Choices (The Forever series, Book Four) (13 page)

The fans all whoop their approval and off we go, chuckling
to ourselves, back to our suite.

I take a moment to relight my candles and I feel better, but
I realize I haven't had a nightly feed and mention it to Cole.

"Nightly feed?" he asks, confused.

I look away slightly embarrassed as I say, "I have to
feed twice a day now. It keeps me calm."

He crosses to the bar area and pulls out an unassuming
bottle from the fridge. "Emergency stash," he says and hands it to
me.

"You are perfect." I smile at him and gulp it down
as he glows under my praise.

"Better?" he asks as I hand the bottle back to him
to dispose of.

"Much. Thank you." I remember to text Nico and
then I put my iPhone on the dock and turn the music on. I have quite an
eclectic taste due to my many years on this planet and Cole loves the change
from song to song.

"Now come here, my love. I have missed you in my
bed."

"Our bed," I say sternly and he chuckles.
"Yes, our bed," he agrees.

He takes me to our bed, slowly and seductively, walking me
towards the bedroom with light kisses to my mouth, my chin, my neck. Disrobing
me of my dress, his hands are all over me. "God, I missed you, Liv. I
can't bear this time apart," he murmurs and I melt under his touch, under
his words. "I need you," he whispers and I let him push me back onto
the bed as he strips off his clothes. He crawls over me, still dropping little
kisses all over me and he is driving me crazy.

"Take me," I whisper and he moans in delight as I
let him have his way with me. My sire self has calmed a lot since I married
Cole. I no longer feel the urge to dominate and take control of him. In fact, I
quite like that he takes over and does everything he can to please me. I wonder
if that has something to do with my Dragon Powers. My mother mentioned that the
Dragon way is very different to the Vampire way and that I may see changes in
my relationships due to my new attitude towards such things. Although I can't
say that I have wanted to be true to one as is supposed to be the way, I have
definitely changed in regard to how I expect to be treated: like a Queen. Which
is, well, what I am. I am languishing under his ministrations and he revels in
being able to please me so it seems it works out for both of us. He rises above
me and slowly enters me as I writhe underneath him in rapture. He slowly pulses
in and out of me and he is causing the utmost pleasure to shoot through me.
"Oh yes, baby," I murmur and he responds by speeding up and pushing
me over the edge. He groans as he feels me coming around him. "Christ, I
love the feel of you," he says as he continues to thrust in and out of me
at a steady pace that makes me want to die right there in his arms. "Take
over," he whispers and I don't hesitate. Rolling us over--I still like to
take control when he asks-- I ride him slowly, causing him incredible pleasure
as I don't allow him to set the pace. I slide over him and I can feel him hard
inside me, wanting release. I pull him up and drop my fangs, wanting to taste
him, and he pulls my head towards his neck, wanting it too. He comes almost as
soon as I start suckling and I groan at the rush. His hands are moving up my
back and the tattoo ripples in delight at his touch and it makes me flex my
shoulders.

"Whoa!" he says suddenly, gawking at me.

"What?" I ask in concern. "What?"

He puts his hands up above my shoulders and says,
"Virtual wings."

"Virtual wings? What?"

"You sprouted wings!" he says in wonder. "Not
real ones though, almost as if an extension of your tattoo."

I giggle, "Seems V.A. is happy."

He grins at me and kisses me and we start all over again.

After Cole falls asleep, I ponder the question of first
sires. What makes most Vampires decide to turn that first someone? I know for
CK and the other Initial Vampires, it was all about creating a race, but what
about everyone else? If Devon chooses to sire this girl, I will be devastated.
As much as I don’t like to admit it, I
am
glad that he never sired. I
love having him all to myself. If he went off now and did it just to get me out
of his head, it would be a mistake. My own story is heartbreaking and I don’t
like to think about it too often. My mind wanders back to that day that I first
turned someone.

Duchy of Saxony – 1121 – Aefre

After I left Constantine, and I changed my form to that
of the blue-eyed, dark-haired girl, I decided to keep it. I knew that if he
came looking for me, he would never find me. He would be looking for the
green-eyed, light-haired girl that he met. She no longer existed. I changed my
name in the beginning but as I made my way into the Duchy of Saxony, I changed
it back. It was the birthplace of my ancestors and my name reflects that
lineage, after all.

I found work with a traveling healer. I was so used to
having to want for nothing with Constantine’s servants and Feeders and his
wealth and power, I struggled on my own. I needed work and I had no skills to
speak of. The healer took me on as I was able and strong and the sight of blood
and gore didn’t bother me. In fact, it was quite the opposite, obviously. But
more than that, I wasn’t interested in the healing of the humans. I was
interested to see the damage inside. To see how they hurt and didn’t heal. It
has been a long time since I was human and I had forgotten what it is to hurt.
Physically, at least.

I thought Galena was a witch of some kind. I thought that
was why she travelled from village to village, never staying in one place long
enough for anyone to get suspicious as to her successful healing rate. We came
upon a small village in the north of the Duchy and we were offered shelter and
food in exchange for her services. That was when I met Evoric. A young man, with
the bluest eyes and the darkest hair. He was sweet, caring, and funny. And
dying.

He had phthisis. He was dying with a cough so cruel it
brought tears to my eyes because I liked him. He made me laugh when he was
lucid, and we talked about where I had been with Galena and the things I had
seen. He told me about his family and I soothed him when he wa in pain. He knew
his end was near and he wasn’t afraid. His strength of character was one of the
things I liked most about him. He made me forget about my sire. My sire that I
missed more than anything. Every day I wanted to return to Castellum
Aquapontanus, but then I remembered him with that woman, her fangs in his neck,
and I hated him all over again. But I loved him and it still hurt not to be
around him. To have him hold me and kiss me, to smile that smile at me that I
loved so much. No, I won’t go back. He had hurt me too much.

“Do not be sad, lovely Aefre,” Evoric said to me as I
drifted off into my thoughts of Constantine.

“I am sad. I am sad for you. I cannot lose you,” I said
as I took his hand. I came to sit with him, every day.

Galena had left to attend the next village, saying she
would return for me. I refused to go as I did not want to leave Evoric. He had
no one. No one would sit with him for fear of contracting his disease and it
made me sad.

“Don’t be sad for me, you are too pretty to be sad. That
face was made to smile,” he said weakly and I felt the tears prick my eyes.
This wasn’t my face. Not my real one. I wanted to show him the real me, and
tell him what I was. Constantine always said that we should never reveal our
true selves to others, not unless they were already aware of us and accepting.
I never really understood that, because how could someone be aware of us, if we
never get to show them?

“I will smile when you are well,” I said to him.

He shook his head, “No, Aefre. I will not be well again.”
I held his hand tightly as he coughed viciously, holding a cloth to his mouth
to catch the blood. He fell into a fitful sleep then and I stayed with him,
stroking his hair and curling myself around him to comfort him.

Galena returned the next morning. “He isn’t going to make
it until sunset,” she whispered to me and I shook my head.

“No, there has to be something you can do. I know what
you are. Help him.”

“I cannot help him, my child. But you can. I too know
what you are.”

“I don’t understand,” I said, fearful.

“I know you are a Vampire, Aefre. If you want your friend
to live, you can help him,” she insisted.

“How? How can I help him?”

“By making him into one of your kind,” she said
impatiently.

“I don’t know how to do that,” I said honestly, as I had
never done that before.

“How did your own sire turn you?”

“I was run through with a spear and then I woke up in
Normandy as a Vampire. I don’t know,” I said, wringing my hands.

“You must know,” she said. “What did your sire tell you?”

“He mentioned something about giving me his blood, but he
has never instructed me how to do it.”

“You don’t need instruction, my child. Just feed from him
and then give him your blood,” she said. “It won’t make any difference now if
you do it wrong,” she added quietly. “He won’t last the day as he is.”

I turned back to Evoric, still sleeping. Should I wake
him and ask him or not? What if he says no? What if he says yes? I could not do
for him what Constantine did for me. I didn’t know how to be a sire.

The candle burned and still I waited “Aefre,” Galena
said, “you must make a decision.”

I bobbed my head and went to him as he woke. “Aefre?” he
croaked.

“Yes, my love. I am here.” I took his hand.

“I must say farewell now, my lovely Aefre. Stay with me
until the end.” He closed his eyes and I made the decision. I wouldl not let
him go.

“Evoric, open your eyes,” I said. “Please, I can help you
if you say ‘yes.’”

He slowly opened his eyes. “Say ‘yes?’ What do you mean,
Aefre?”

“I can heal you, I can give you an immortal life, my
love. Do you trust me?”

“An immortal life? I don’t understand,” he said, closing
his eyes again. “My love, you are not making any sense.”

“Listen to me, Evoric. Open your eyes and look at me.” I
squeezed his hand. He opened his eyes again and they went wide as he stared at
me and I said, “I am what they call a Vampire, Evoric. If you will let me, I
can save you.”

“How?” he asked in wonder as he looked at my fangs.

“I need to bite you and feed from you. I then need to
give you some of my blood. Will you allow me to do this?”

His eyes rolled back in his head and I thought it was too
much for him. I felt for his pulse, it was weak. I made the decision for him. I
did not want him to die. He made me feel again after being destroyed by
Constantine. I had to save him. I took his wrist and I bit down sharply. It had
been many months since I killed someone but I remembered the signs. I thought,
when his heart started to slow, I must then release him and give him some of my
blood. I was fearful that it would not work, that I got the time wrong. Maybe I
had to drain him more, or less. I did not know. I slit my wrist open and
dripped my blood into his mouth, making sure that he swallowed. Now, all I
could do is wait.

I’m up at 6 AM as usual even though I have nowhere to be
today and neither does Cole. He is still sound asleep when there is a knock at
the door. Odd, I think, as I go to answer it. There is no one there, just a
basket of white roses. I pick it up and take it inside. I smile at Cole's
thoughtfulness but it strikes me as odd that he would have them delivered here
so early.

I place the basket on the end table and sniff. Shaking my
head, I remember to get some blood after I have read the card that is attached.

“I can always find you. ‘C.’”

Why would Cole write that on a card, I wonder. He wouldn't,
so they must not be from him. Constantine? No, he isn't crass enough to send me
a basket of flowers here when I am with Cole, besides, he knows where I am and
wouldn't send me white roses anyway. Red ones are more his style.

"Nice flowers," Cole remarks as he comes in the
sitting room, just a towel slung low over his hips. He takes the card from me
and growls as he crumples it up in his hand. "Why can't he leave you
alone?"

"I don't think they are from CK. He wouldn't," I
say, absently still sniffing. "Can you smell blood?" I ask him
suddenly.

"Yes, I thought you had gotten a glass."

"No…" I trail off and stick my nose closer to the
basket. It's definitely coming from here. A clumsy florist, pricked herself on
a wayward thorn, perhaps? I move the flowers around trying to find the source.
It has me piqued as it is AB Neg and I am starving now. I gasp as I pull the flowers
out and see what is at the bottom of the basket: the head of a fully bloomed
white rose splattered with blood. I move my fingers to it and into the blood,
my fangs having dropped on their own already. It's still fresh, warm, and just
going slightly sticky. I bring my fingers to my mouth and my lips tingle as the
blood touches it and sets my tongue on fire as it passes my lips. I feel an
incredible power rush and the hunger completely vanishes from just that tiny
drop I took. Cole watches me with interest and something else, perhaps, like I
have lost my marbles lapping up the blood like some kind of crazy person. But
it wasn't spilled. At least not accidentally. This was very much on purpose and
very much for me. I pick up the crumpled card and reread it. "Cade,"
I growl and swipe the basket off the end table so the roses fly everywhere.
"He's here."

Cole looks concerned now, "He's here? How do you
know?"

"The blood is fresh and these were hand delivered. He
is the only one who could have done it."