Blood Gifts (10 page)

Geric stepped from the shadows and onto their
path. She felt Luke tense up, but she turned and put a hand on his
chest.

"Let me talk to him," she said. Luke glared
at Geric. She could see his jaw muscles flex.

"He can't hurt me," she said.

"Alright," Luke said quietly without taking
his eyes off Geric.

She turned and walked toward Geric. He
waited. His smirk was gone. She stopped about five feet from him
and said nothing.

"He turned you," Geric said with disdain.

"Did you think he wouldn't?" she asked
calmly.

"No. I thought he would kill you first. He's
a goody goody like that."

"He gave me a choice."

"And you chose to be one of us," Geric said.
The smirk was back.

"I chose to be like Luke," she said. "To
avoid being like you."

The smirk faded again. "I would've come back
with an army," he said in a low voice, glaring at her. "That is how
valuable you were to me."

That sent chills down her spine. He'd already
sacrificed members of his clan to try to get to her.

"I belong to Luke now," she said.
"Forever."

She saw his hands form fists at his
sides.

"You'll have to find a mate some other way,"
she said.

He seemed taken aback by that statement. He
looked surprised.

"Don't be a fool," he said. "My interest in
you was never that pedestrian. You would have been a powerful
asset. That's all. You still could be if you had the sense to join
us."

She actually laughed. "I fought to the death
to get away from you. My opinion of your clan has not changed. I
want you to stay away from us," she said.

He took a step toward her menacingly. "If you
think you can order me—" He stopped talking abruptly as she lifted
him into the air effortlessly with her psychic power. She set him
on the ground where he'd been standing before. Now it was her turn
to smirk.

He glared at her. "You are a waste of
vampirism," he said. He scowled and turned away and walked down the
path. Eventually he sped up to vampire speed and was gone.

Luke stepped up behind her. "He's still
charming, I see," he said. He put his hand on her back. "That went
well."

"It did," she said, turning around. She put
her arms around his neck, and he wrapped his arms around her waist
and kissed her.

Chapter 24

Luke and Karina were sitting on a blanket on
a mountain top far into the wilderness. She'd been a vampire for
three months. They'd decided to take a vacation together. They fed
on the blood of wild animals, none of which they killed. They swam
naked in a cold lake that didn't chill them. Then they ran up the
mountainside laughing and chasing each other. It was nice not to
have to pretend to be human for once.

Now they sat on their blanket drinking red
wine from wine glasses. They couldn't get drunk, but they could get
a little buzz. And they could still taste it. She smiled at him as
they tapped their glasses together and then drank. The stars were
so bright out here. It was beautiful.

Luke reached into a bag nearby and pulled out
the little pewter box she'd seen him with when he was packing up
his apartment months ago. He set it between them. She raised her
eyebrows at him.

"Curious?" he teased, smiling at her. She
nodded. He winked. Then he began to tell her a story.

"In 1814, a priest named Father Thomas
O'Connell, who was a vampire, turned me to save my life. He became
my friend and mentor." He paused. He seemed emotional. She set her
wine glass down and waited for him to continue.

"Before he was a vampire, before he was even
a priest, he was married to a woman he loved very much. They had
been married only a year. They had no children. Influenza swept the
small town they lived in. She died."

She felt her chest get tight. That was so
sad.

"He decided to become a priest, to help
people and do something good with his life. He knew he would never
love another the way he loved her." She could hear the catch in
Luke's voice as his emotions threatened to overtake him.

"One night, when he was alone in the church,
a vampire gang entered. They were passing through town. They
decided it would be… funny to turn a priest into a vampire. So they
turned him. Then they abandoned him. They killed four people during
their visit to that village. Then left. He was left to learn how to
be a vampire on his own."

Luke paused for a moment to look up at the
vast stars above them. "He taught me how to be a vampire humanely.
For two years I learned from him and helped with the church, helped
the village. When they found out what he was… they burned the
church to the ground with him inside."

She gasped. She didn't know if Luke and she
had a psychic connection or if it was a vampire thing, but this
story was so real. She almost felt like she was there.

"In the ruins of the church, I found only one
of his possessions untarnished. This locket," he said, tapping the
box with his finger. "It belonged to his wife. He carried it with
him for decades, town to town, church to church. Inside the locket
is a drawing of lilacs, his wife's favorite flower."

Luke stopped to clear his throat. She noticed
a tear running down her face. She reached up to her cheek with
vampire speed to wipe the tear, hoping he wouldn't notice.

He opened the box. An oval shaped gold locket
with an ornate design of flowers on the face sat inside. He pulled
it out by its long gold chain.

"Vampires don't have marriages," he said as
he stared at the locket in his hand. "They have forever ceremonies.
Which are agreements between two vampires to stay together forever.
Usually held in nature with just the couple in areas humans find it
hard to get to."

She felt butterflies in her stomach. And
warmth everywhere.

"We're in our element," he said. "We're in
love. We're alone. Karina," he said, as he looked up from the
locket and into her eyes, "will you be with me forever?" He looked
hopeful, and his eyes were a little glassy.

"Of course," she said. Her voice sounded
small and breathless. It surprised her.

He smiled. "Will you wear the locket?" he
asked.

She nodded as tears rolled down her face. He
leaned forward to fasten the locket's chain around her neck. Then
she tackled him, pushing him back onto the blanket, and kissed him
passionately. He wrapped his arms around her tightly, and kissed
her back. She pulled away from the kiss to stare down into his eyes
and bury her fingers in his short dark hair.

"You really know how to tell a story," she
said.

He laughed. "I wanted you to know the meaning
of the locket," he said. Then he kissed her gently on the lips,
leaning up. "I love you," he said.

"I love you too," she said. She kissed him
again. Then he rolled them over and lay on top of her, kissing her
neck. She wrapped her arms around him and stared up at the stars,
thinking that forever was somehow the equivalent of Heaven.

###

Also by Kara Lockley:

Alinora

www.karalockley.com