The Heart's Ashes (51 page)

The unruly
cold meant no one else came out tonight. The quiet lake, that
looked desolate from my window, suddenly seemed so open, so
welcoming; our own private little place to be. The houses, trees
and power lines all turned black against the backdrop of the
setting sun, while the snow glowed almost pink along the banks.

“
So, you don’t have the co-ordination to play video games, but
you can skate like an Olympian?” I grinned at David, who landed
perfectly from a pirouette.

“
Like you can talk—” He took my hand and tucked me in his
arms. “You were a ballet dancer. Bet you skate better than
I.”

I’ll rise to
that challenge.

David flashed
a winning smile, then bent his knees and twirled me out from his
body; I angled my feet to swerve into the spin.

“
See?” he said, “I knew you could dance on ice.”

“
Dance?” I scoffed. “That wasn’t dancing.”

“
Then, by all means, ma belle amie, do demonstrate.” He posed
in offering of the floor.

“
It would be my pleasure,
he-who-cannot-speak-English-when-he-speaks-from-his-heart.”

Before he
could object, I crouched low to skate fast over the lake. As the
wind brushed my face and neck, splaying my beanie-covered hair out
behind me, I pressed off one foot, heaved my shoulders to the right
and spun through the air, the world becoming dizzying lines around
me. Beneath me, glass-like ice scraped noisily as the blade of my
skate cut the surface and I swivelled into a turn—my leg high
behind me, my arms spread wide, like an eagle’s wings.

“
Very nice.” David tucked his beanie under his arm and clapped
loudly. “Is there anything you can’t do?”

“
Yes,” I muttered, skating past him. “Figure my own head
out.”

“
Hm, but I like you that way.” He pressed his hands behind his
back, skating alongside me. “So, don’t change that,
okay.”

“
Sure.” I nodded.

“
Hey, Ara?”

“
Yes, David?” I responded with same playful tone.

The air became
light then, a flirtatious energy charging us both. “You love me,
right—for eternity?”

“
Yes.”

“
And, you know I love you, too.”

I said
nothing, just smiled to myself—my own secret smile. He laughed,
zooming past, making circles around me as I skated in a straight
line.

“
You have to answer me. It’s part of the game.”

“
The game?”

“
Yes.” His cheeks looked almost pink, as if the frost made him
cold. But it was just the orange glow from the sun. He looked so
young and free and vibrant—human David.

“
You know I love you forever. Why do you ask?”

“
I was thinking.”

“
Mm.” I shook my head, my warm breath mingling at our chins as
he took me in his arms. “You shouldn’t do that. Thinking isn’t
safe.”

“
Some of us can’t help ourselves.”

“
Some of us don’t want to help it.” I looked right into his
eyes; the sunset reflected off the green for a flash moment before
we circled again, angling away from it, but in that second, they
looked so clear, almost a lighter, pale green.

“
I wish I could hear your thoughts right now,” he
said.

“
Why?”

“
Because I want to ask you a question—about
history.”

“
History?”

“
Yes.”

“
Okay, shoot.”
I’m good for it,
thanks Dad-slash-History professor.

“
Do you know why they say diamonds are forever?”

“
No.”
Crap. I wish I
did
. “Why do they say that?”

“
Well, it’s because—just like me, and soon, you—” He smiled
and we circled the edge of the frozen lake again, our bodies
together like ballroom dancers, the wind kissing my cheeks and
making my nose run. “They’re immortal. They never age or wither
away. They’re a constant thing—shining, sparkling, beautiful—kind
of like our love.”

“
Our love is like diamonds?” One brow rose.

“
Yeah.” He grinned sheepishly and looked down at his hand; I
looked too, my lips softly parting when the sunlight caught the
sparkle in a very round, very clear diamond, set atop a silver band
between his long, thin fingertips. He dropped to his knee as we
skated the straight stretch again, and smiled up at me. “Ara, my
love. Will you marry me?”

Oh my God
. A hot pulse of lava rose
up from the ground under us, burning my insides and searing
everything I ever hoped for, ever dreamed of, into existence. We
moved so fast over the ice, the world racing by in a still moment
while my heart pounded in my chest.

The snowy day
came rushing back, freezing cold after my moment in the extreme
heat of mystification. I looked behind David as we neared the end
of the straight stretch—the banks rushing up quickly behind him. He
just shook his head, smiling.

He’s not going
to turn—we’re going to…

A soft thud
sounded under us. David hit the banks, catching me in his arms with
a jolt; disturbed snow splattered over my cheeks and lashes in dots
of cool, melting with the heat of my skin. And the vampire just
laughed, his fangs showing as he lifted my hand, sliding the ring
over my knuckle until it rested safely at the base of my finger. “I
knew you’d say that.”

“
You did?” is all that came out in a pitiful
breath.

He pulled my
beanie over my ears then pressed my cold nose. “Yes.”

The night rose
a little higher then, dragging the moon with it, and the cold
became wet, seeping through my clothes around the cuffs of my jeans
and my sleeves, even my toes felt soggy and frozen on the tips. I
swallowed and blinked back tears, unable to say a word for fear the
weight of this ring, so new on my finger, so foreign yet so
long-awaited, would disappear—that I’d awake and this would all be
a dream.

“
I’m going out on a limb here, guessing that was a yes,
right?” his tone was playful, but touched with a hint of
uncertainty.

I shook my
head. “We’re going to be immortal, David. This isn’t like a human
marriage. I—” I blinked a few extra times. “It needs more
consideration.” I felt his weight shift, his soul drawing away
inside, and smiled quickly, realising how that might’ve sounded. “I
meant, I can only marry you if we promise forever.”

The breath he
obviously held came out through smiling lips; he wrapped his arms
tightly around me. “What about until death do us part?”

“
Not even in death.”

“
Then, forever.” David nodded. “
Nothing
do us part.”

With a wide,
fixed stare, I searched David’s smile. “I love you, vampire boy.” I
almost laughed the words out.

“
Et mon amour pour toi est éternel.”

I Frowned.
“You know, it’s more romantic if I actually know what you’re
saying.”

He laughed softly, wiping his hand across a droplet of melted
snow on his upper lip. “It means…
And my
love for you is eternal.
”

Considering
his phrase, I tilted my head to the darkening sky and spotted the
first star. “You know…I kinda like that phrase—especially since you
mean it literally.”

He studied my
face carefully, confusion masking his smile as he propped himself
up on his elbow. “First star of the evening. Not making any wishes
today, huh?”

“
Don’t need to. You just granted the last one.”

David closed
his eyes for a second—his smile warming the icy winter surrounds.
“Really?”

“
It’s all I ever wanted.”

“
I wish I’d asked you earlier.”

“
Why didn’t you?”

His smile
slipped away to a soft expression; he reached up and stroked my
cheek. “We should go inside. You’ll catch a cold.”

“
I don’t care. I have you to take care of me—even when I’m
sick.”

“
That you do.” He rolled me into the snow and landed between
my legs; the squishy, half-melted sludge seeped through my sweater
and chilled my spine, like spilling an ice-soda on your clothes at
the cinema. “And I love taking care of you. But, I can do that
without making you sick first.” He leaped up and took my cold,
stiff hand. “Let’s go home.”

“
Okay.” My teeth chattered. “I’m free-z-zing.”

David laughed.
“You are remarkably adorable when you’re being human,
Ara-Rose.”

“
And you’re sexy when you’re being the vampire.”

“
Oh, really?” David grinned, walking me across the road.
“Well, perhaps I’ll have to call on him tonight, then.”

“
If you do, you better expect me to be all over you,” I said
mischievously. “You’re my fiancé—I have rights to you
now.”

“
Is that so?” He smiled and opened the front door for
me.

“
Yes.”

“
Well, in that case, I shall be requesting you escort me to
bed immediately.”

“
Tease.” I huffed, folding my arms.

He laughed,
closing the door behind us. “You know me too well.”

My foot tapped
to the soft, bluesy beat of John Mayer, lilting gently from my
iPhone by the bed, while Emily traced circles over my diamond for
the sixth time—I counted.

“
Didn’t you tell me once that you hate diamonds?” she said,
releasing my hand.

“
Yup. But, David kind of set that straight with this whole
eternal, shining love speech.” I smiled reflectively. “He’s good at
that.”

“
No, he’s not.” She laughed, snuggling down on David’s pillow.
“He practiced that speech about a hundred times, you
know.”

“
Way to ruin the magic, Emily.”

She cackled,
looking so young, so human, so like high-school Emily that I smiled
too and laid down to face her.

“
So, really? He had to plan that speech?”

“
Not so much plan as
agonise
over—for weeks.”

“
Christmas night!” I sat up on my elbow. “That’s what he was
agonising over on Christmas night?”

She bit her
lips together, nodding.

“
Why? He could’ve taken me to Burger King and asked me in the
playground, I’d still have said yes.”

“
I know. We all know that, Ara, I mean, come on. But...” She
hesitated. “Not David. He’s a little more fragile than
that.”

“
Fragile?”

“
Yeah. He’s afraid of getting broken again, you know, after
the whole
I love my best friend but not as
much as I love you and no I won’t give up my life to be with you
thing.
”

“
Oh.” I nodded, rolling onto my back.

“
Yeah. He actually thought you’d say no, because it’d hurt
Mike too much if you get married—being that it was supposed to be
him.”

That must hurt
her, to think Mike could feel that way. “I’m sorry, Em.”

“
It’s okay,” she chimed, “Mike talked to him—convinced him you
don’t want anyone else in this world.”

Doesn’t change
what Mike wants, though.

“
Of course—” she looked up at the roof, “—that doesn’t change
what Mike wants, though.”

My mouth
gaped.

“
What?” she said.

“
Uh, um, nothing.” I took her hand, listening to the roar of
laughter coming from the kitchen, and the sound of plates being
clashed while the boys cleaned up dinner dishes. “They get along
well now, don’t they?”

“
Yeah.”

“
I always wanted that. I’m gonna miss you guys when we go to
Paris.”

“
It’s only for a few months. You’ll be back soon enough—then
we have forever. You, David, Mike...”

“
Emily?” I unravelled her fingers from mine and propped my
head up with the ball of my palm. “You know I love Mike, right? But
it—”

“
I know. Okay? I know you always will. I know he loves you—and
if you asked him to, he’d give me up.” She shrugged.

“
Em? That’s not true.”

“
It’s okay, Ara. It’s just how it is. I knew that when I fell
in love with him. It’s one of the things that made me see him that
way—the way he loves you. I would
love
to be loved like
that.”

“
But you are, Em.” I tugged softly on a strand of her hair.
“He does love you.”

“
No. Ara, he doesn’t—not like that, anyway. He likes me,
enjoys my company, but I really don’t believe it’s the kind of love
I want.”

“
He’s becoming immortal for you,” I noted.

“
No, he’s becoming immortal for
you
.”

“
What makes you think that?”

“
I can read his heart—the way it beats when he looks at you.
He probably loves me, but not like he loves you.”

“
I hope that’s not true, Em.” I sighed, biting my bottom
lip.

Emily smiled,
her glassy eyes looking away. “I’m so glad you’ve decided to become
a Lilithian.”