Authors: Erika Trevathan
CHAPTER 8
My eyes widened and I gasped out, “What? I thought I had months; years even, before I had to worry about this. What if I don’t want to become a vampire? I don’t know if I’m ready for this.” I looked at him, my eyes pleading for there to be some other way.
“Brooke, I’m sorry. But while I wish you didn’t have to go through this, I can’t regret that we’re bonded. Unfortunately, all this just goes with the territory. You would have had more time to adjust if Ethan hadn’t become infatuated with you.” He smiled and lightly tapped me on the nose with his finger, trying to lighten the mood. “How can we help it you’re so irresistible?”
In no mood for jokes, I covered my face with my hands and tried to gather my scattered nerves. Finally I looked up, knowing the exhaustion was written all over my face. “Please just take me home. All I want is my warm bed and a chance to let this all sink in.”
Alex nodded in understanding and led me to my car.
It was not until I was snuggled into my warm bed with nothing but the bedside lamp dimly lighting the room and Alex sitting next to me brushing the hair from my forehead, that I finally felt like I might be able to reason through some of the craziness that had been thrown at me over the last week. I looked over at Alex, taking in his tousled dark hair, smooth chiseled features and piercing blue eyes- and I knew without a doubt that I was meant to spend eternity with him. I was just having a hard time processing the fact that I would have to become a vampire in order to do that. The thought of being turned frightened me and the unknowns of how it would happen were scaring me even more. I had some hard questions to ask Alex before I could even begin to get my head wrapped around what my life was going to become.
Alex was watching me carefully, seeming to know the struggle going on inside me. Heck, for all I knew he could hear every word I was thinking.
I took a deep breath, tearing myself out of my runaway thoughts and met Alex’s concerned gaze.
“Okay Alex, I’m ready to talk about this. I’m full of questions.”
Alex smiled and kissed my forehead. “I figured as much. Ask away.”
“Well for starters I want to know about Ethan. I take it he’s the CEO of Rettings from our little confrontation tonight. Why in the world did he bite me in the parking lot and how did he know we had bonded?”
As soon as the words left my mouth I burst out laughing. Laughing hysterically for several minutes before I could even catch my breath enough to speak. By the time I finished, I had tears running down my face. Alex watched me smiling but his brow was furrowed slightly with confusion. It was one of those moments where you either laugh or cry-- I ended up doing both.
I finally gained control of myself and said, “I’m sorry, that sentence just sounded so absurd. I cannot even believe this is my life right now.” I wiped the tears from my face and smiled. “Okay, sorry. You can answer my questions now.”
Alex chuckled and then his face turned serious. “Ethan and I have known each other for hundreds of years. In fact, we lived in the same village and were friends before we were turned. Our lives changed one night when we were coming home from a tavern and had the poor fortune to run across a young lady alone on the road. I think you can imagine what happened next, but the way we handled our new lives was completely different. We both came from Europe around the same time and settled near the Carolina coast. Ethan had changed from the young man I knew before and we clashed. You see, Ethan as a young vampire was careless with his feedings and it was nothing for him to leave a path of destruction in his wake. I have had to clean up his messes more times than I care to count. Fortunately, he has actually learned to control his urges over the last hundred years and has built a very successful empire in pharmaceuticals.”
He took a deep breath and I could see the tension in his body as he continued on. “As far as I know he has never bothered any employees and though he keeps his distance, he is respected. I’ve kept my eye on him over the years and he only feeds on those that are willing and even then he never drains anyone. I was stunned when I saw him with you on the patio that first night and I had a feeling he had taken more than the usual interest in you.”
He ran his hand through his hair, something I had come to realize was a sign of stress, and then gently brushed his fingertips over the bite marks on my neck. “I can’t believe he tried to bite you. My guess is that he was going to turn you before I could, knowing he would then hold a strong connection with you. What he didn’t count on was that we have something even stronger, and when the bond is complete, it will be incomparable. And rare as that is, there is no mistaking the smell or the taste of someone’s blood that has bonded with another vampire. It would have made him extremely ill to even take a small amount of your blood.”
I turned his words over in my mind and finally asked. “Why do I have to be turned? Why can’t we be together without me being a vampire?”
He met my eyes and held them with his.
“Brooke, make no mistake that you and I will continue to be together for eternity. There is nothing and no one that is going to stop that from happening. I won’t allow it.” He said this with so much authority and confidence that I didn’t doubt what he said for a second.
“But there is a more physiological reason that we must be together. I don’t want you thinking this is the only reason I want you, though. I knew the minute I laid eyes on you that I had to have you. Even before I realized we had a bond. You believe me, don’t you?”
I thought back to that first night when our eyes had first met with such intensity. And yeah, I believed him. I nodded and the relief was evident in his eyes.
“On the rare occasion that a vampire bonds with a human, it is because something in the vampire’s blood and something in the human’s blood reacts together. Almost like the pull between two magnets, our blood is calling to each other. Eventually, when you’re turned, our blood will mingle and the bond will be complete. When that happens, the power that ignites from that mingling is said to be something that is beyond the normal powers of vampires. It has happened so rarely in history that I cannot really be sure what exactly will result. Vampires and human get together all of the time, but this is something distinctly different.”
He took my hand in his and looked down at the bedspread. I could tell that I was not going to like his next words. After what felt like an eternity he looked up and continued.
“Brooke, if something prevented me from turning you at this point, it would be detrimental. Once the bonding process has started and our blood has, for lack of better words, recognized one another, our bodies would eventually weaken and we would both cease to exist if the bond is not fully completed.”
My eyes widened in disbelief. “We would die?”
“You do not have to worry about that. I’m going to turn you and the bond will be complete. There will be nothing to worry about.”
I gasped. “Nothing to worry about?! I can tell you I’m very worried about being turned. For one thing, I’m worried about my soul. And I’m sure that it’ll also be physically painful. From where I’m sitting there is plenty to be worried about.”
“Well, all I can tell you is that I trust that my soul is still with me. I know that I am immortal, but who’s to say I have no soul. And being that I have only ever killed in self defense and have asked forgiveness for that, I hope to one day go to heaven. Whether I’ll be allowed to enter the gates of heaven will be up to God, same as it is for anyone with a soul. As for the pain, the bite is not too painful and can even be considered pleasurable. As your body turns into an immortal state there will be a burning pain for a little while and then you will go into an almost coma like state. It should only last for a day or two and when you awake, I will be right here waiting for you.”
“Alex, is there any way that we can put this off a little while? Give me a little more time to come to grips with the idea of becoming a vampire. What about my job? How long will it take me to control myself afterwards?”
“Every vampire is different in there ability to restrain themselves from killing in the initial days and months following the transition. As far as your job goes, don’t worry about it. I’ll move Kara in your place and hire a new receptionist. You don’t have to work anymore and it’ll probably be a little while before you could, even if you wanted to.”
At my outraged look he pulled me into his lap and lifted my chin up to look me in the eyes. “Brooke, what I don’t think you understand is that once this bonding is completed we will be one. This goes beyond any kind of marriage vows or commitment ceremony. Literally, our blood will be of the same and not only will we be able to communicate without speaking, but the bond will be unbreakable. If one of us was destroyed, the other would parish as well. The feelings you’ve been having when we’re apart will be intensified if we're separated for any extended period of time. And like I said, this happens so rarely that there is a lot that I don’t even know about. I guess we’ll find the rest out together.”
“I don’t like the idea of being dependant on you. How am I supposed to pay my bills if I’m not working?”
“Brooke, I want you to move in with me. You’ll need to be there when you’re turned so I can watch over you and you’ll also need my help afterwards. But even more than that, you’re my other half or will be soon. Think of it this way. If we were married we would live together, right?”
“But we’re not married.”
He sighed, frustrated that I didn’t seem to be getting it. “This is much more than marriage and I don’t put much stock in marriage vows the way society tends to view them now, but since it’s important to you, then it‘s important to me. Just know that what I feel for you is even stronger than that vow.”
I watched him in shock as he got down on one knee, looking so gorgeous my breath caught, and took my hand.
“Brooke Ashcroft, you are absolutely the only woman in my two hundred and fifty years who literally takes my breath away. The only one who I can see my future with and the one thing that’s going to make the rest of eternity worth living.”
His blue eyes were locked with mine and I had no doubt that he had a soul-- it was laid out in all it’s breathtaking glory-- shining through his fiery blue eyes.
I froze and after what seemed like an eternity of silence, realized I was holding my breath. Did he really just propose marriage? Do I even want to get married to him after only knowing each other for a week? As soon as the thought registered in my mind, I knew that that was exactly what I wanted. The thought of spending the rest of my life, however long that may be, with Alex, felt more right than anything ever had. After a lifetime of feeling unwanted, Alex made me feel more than safe, protected, or loved even. He made me feel like I had finally found that piece of me that I had always known was missing.
Throwing myself into his arms, I kissed him on the lips before finally answering. “Yes, absolutely, yes.”
“I have to say that this is one thing I never thought to experience. I’m really starting to see the appeal, though,” he teased, but there was a ring of truth in his voice.
“When exactly were you hoping to turn me? And since we are talking eternity here, and marriage is now going to be a part of that, how soon are we talking about getting married?”
“Tomorrow. As soon as possible.”
“Tomorrow! We can’t get married tomorrow and I’m sure not ready for this whole turning into a vampire thing so suddenly. And most weddings take a year to plan.” I really couldn’t believe he wanted to spend an eternity with me at all, let alone rush into it tomorrow.
“Brooke, I’m telling you. If we wait much longer it’s going to put us both in danger. Let’s be cautious and not allow the Regency time to stop it from happening. Besides, I‘m impatient to have you for an eternity.”
“Flattery will get you no where, mister,” I said, giving him a feigned look of exasperation. “And you’ve lost me again. Who in the heck is the Regency and why would they care if we bonded?” I shook my head. “See this is just further reason for me not to rush this. There is still so much I don’t know.”
Alex set me back against the pillows and slid onto the bed to lie next to me. “I just didn’t want to overwhelm you with too much information at once. But I can see you’ll not do this without a thorough vampire history lesson.” He threw his arms behind his head and stared up at the ceiling.
“The Regency is a family of the oldest vampires. They’ve been together for thousands of years. Most of the time, they stay out of our affairs unless it jeopardizes the secrecy of our society. When that happens the punishment is swift and violent. Because of the power of those that bond and the unpredictability of it, the Regency would probably try to prevent it from happening. The only other bonded couple living right now is part of the Regency and it is one of the reasons why they are so powerful. The few others that have bonded have been destroyed in a series of accidents over time. Supposedly, one of the bonded vampires dies and the other follows soon after. I have my suspicions about why none of them are still living out their immortal lives.”
I stared blindly up at the ceiling trying to imagine what this Regency looked like. For some reason I kept picturing thrones, red velvet capes and crowns, though I doubted that a family of vampires would fit that picture of royalty. “Do you think the Regency did away with them?”
“It wouldn’t surprise me if they did. But I just don’t want to take any chances of them getting wind of this and trying to keep us apart. Now that Ethan knows, we‘re even more at risk. I don’t think he would alert them, but as erratic as he’s been acting, I can’t be sure either.”
I sat up and looked down at him, my hair falling around me. He reached up and tucked the dark blond and gold strands behind one of my ears and waited for me to speak.