Sarah was shivering now. Cold sweat beaded across her brow and ran in cold rivers down her back. Try as she might, she couldn't draw her eyes from the two vampires. She was going to die, she thought, here, tonight.
There was one brief moment when everything seemed to happen in slow motion.
A soft grunt of pain escaped Gabriel's lips as he stood up.
She saw Delano bare his fangs as he lunged forward, his hands looking like claws as he reached for Gabriel's throat.
And then Sydelle sprang toward her, and time ceased to exist. The vampire's strength was incredible. Sarah gasped as she was driven backward. The breath whooshed from her lungs as she fell against the staircase. Her head struck one of the steps and bright lights flashed before her eyes. She felt Sydelle's hands wrap around her throat, heard a blood curdling growl as the vampire attacked her. Using her teeth and her fingernails, Sydelle savaged Sarah's face and neck.
Fear lent strength to Sarah's limbs and she began to struggle wildly. Lifting her arm, she jabbed the stake she was still holding into the vampire's side.
With a roar, Sydelle plucked the stake from Sarah's hand and flung it aside. And then Sarah felt the woman's fangs at her throat. There was a sharp pain, and then everything went out of focus. The room and its occupants seemed to blur. As if from far away, she heard sounds of a struggle. Gabriel was fighting for his life, she thought numbly. She had to help him. But her arms and legs refused to move, and then everything went black…
She was drifting, floating on a sea of darkness, when she heard his voice. He was crying, and the sound of his heartache made her want to cry, too.
Crying
, she thought, and she knew in that instant that Gabriel was crying for her, because she was dying.
The knowledge didn't frighten her as it should have. She looked around, puzzled by the darkness. Where was the tunnel and the bright light everyone talked about, she wondered.
And then she heard his voice again, sobbing for her to come back, pleading with her not to leave him again. Begging her to forgive him for what he was about to do.
She tried to speak, tried to tell him that everything would be all right, but she no longer had the power to speak.
She heard his voice grow faint as she floated farther and farther away. She tried to call his name, tried to tell him she would find him again no matter how long it took, but it was too late… too late…
She was on the very brink of oblivion when a sudden warmth filled her. It was thick and hard to swallow, but it drew her back from the edge of the abyss. She felt it course through her body, and then she heard his voice again, urgent, filled with love. And regret.
"Drink, Sarah," he said. "Drink."
Obediently, she opened her mouth, and he pressed his wrist to her lips again.
"Drink," he commanded, and she felt his hand at the back of her neck, holding her in place.
And because she feared the darkness, because she didn't want to leave him again, she did as he asked, her throat convulsing as she swallowed again and again, until, with a groan, Gabriel jerked his arm away.
"Enough,
cara
," he murmured.
Her eyelids fluttered open and she looked up at him.
"Gabriel, what happened?"
"I'll explain later," he promised, gently brushing a lock of hair from her brow. "Sleep now."
"Don't leave me!" She couldn't bear the thought of being parted from him again. "Please don't leave me!"
He wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight, until she felt her heart beating in time with his.
"I won't leave you,
cara
," he promised, his voice infinitely sad. "But you must rest now."
She didn't want to sleep. She wanted to know what had happened to Delano and Sydelle, wanted to know why she felt so strange, why the thought of being separated from him for even a moment filled her with such gut-wrenching anxiety, but a lethargy unlike anything she had ever known was creeping over her, dragging her down into oblivion once more.
She woke to the sun in her face and a raging thirst. Alarmed, she sat up. "Gabriel?"
There was no answer, and for a moment sheer panic threatened to engulf her. "Gabriel? Gabriel!"
I'm here.
Relief flooded through her, sweeter than wine.
"Where are you?"
Below. Go back to sleep, Sarah.
"What happened? I feel so strange."
I'll explain later. Go to sleep now
, he said again, his voice low and soothing.
I'll come to you as soon as I can
.
"No! I need you now. Please."
Come to me, then.
Jumping out of bed, she ran through the house, fairly flew down the cellar stairs. She hesitated, repelled by the thought of seeing Gabriel lying in that pine box, but the thought of being separated from him quickly overcame her reluctance.
And then, of its own accord, the cellar door opened.
"Gabriel?"
I'm here. Lock the door behind you.
She did as he asked, a cold chill slithering down her spine as she locked herself in the basement. She was reaching for the light switch when she heard his voice in her mind once again.
Leave it off.
"Why don't you talk to me?" she asked as she felt her way through the darkness toward his resting place.
It takes less effort to communicate with you like this.
She shivered as her hand came in contact with the side of the box. And then he was reaching for her, lifting her over the edge as if she weighed no more than a child, cuddling her against him, and all her fears melted away.
"Gabriel…"
Sleep, Sarah
, he said, his voice heavy as he fought to stay awake.
Sleep
…
He drew the edge of his cloak around her, and then he sank back down into darkness, her head pillowed on his chest, his arm around her waist.
She should have been afraid, but she wasn't. She was asleep before she could wonder why.
When next she woke, it was to the sound of Gabriel's voice speaking her name. It was an effort to open her eyes. Feeling strangely disoriented, she blinked up at him and then, realizing where she was, she bolted upright, aghast to find herself sitting in what was, for all intents and purposes, a coffin.
"What am I doing here?" Shivering with revulsion, she started to scramble over the side.
"Relax,
cara
," Gabriel murmured as he gathered her into his arms.
Sarah clung to him, soothed by his presence, by the inimitable strength of the arms that held her.
"Are you all right?" he asked, his voice deep with concern.
She nodded, her gaze never leaving his face.
"You're sure?"
Sarah frowned at him. "Why wouldn't I be all right?"
Wordlessly, Gabriel carried her up the stairs into the kitchen, sat her in one of the antique ladder-back chairs she had bought on one of her shopping sprees.
Going to the refrigerator, he poured her a large glass of orange juice.
Handing her the glass, Gabriel sat down in the chair next to Sarah's, his gaze intent upon her face as she drank the juice.
"What do you remember about last night?" he asked.
"Last night?" Sarah shook her head. "I don't remember any…"
Gently, Gabriel pulled his hand from hers. Going to the window, he stared into the lowering darkness. It was going to storm again. He could hear the thunder in the distance, smell the rain. If he let his mind open fully, he could hear the conversation of the people in the next house, smell the exhaust of the cars on the street below.
"Gabriel?"
"You almost died last night," he replied quietly. "I couldn't let you go. I couldn't. Do you understand?"
"No." She stared at his back, wondering why he sounded so troubled, why
he
wouldn't look at her.
"Forgive me," he said, his voice raw with self-reproach. "I couldn't hold you in my arms and watch you die again." His hands balled into tight fists. "I gave you my blood, Sarah. That's why you can hear my thoughts inside your head so clearly. It's why you're feeling so strange, why you're afraid to let me out of your sight."
Slowly, he turned around to face her. "You are a part of me now, bonded to me by the blood we share."
Will you be my slave or my equal
? His words, spoken weeks ago, echoed in her mind.
She remembered the night she had given him her blood.
Am I your slave now
? she had asked, and when he had assured her that she wasn't, she had blithely replied that she wouldn't mind being his slave. Now that it seemed to be a fact, she wondered if that was still true.
"What does it mean, exactly?" she asked. "Being bonded? How long will it last?"
"It will last as long as you live," Gabriel replied. "No matter where you go, or what you do, I'll be able to find you."
"And will I be able to find you?"
"Yes, always," he promised, though he knew that, should he desire, he could shut her out of his mind, but that was something he would never do.
"Can you make me do things I don't want to do?"
He thought of vampires he had known, male and female alike, who had initiated mortals, then used them to do their bidding. In the old days, mortal slaves had often hunted prey for their vampire masters.
"I could," Gabriel admitted, "but I won't."
"Will I always feel so desolate when we're apart?"
"I don't know. I've never initiated anyone before."
"Initiated. Is that what this bonding is called?"
Gabriel nodded as he watched the emotions play across her face: doubt, fear, anxiety, resentment.
Had he done the right thing? Or did she hate him for it? She might have preferred death to being subject to his power, and yet he could not let her die, not when he had the ability to save her.
Sarah released a long, shuddering breath. "Why didn't you just make me what you are?"
"I wanted to, but I found I couldn't make that decision for you,
cara
. I couldn't bring you over against your will."
"I wish you had."
"There's still time. You're young and healthy. Perhaps, in a few years, you'll decide to be as I am. If not, then I will follow you from life into death."
"I've already made my decision," Sarah replied, smiling tremulously up at him. "I think I made it the first time I looked into your eyes."
He knelt before her, his deep gray eyes dark with desire, his hair as black as the night, reminding her of a medieval warrior rendering homage to his lady.
"I'll do whatever you wish,
cara
," Gabriel said, his voice soft and low. "Only tell me what you want."
Only tell me what you want
. And she knew, in that moment, that she wanted to be with Gabriel, like Gabriel. She didn't want to live each day knowing they could never truly be one, didn't want to watch the years pass by, knowing that he stood on one side of the vast gulf of mortality that yawned between them, while she stood on the other.
The thought of being what he was, repugnant to her only days before, now seemed far less frightening than the thought of being parted from him again.
"I want to be yours, now and forever," she whispered. "
I
want to share the night with you, and spend the day resting in your arms."
His gaze moved over her face, his eyes warm with love. A faint smile played over his lips.
"I can arrange that," he murmured, and slanting his mouth over hers, he swept her into his arms and carried her up the stairs to their bedroom.
And there, sheltered in Gabriel's arms, strengthened by a bond of love that would last forever, Sara Jayne found the courage to take the first step in an endless journey of discovery.
Amanda Ashley is the dark side of Madeline Baker. She emerged when I was on the edge of historical "burnout" and felt an overwhelming urge to write about something besides the Old West.
It was about this time that I read my first vampire book. I had always been fascinated with vampires, and I decided to try my hand at writing something with a little bite to it. My first attempt was a short story titled "Masquerade," which is now part of Love Spell's
After Twilight
anthology. That short story carried me into the dark side, and I've been writing vampire romances ever since.