Fateful (13 page)

Ethan put the sandwich back in her hand.
“Eat, Danielle. I can hear your stomach complaining.”

“But—”

“Please enjoy the lunch. I want to tell you a
story.” He paused, studying her face, then, “Is that all
right?”

Staring at him, and probably gaping, she
finally said, “Okay?” She had no idea how a story was going to help
her understand this connection they had or how he’d been able to
physically do what he’d done last night.

Taking another bite, however, she noticed he
wasn’t eating with her and asked, “Aren’t you hungry too?”

“No, I’m not ... my taste buds have changed.
I don’t have the same love for food that I once did, although I
still like to cook.”

Well, that didn’t make any sense either.
Danielle decided to eat quietly, growing more puzzled by the
minute, but hoping he would start making sense soon.

Ethan slid a container full of fancy, little
tarts closer to her.

“Please, Ethan, begin. The suspense is
killing me,” she pleaded, and took one of the offered tarts because
he’d nudged it even closer. Was he trying to distract her with
food? Her eyes wandered back to the ruins—his childhood home. How
can that be?

“I’ll start with a story. It’s sort of a
fairytale, but it is true nonetheless.”

Danielle nodded, now tasting the tart because
he was looking at it in her hand. It was so delicious she couldn’t
help the “mmm” that escaped. But then realized from his expression
that she’d misled him into thinking she wasn’t listening. “Please,
the story…”

Ethan grinned patiently but uncertainty
passed over his gaze. “It is a rather frightening tale,” he said,
his expression growing troubled.

Danielle sighed and met his eyes, which
made her head whirl, but she was learning to fight it. “Ethan, it’s
okay, I trust you. Please just tell me.” She wanted him to feel
like he could trust her too. She wanted to hear what he had to say,
no matter how “frightening” he said it was. It just can’t be
that
bad, she thought.

Ethan exhaled, his golden brows wrinkled, and
then he began. “Once upon a time there was a sorceress who fell in
love with a mortal man named Benjamin. He didn’t know she was a
sorceress, but when she confessed this to him, wanting him to know
the truth, he was disgusted. When he tried to leave her, he told
her that she was a curse to humanity. Lilith, that was her name,
was so hurt and so angry that she cast a spell on him before he
could leave. She said, ‘Now you will forever be the curse to
humanity!’ Her spell turned him into a demon, a predator of
humanity. She gave him immortality like herself, so he would be
forced to wander this earth, forever lonely. And she made him
beautiful so women would want to love him, but he wouldn’t be able
to love them back without killing them. She also took his heart
away from him, by causing it to stop beating, because he had broken
hers. She made him into a demonic human to curse humanity … she
turned him into a vampire.”

On that one word, the tart fell from her
fingers.

No. He can’t possibly be saying.... All
of the things she’d read in that vampire book came to mind and she
stared at Ethan because none of it fit him. Well, most of it didn’t
... he does seem to have hypnotic eyes, a magical scent, and
superhuman strength. This
did
explain the events of last night. Knowing he could probably
guess what was going through her head at that moment, Danielle
tried to remain calm.

Ethan picked the cherry tart up and began
feeding it to her. “I’m not done with the story,” he said.

He touched the morsel against her lips, but
before she allowed it inside, she said, “Er ... p-please continue.”
Somehow the food had lost its flavor, she thought, as the bits of
pastry and fruit sat like particles of sand against her tongue. She
forced it down her parched throat.

Ethan appeared to be more anxious now, but as
a spark of determination flickered in his eyes, he continued, “He
was horrified, but the curse was so strong he couldn’t fight it. He
became the horrible monster who stalks humanity at night. He craved
human blood and human affection at the same time; conflicting
cravings. That was what Lilith wanted, she wanted him to feel love,
but then be forced to destroy his love. It was the darkest kind of
revenge.”

As chills washed over Danielle, she shuddered
but kept silent. This story was likely to give her way worse
nightmares than her uncle’s tale had.

“He walked the earth for many years, killing
at night. People believed the monster could only come out after
sunset, but that wasn’t true. The curse wasn’t as strong during the
day, so he was able to mingle unsuspected with mortals until the
sun descended again.

“He was terribly bitter and lonely. But one
day, when he was in the process of killing a man, he was
interrupted. He fled to avoid capture and left the half-dead man
lying in the street. The people who found him thought he was lucky,
and would later recover. He did recover, but no one knew the venom
coursing through his veins would also turn him into a vampire. The
first vampire was surprised to hear of a death that he knew he
didn’t commit. He then remembered the man he hadn’t killed, and
searched the city to find him. When he did, they forged a
friendship, regardless of the circumstances behind it. He also
realized he didn’t need to be lonely anymore."

Ethan gently brushed a tear from her cheek.
She hadn't been aware of it until now, and looked away as her face
heated with a blush. Ethan hooked a finger under her chin, pulling
her attention back to him as he went on, "Soon after that, he chose
a woman to be his mate and turned her. The curse has spread
throughout the centuries by the venom which may’ve been an
unintended side-effect to the curse. Lilith had envisioned fangs
like a snake. Venom naturally went along with that.

“We are predators to any mortal human. That’s
what Lilith intended. That is why we are beautiful, why we can
hypnotize with our eyes, and why we smell good to you. So you can
easily be lured into our trap. But…”

He said
we
, he just admitted that he
is
a vampire! Danielle felt the blood drain from
her head. As she grew pale, she also felt faint. Her heart filled
with fear—had she just walked into a trap?

But only kindness and sadness emanated from
Ethan. She couldn’t understand it. She didn’t expect a vampire to
be like that. She expected a vampire to be like ... like....
“Lucas!” she said aloud.

Danielle noted the look of surprise on
his face, clearly not expecting that response. “Yes, Lucas is a
vampire ... I am like him.” He studied her face again, as if trying
to read what she would do. Danielle knew she looked like she was
getting ready to run, which she was actually. His tone growing
desperate, Ethan added, “But I am
not
like him.”

“I—I need a minute.” Danielle stood and ran,
but not without stumbling as she went.

A pang of regret pinched her heart when she
glanced back and saw his head in his hands as though upset.
Grateful, however, to see that he wasn’t pursuing her, she ran into
the forest, ducking and pushing branches out of her way. She didn’t
stop until she had to catch her breath, and bent over with her
hands on her knees, leaning back into a tree for support. Frowning,
she noted that she’d managed to twist her ankle. Stupid shoes! Why
hadn't she worn more appropriate forest-running gear, like a chunky
pair of boots made to navigate bad weather and rough terrain?
Danielle swiped at her wet cheeks, tears which had little to do
with the throbbing pain in her ankle.

She had to think alone. She had to understand
the conflicting information spinning in her head.

He’s a vampire?
Is that the only reason I’m drawn to him, because of his
magical powers designed to lure me in to his murderous trap?
But, he seemed like a good person: noble, kind, heroic even.
It appeared so genuine. And why would he save her only to kill her
later? It made no sense.

He said it’s a curse, and it’s stronger at
night…. That’s why he avoids her then, and why he hid his eyes from
her.

Danielle ran fingers through her hair,
feeling baffled and completely stunned.

Was the recognition between them simply
another trick? A trick designed to soften the blow from the truth?
His broken posture as she’d fled returned to her thoughts. He
couldn’t have been faking that too, could he?

Looking around at the thick woods
surrounding her, Danielle realized she was probably lost. But even
if she did manage to find her way, could she really walk away?
There were still too many unanswered questions. The main one being,
why was he so familiar to her? She
knew
him, how well she didn’t yet comprehend
but.... And somehow her soul knew the intent of his heart without a
shadow of doubt. Danielle couldn’t fathom how she understood such a
thing, but she did trust him.

After a few deep cleansing breaths, Danielle
resigned herself to her fate. She pushed away from the tree and
turned to go back, but was startled by the figure looming behind
her. “Oh!” Ethan was standing only inches away. “Don’t do that!”
she admonished hotly.

“I’m sorry, were you coming back then?” He
seemed eager to know, and hopeful.

“I guess,” Danielle responded weakly.

Ethan didn’t hesitate to snatch her up into
his arms and begin the walk back to the ruins.

“How’s your ankle?”

Figures he’d notice that. Danielle rolled her
eyes. “It aches.”

“I have ice in the basket.”

Hm, he sure seemed like the same sweet
Ethan.... Why was she doing this? Why did she trust this guy? His
gaze collided with hers again and she knew why. It was that darn
familiarity.

They settled back onto the quilt. Ethan
pulled ice from the basket, wrapped it in a cloth napkin and placed
it on her now swelling ankle.

“I’m afraid I wasn’t exactly the Prince
Charming of subtlety, Danielle, I’m sorry.”

Danielle sighed. “I—I know...” She swept the
hair from her forehead. “That really was a scary story though.”

“I tried to warn you ... you seemed too
interested in the tart,” he said with a teasing tone.

“You’re the one who brought tasty tarts.”

A bit of gentle laughter escaped him at her
words. Danielle loved that sound and the infectious smile on his
face, but it was gone again too quickly. The small smile holding
her lips slipped as well. “There’s a lot I still don’t understand,”
she said.

“I’ll answer any question you ask.”

“I—I don’t—could you explain this curse to
me?” she asked, wondering if it was similar to how the Frog Prince
had been cursed, if such a tale was even true.

“Well, we
are
human and we still remember our humanity,
and for some of us, those memories make it so we can’t bring
ourselves to kill mortals. I guess it’s a loophole in the curse.
Lilith should have taken away memory too, but she wanted him to
remember her.”

Ethan took her hand into his then, and began
stroking her palm with his thumb as though he meant to comfort her
as he continued with his disturbing tale of murder. “Her intention
was for us to kill mortals, so she made the thirst for mortal blood
very strong. But herein lies another mistake in her spell. Any
blood will satisfy the thirst of a vampire, even though human blood
is the most temping. A vampire who is basically good will hunt
animals instead, to preserve humanity. I’m sure Lilith didn’t mean
for that to happen, she must have forgotten that humans aren’t the
only beings with blood to drink; maybe because she placed the spell
hastily in her fury.” Ethan mused silently for a moment, flicking
at a bread crumb on the blanket with his free hand. “I’m glad she
made that mistake, I’d hate myself otherwise.”

After another moment of silence, he went on,
“The fact that we are human works to make us the ultimate curse to
humanity, the ultimate predator to mortal humans.”

Danielle winced at his use of the word
“predator.” Ethan eyed her curiously, probably trying to figure out
why she’d winced. After a moment’s pause, in which she offered an
encouraging smile, he continued, “We no longer need to eat food,
although we do when we’re in front of mortals, so they won’t
suspect us. It doesn’t taste the same as it did, the flavors aren’t
as rich. We no longer feel hunger, just thirst.

“Our hearts don’t beat at night, so we aren’t
warm then.” Ethan chuckled darkly, noting, “I suppose Lilith did it
that way so we’d be trapped between the two worlds, unable to fully
belong to one or the other.” Then he returned to expound on his
first bit of information, “We take on the temperature of the air
surrounding us when the sun is set. That’s why you couldn’t get
warm next to me last night and that’s probably why you didn’t
notice a difference the other times we went out. Well … that and
the fact that your hands are actually quite a bit colder than mine
are.” Ethan grinned like he seemed to think that was a bit
ironic.

It was true, Danielle didn’t have the best
circulation and her fingers and toes were frequently as cold as
ice. “So what you’re saying is that my hands are basically colder
than a vampire’s even though I have a beating heart?”

“Cold hands—warm heart … isn’t that what they
say?” Ethan asked, a smirk twisting up the corners of his
mouth.

“I guess.” Danielle lifted her fingers to her
cheek. They felt as chilly as usual. She smiled an impish smile and
placed her frosty fingers on his cheeks playfully.

Ethan faked a shiver and laughed, “Ooo,
glacial!”