Drawn to the Vampire (Blood and Absinthe, Book 4) (28 page)

“I’m sure,” she said, and Peter nodded.

He laid his hands softly on her hair and began to speak, his words in a language she had never heard.

When he stopped, Kit didn’t feel any different. “Did it work?”

“It worked,” he said. “I don’t know the fastest way down to the beach from here, but—”

“I know the fastest way,” Kit said.

She gave Peter a quick, fierce hug. Then she turned towards the cliffs, her eyes on the far horizon. A moment of perfect stillness, of preparation, and then she took off at a run for the headland, to the place where it overhung the ocean. She ran faster, and faster, her breath coming in great gasps, and when she reached land’s end she launched herself into the air like a great bird, diving, the wind whipping her hair as she plummeted towards the sea.

It was bitterly cold. For an instant Kit thought the spell had failed, but then she was swimming, streaking through the water, moving like a dolphin but with unearthly speed.

Near the surface the ocean was jade green and beautiful. But as she swam she willed herself ever further, ever deeper, and soon she came to places where no light lived.

“Thalassa!” she cried out, willing the goddess to hear. “Thalassa!”

Hours seemed to go by, and she started to wonder how far she had come, how far she had yet to go. The deeps no longer seemed black; strange, unearthly lights could be seen here and there, lights that were somehow more unnerving than the darkness.

Gradually she became aware that she no longer swam alone. She was being escorted by someone or something—several somethings—that she couldn’t see but could feel, racing through the waters beside her. And now there was something ahead of her, a green phosphorescence that reminded her briefly and sickeningly of the lights in the underworld. But as she drew closer she perceived a difference.

This was not a death light. It had its own strange beauty, like the sea itself.

“Thalassa,” she called out again, and this time there was an answer.

“Swim closer, little fish, and let’s see what my servants have brought me.”

It was a cold voice, and Kit shivered. A few minutes more brought her to a chasm in the ocean floor as wide as the Grand Canyon. She shivered again, horribly aware of the weight and pressure of the waters above her. Human beings couldn’t survive this deep—not anywhere near this deep. And now there was a place lower still. Did she have to go in there?

No. Thalassa, apparently, was coming to her. Arising out of that strange light was a darkness, a presence not clearly visible but with things like tentacles extending from it.

Not tentacles, Kit thought suddenly. Wings.

“What are you doing here, human? It has been many years since one of your kind has visited my realm.”

There were other presences here, no more visible than Thalassa herself. Kit had a sense of many minds probing hers, many creatures all around her.

“Speak, human. Have you brought me a gift?” she asked, and Kit’s heart sank.

Stupid, she thought to herself. She hadn’t even thought about an offering. What the hell could she have brought? What do you get the ocean goddess who has everything?

“My name…my name is Kit Bantry. I have come to ask a favor, my lady,” she said, and her voice sounded thin and weak to her own ears.

“Then you have taken your life in your hands. Why should I grant you a favor? I’m more inclined to offer you as food to one of my children.”

Kit tried to see the creature before her more clearly. What could she say to convince Thalassa to help her? Why
should
Thalassa help her?

Because if she didn’t, she would never see Luke again.

She found herself swimming forward.

 “My lady, I beg you to restore Luke Cadris to me. He sacrificed himself to Hades to—”

“Silence! How like a human, to come empty handed into my realm and expect me to—”

“Mother!”

It was a new voice, coming from the shadows to her right. Something about this voice was familiar, sweetly familiar, like a piece of music she’d heard as a child.

Whatever it was swam to her side, and Kit saw that it was a seal—or at least, something that had taken the shape of a seal. Brown eyes like deep pools, like—

She felt something in her hand, something with sharp edges. Kit looked down and saw a white shell there.

She looked up in sudden recognition.

“Mother, she does bring a gift. I ask you to grant her request for my sake.”

“Daughter of the sea,” Kit said softly, wonderingly, and the seal swam in a circle around her, pausing behind to nudge her forward. Kit drifted closer to Thalassa, holding out her hand.

A current eddied towards her, and the shell was gone.

There was a long pause. Then—

“A generous heart,” Thalassa murmured. “And a love that is stronger than death.”

Kit felt something searching her mind, probing gently. “Ocean blood runs in your veins, my child. Far back in your ancestry there was a selkie, or a mermaid, or another one of my folk.”

There was another pause. “The dearest of my daughters has spoken for you. Your gift is acceptable, Kit Bantry. Your request shall be granted. I’ll have a little word with Hades…”

Thalassa chuckled suddenly. “I do believe I will enjoy that. Really, I’m not at all sorry you came. Your beloved will be waiting for you on the shore, if you make it out of the ocean alive. But he will no longer possess his human life. That was given for your brother, in a sacrifice that cannot be undone. Can you love a vampire, child?”

“Yes! Oh, yes. Thank you, Thalassa, for—”

But she was gone.

Kit could feel the absence where she had been. The abyss lay before her, dark, mysterious, strange…

She drifted forward, almost mesmerized. Then she heard Luke’s voice calling her, so clearly she spun in the water to see if he was behind her.

A thrill of joy hummed along her spine. Thalassa had said he’d be waiting for her on the shore.

If you make it out of the ocean alive…

The spell! How much longer did she have?

A sudden rush of fear, until the seal brushed against her again.

Kit looked down, and then the seal’s form was changing, her outlines blurring, until a dolphin was there before her.

Kit felt strength flooding through her. With the dolphin by her side she turned and swam, up, up, fathoms up, into the regions where the light penetrated, and then east towards the rocky coast of Wales.

She was moving fast, but Kit felt hours pass as they swam. They were still a mile from the shore when Kit felt the spell starting to fade.

Her companion didn’t desert her. When the spell ended Kit cried out with terror and the bitter cold, but then she felt something swim between her legs. Kit gasped in surprise, feeling the dolphin’s power like an ocean swell beneath her. She grabbed onto the dorsal fin instinctively, and then they were cleaving through the water again, the dolphin bearing her easily.

Kit held on tight. She felt no fear now, only joy. The cold felt like a blessing, like the essence of life, and the fierce salt wind sent a thrill through her very bones.

The sun was behind them, making the water shine like gold. She could see the cliffs clearly now, the rocky shore, the beach—and there at the water’s edge, standing in full sunlight, the figure of a man.

“Luke!” she cried out.

She was only a few yards away now. Luke strode forward to meet her. The dolphin flipped over suddenly, tossing her, and they had been going so fast that Kit tumbled, rolling across the wet sand until she came to rest at Luke’s feet.

She blinked up at him.

“Well, well, well,” he said, grinning down at her. “Look what the tide brought in.”

He knelt down and scooped her up from the sand, sitting down on the beach with her in his lap.

“My God, that was a sight to see,” he said, kissing the top of her head. “If I live another four hundred years I’ll never forget it. You riding into shore like a Valkyrie, with the sun a golden chariot behind you.”

Kit slid her arms around his waist and rested her head against his chest.

“Speaking of the sun…I couldn’t help noticing that you’re not turning into ash.”

“I know. When Thalassa got me out of the underworld, Hecate’s curse was lifted.”

“It looks good on you,” she said softly.

“What does?”

“The light.”

His arms tightened around her.

“But, Luke…you’re a vampire again. You gave up your hope of heaven.”

He shook his head. “You’re my heaven, Kit. As long as we’re together, I’ll never have to wonder what paradise is like.”

Joy surged through her. “I feel the same way,” she whispered. “But what about the afterlife?”

 He smiled. “I think you were right about that. If there is a God, he can manage.”

She closed her eyes. “I love you.”

“I know you do,” he said softly. “I love you, too.”

“What happens now?” she asked after a moment. “I don’t mean right this second, but…you know…eventually.”

He didn’t answer her directly. “Your brother was here when I came out of the underworld,” he said. “He stayed with me until we saw you coming across the water. Once we knew you were safe, he left to go up to the university. He thought we might like to be alone for a while.”

“Peter’s much smarter than I ever gave him credit for,” Kit said, wondering where this was going.

“He’s a good lad, your brother. He’s agreed to be the best man at our wedding.”

Kit twisted in his arms to look up at him. “Wedding?”

“That’s right. We’ve claimed each other as vampires do, but I want us to pledge our love as humans, too. Of course your people will want to meet me first—”

“I don’t recall you actually asking me to marry you.”

“Didn’t have to,” he said, grinning down at her. “You can’t say no to me, Kit. Go ahead and try. Right now.”

She put her chin in the air. “No,” she said, and Luke flipped her onto her back, pinning her down and catching her wrists above her head.

“What was that, kitten?” he asked softly.

Kit felt a thrill of pleasure coursing through her. “You could at least ask,” she said firmly. “It’s traditional.”

He leaned in to kiss her, the tang of brine mingling with the taste of Luke, and Kit sighed with happiness as she arched up to meet him.

“Marry me, Kit,” he whispered, breaking the kiss, and looking down at her with so much love in his eyes that she started to tremble.

“Yes,” she said. “Oh, yes.”

He kissed her again, and it might have been the setting sun that made them shine as they lay in each other’s arms, so that anyone who saw them would have sworn they were lit from within.

About the Author

Chloe Hart spends a lot of time lying awake at night, thinking about vampires, demon hunters, and creatures that lurk in the darkness. During the day she writes about them. You can email her at [email protected].

The Blood and Absinthe series:

Book 1:
Taming the Vampire

Book 2:
Bound by the Vampire

Book 3:
Claiming the Vampire

Book 4:
Drawn to the Vampire

Table of Contents

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Chapter Eighteen