own misery, I should want to. He was my sire. It would be the right thing to do. It wouldn’t make up for betraying him with Cyrus. But I’d do it, gladly. He deserved that, at least.