Fire Nectar (19 page)

Dani sat on the couch and tucked her feet underneath
herself. “Yes.” She met Elizabeth’s eyes unflinchingly and without apology.

Elizabeth nodded and asked, “What is it you find
appealing about him? Why him?”

 
“He makes me
want to live.”

Elizabeth had no words.
 
She wondered why Dani had put it that
way, why she had used those words.
 
Had she wanted to die?
 
Or
was she just being romantic?
 
She
didn’t want to know the answer, so she didn’t ask. They stayed quiet for a time
before Elizabeth said, “Julian - ”

 
“He knows,”
Daniella finished and met her maker’s eyes, hopefully, “But maybe he doesn’t?”

 
“He
does.
 
Don’t live in denial, my
love, it could be the death of you.
 
Remember Saanjh?” Her face like stone, betrayed no emotion.
 
“He is protective of you though.
 
Can he be trusted?”
 

Dani put her glass down, its contents emptied. Often when
they were together, their vocabulary slipped to the vernacular of their early
days. “Yes, I believe him to be very trustworthy. His loyalty has been
unwavering, his motivations without reproach.”

 
“His
motivation is love. His heart has long been yours. Were you to break it, you
might find vengeance has stolen a kiss in loyalty’s bed.”
 

Daniella thought on this, her head down. “Perhaps.”

Elizabeth said, taking a step forward. “The way I see it,
you have several paths from which to choose. Down one you’ll find a
conversation where you will bring him further into confidence, strengthening the
bond with knowledge and kindness, thus empowering him to keep a secret only the
two of you share. His love will find solace in the secret’s exclusivity.” She
paused for emphasis as Daniella watched her walk to the kitchen and
pour
another glass.
 
“Down the other you will leave this place and start a new adventure with
me in Prague, or
Santorini
, or San Paulo - whichever
strikes your fancy. I plan to live in all three, but in no particular order, so
I’ll be happy to let the choice be yours.”

Stunned Daniella stared at the words as they clung to the
air between them. “You have the balls of a bull, Elizabeth,” she spat out.

 
“I?
 
How so?
 
And why are you so angry, out of
nowhere?”
 
Elizabeth turned and stepped
toward her.

 
“Out of
nowhere? Truly? Do you know how much it hurts me to think you have been
watching over me these past forty plus years, but you have not come forward and
did not make yourself known?
 
Did
you not want to reach out and see how I’ve been? Have you any idea how bad it’s
been for me?”

 
“Bad?
 
You’re successful.
 
This career of yours, your photography
job, is a wonderful cover.
 
You’ve
created this fabulous sanctuary far enough to be safe but not too far as to
look suspicious for a woman. I do admit
,
the party
concerned me as I taught you not to have people come to your home, but then I
saw how cleverly you’d disguised it to look so doubtlessly like it belonged to
a human… and frankly I was impressed.”

 
“I don’t mean
all of that – that means nothing.
 
Don’t you see?
 
I mean
inside!
 
I’ve been so sad,
Elizabeth. I’ve been suffocated for years. I’ve been unable to shake it. Only
recently has it lifted, but not for good!
 
Just when I think I’m detached, that I’m fine – it’s on me again
and I can’t remember what it felt like to be loved and to love.
 
I’ve been so alone, Elizabeth.
 
Inside of my heart.
 
I want to see the sun,” she said and
then pushed the stake in deeper, “You did this to me Elizabeth.
 
You made me this.”

Shocked, Elizabeth fought back, “I made you what?
Immortal?
 
Able to live a thousand
lives? Infinite possibilities? Time to do all you want to do, to learn all you
want to learn? And you complain? These things are a gift, Daniella. Not to
mention endowing you with senses to enjoy the rainbow of emotions more deeply
than any human could dream of.
 
This
is what people use drugs for, to feel like this, and they only experience it
for
a little while
.
 
Is this
the evil you accuse me of - what I have ‘done to you’?”
 

Daniella’s voice quieted, a powerful contrast to
Elizabeth’s rage, “Those heightened senses also include pain and sorrow and
loss and heartbreak.
 
People aren’t
supposed to endure that type of intensity forever. That’s why drugs don’t last
and the more you do them the more your body dies with you still in it. My body
can’t die now, but that doesn’t mean my heart hasn’t.”

Elizabeth broke, kneeling before her, “Sweetheart, that
is a curse you bring on yourself.
 
It is all in the perception. You think of the sadness when I think of
the joy.
 
You meet someone and think
of saying goodbye before you’ve ever said hello.
 
I blame your father for that.” A tear
rolled down Dani’s cheek as the true words fell. “I’m sorry Daniella.
 
I know how much you loved him.
 
But life goes on and guilt serves no one
but the devil, if he exists.”
 
The
sarcasm in her tone made Dani smile.
 
Elizabeth kissed the blood tear off her lover’s cheek.
 
“You’ve just hit a bad spot.
 
It happens when you’re alive as long as
we are.
 
Remember when you were
happy, and come with me.
 
We can
fight forever if you’d like.
 
But I
can promise you, you won’t be alone anymore.”

Dani smiled into her eyes gratefully and almost forgot
her anger, almost said yes to happiness or at least the possibility. Something
stopped her. It was the place in her heart reserved for someone else.
 
“Why didn’t you come to me months before
now, Izzie?
 
I would have gone, in
an instant.”

Her heart melted and she kissed Daniella’s lips.
 
“Izzie.
 
You haven’t called me that since Rome.
Why won’t you come now?
 
You can
still be mad at me as we pack.”
 
She
smiled and searched Dani’s face and the answer hit her hard.
 
“The human.”
 

She let go of her love’s face and leaned back on her
heels. What she saw then was an expression that chilled her heart. An
expression stained with a particular shade of sadness, fear, and hope.
 
One she had not seen on Daniella for two
centuries but would never forget.

Elizabeth whispered, “Oh my love.
 
You plan to turn him.”

The words bit and Dani flashed to the opposite end of the
loft in an instant, panting across the distance, her eyes filled with shock,
horror and the denial that it could not be true.
 
Elizabeth knew her own heart better than
she did, a fact she could not accept as she shook her head, wordlessly denying
the accusation.
 
She turned and was
gone.
 

What would appear to a human as a blur or a breeze,
Elizabeth saw in slow motion.
 
The
fumbling hand on the doorknob, the keys grabbed from the ring on the wall, the
expression of confusion and denial and pain on Dani’s face as she raced away
from the dawning realization of a secret plan she didn’t want to know was hers.
The slam of a door left Elizabeth alone.
 

Elizabeth
whispered, “Don’t go.”

16 June 1812

“What do you mean, immortal…you can never die?” Daniella
asked, eyes wide and curious.
 
A
nearly empty bottle of brandy sat beside her glass and it was clear she’d been
dealt more than she was accustomed.

 
“That is
precisely what I mean.
 
I can give
you this, if you wish it,” Elizabeth said, leaning back on the settee, eyes
dancing flirtatiously, blond ringlets perfectly framing her mischievous face.

 
“Why would
you do that?” Dani asked through brandy-breath, the flirtation mutual, “Indeed
if such a thing were possible… why me?
 
We’ve never met before last night.”

 
“Was it just
last night?
 
It feels as though
we’ve known each other a lifetime.” Elizabeth smiled and her thoughts skipped
back a fortnight to when she’d first glimpsed the maiden Harcourt dragging a
beaten man from a notorious gaming hall.
 
He turned out to be her well meaning but ill doing father, and this
pulled at Elizabeth’s jaded heart. Elizabeth, struck by the girl’s complete
lack of squeamishness at such a laborious and embarrassing task, felt compelled
to learn more.
 

Daniella held
herself
with a
grace that was born, not taught.
 
Those
who passed the spectacle of father and daughter with raised eyebrow
respectfully looked away once their judgmental eyes met her compassionate ones.
Undetected, Elizabeth had followed her on this and every night since, learning
much.
 
The innkeeper had gladly
accepted a bribe for information, and had told her all he knew. In the streets
and on the rooftops she used her speed to detect, undetected.

As she’d learned more, she’d fallen deeper. Her
impression of the human carried two words - What dignity!
 
The object of her interest never once
failed to impress her.
 
Even
arguments held between girl and
father were
imbued
with kindness and love.
 
She wanted
that in her life, to call her very own for as long as she could keep it.
 
And more than anything, she wanted to
save the creature
who
would not save herself.

 
“It does feel
like I’ve known you much longer than a day.
 
Perhaps we were sisters in another life,
for there cannot be another reason,” Daniella accepted another spot of brandy
with a smile. The liquid warmed her senses, removed her inhibitions, and she
liked it.
 

Elizabeth placed the brandy back on the table. “When I
offer this to you, I do so gracefully with the promise that your father will
never want for comfort.
 
I will not
shut him out as the Duke would have.” Upon seeing Daniella’s wide-eyed
surprise, Elizabeth added, for drama, “Yes, I know about that.
 
What an odious man.
 
Millicent confided in me,” she lied,
then added truthfully, “You showed great courage to reject his offer.”

 
“How could I
accept him?
 
On those terms, who
would have been so callous as to have done so?” Daniella asked innocently,
unaware that a great many girls would have jumped at the chance without a
thought.

Elizabeth nodded and agreed with her warmest smile, rose
and joined her guest, sitting closer than a stranger should.
 
Daniella felt intoxicated more by her
presence than by the liquor or her satisfied belly.
 
“I would never.
 
And I would never put you in that
position.
 
You will be able to
provide for him with no one to stop you.
 
I can assure you, I will never get in the way of the bond you two
share.”
 

 
“Why can’t he
be immortal, too?” she asked mistily.

Taken unawares, Elizabeth blinked and was silent,
thinking how best to answer such a question. Her mind cleared and she calmly
replied,
 
“It is the giver who
decides who gets the gift.”
 

Afraid she had behaved with impropriety to her host,
Daniella apologized for her bad manners and was forgiven.
 
“Were I to accept your gift, you promise
he would be cared for?”

Elizabeth nodded. “I don’t have to promise because you
would care for him yourself.
 
I will
show you how to make money and until you have your own, you can have mine.
 
We shall set up an account for him that
you may deposit into, as much and as often as you wish.
 
Plus obtain a house for his
safekeeping.
 
Servants. A carriage.
He will never be poor again, nor will you.”

 
“If you are
humming me, I will be beside myself.’

 
“No, I do not
tease, my dear.
 
I give my
word.
 
I see your pain, Daniella. I
see it and I can clear it from your heart.
 
You have battled fear these twenty eight years and could have married
long ago but for family duty.”
 
Her
words hit their mark. “You walk with courage, grace and dignity in the face of
human nature’s shame.
 
You are steadfast
to principles that are yours and yours alone, and which have become painfully
impossible to sustain.
 
You wish for
that which you will not give yourself.”

“Yes,” Daniella said, her voice catching in her throat.

 
“I can give
you what you desire in that place hidden deep and secret in your heart.”
 
Her mouth was close to Daniella’s now,
her breath brushing Daniella’s lips.

 
“What do I
desire?” Daniella whispered in a husky voice, her senses foggy.

 
“Freedom.”
 
Elizabeth kissed her.
 
Daniella had never kissed a man
nor
a woman and the sensation overtook her.
 
She responded passionately, her lips
melding with Elizabeth’s.
 
Unto
these lips she gave her answer.

 
“Yes.”