Sanctifying Grace (Resurrection) (31 page)

I was so wrapped up in the moment that I failed to sense the presence of another vampire until it was almost too late. The crash and rumble of the river played some part in hiding him from me, but I had to take the rest of the blame. I was being too human, and my distraction had allowed another of my kind to approach. I thought of Roman lying helpless, and my hands balled into fists and I clenched my jaw around my fangs. I would fight to protect him.

I dashed to the mouth of the cave, fury propelling me forwards without any consideration for what I was about to encounter – a vampire definitely older than I, more experienced, and more controlled.

He was waiting for me at the entrance, the night sky illuminating his shadowy outline. I ground to a halt, confused. I expected him to attack, but his silhouette didn’t move. Warily I took a step closer, trying to read his intent, but his face was in darkness.

He spoke and I shrugged, never taking my eyes off him. His voice was outwardly calm
, but I could hear the threat in it, and he didn’t care. He was confident. I was no match for him and we both knew it.

All I could do was hope to hold him off long enough to allow Roman to awaken, and if I was going to die tonight defending the man I love, then I was going to make this strange vampire suffer a little before I did. My fear for Roman would strengthen me – for a little while at least.

He shifted slightly and I dropped to a crouch, then he stiffened and his head shot up. He’d heard it, too: that single beat of Roman’s vampire heart, clear as a bell, even over the clashing music of tumbling water.

I knew when Roman’s eyes opened: I sensed his consciousness. The other vampire’s head turned and I knew he was aware, too
; a low hiss emanated from his throat. He recognised what I had done, and I recognised him in the faint light of the night beyond. Viktor!

I whispered his name. He heard and his attention was drawn from the cave to me, and his head cocked. I was not known to him, yet my name was on his lips. He was intrigued.

‘Don’t hurt him,’ I called softly, though I was certain he wouldn’t understand me.

He didn’t understand the words
, but he understood their meaning and nodded his head once in acknowledgment: I would have to die for what I had done, but Roman, newly resurrected, was innocent, and Viktor would let him live.

I had no need to fight. I couldn’t hope to win and Roman was not going to be harmed.

I stood up from the crouch, straight and tall, offering my neck to him, accepting my fate. I caught a gleam of silver-white canines and waited for my throat to be torn out.

I murmured one last word to Roman. ‘Sorry.’

Then Viktor attacked with incredible speed and I felt his breath on my face before I was yanked back into my own time.

I came home to die, but I had found life.

Three days and three nights it took, and on the third night I rose, magnificent and deadly.

Roman was waiting for me, as I knew he would be. We were tied in a way that was not possible: sanguinisto and regalato both. We had resurrected each other, and time and space were twisted and knotted inexorably around our double destinies. We were meant to be together, the links binding each with the other so strong that time itself had failed to break them. We were bound by blood, and years, and love. I had no idea what the future would hold for us, that very long futur
e which is ours, and I was awed by the possibilities and promises of the millennia to come. But there was one thing that was certain: he was mine and I was his, and that was all either of us needed to know.

‘I love you, now and forever,’ he said.

And, for our kind, forever is a wonderfully long time.