Total pages in book: 55
Estimated words: 52247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 52247 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 261(@200wpm)___ 209(@250wpm)___ 174(@300wpm)
Close to dawn, the silence breaks with a long mournful note. A wolf howling. The melancholy sound both a greeting and a goodbye. And I know.
Day is coming. I stretch out beside the sarcophagus and wait for the sleep of the dead. Above me, on the slab, Selene’s body lies still, but I can sense the change. She’s cheated death and come nightfall, she will rise as a vampire.
Immortal, like me.
Selene
I open my mouth and air rushes into my lungs. My body is heavy as a slab of marble. I draw in deep breaths until tingles go up and down my limbs, bringing them to life.
I must have made a small sound, because the next moment Lucius stands over me, his forehead creased as he looks me up and down.
“Hey.” I give Lucius a half grin. My mouth isn’t working right. None of my limbs are. “What’s happened?”
“Selene.” There’s a world of relief in his voice. “You’re awake.”
“Yeah. Captain Obvious.” My muscles tense as I try to rise. Why can’t I sit up?
“Easy, pet.” He places a hand on my chest.
“I feel weird.”
“Yes. I thought you might.” He slides an arm under my shoulders and helps me sit up. My body feels different, and I’m not sure why. I’m naked, but surprisingly not cold. The crypt air flows around me, the cold vampire scent transformed into something warm and comforting. I touch the spot on my chest where Xavier stabbed me. The skin is smooth, unmarred. I am whole.
Lucius’ hands skim down my sides. Blood roars in my veins, my body awakening to his touch. His chest is still smeared with blood but my own is clean. I swipe at the red stain and he captures my hand.
“What’s wrong, pet?”
“So much blood,” I mumble.
“Yes. It was necessary.” He tilts his head close, his dark hair brushing my forehead. “You drank all the blood I gave you.”
“I needed it.”
He squeezes my hand. “You came back for me.”
“You were in danger. In trouble. Xavier--” I push at Lucius, frantic to look past him.
“Shhh, he won’t hurt you again.”
My mentor is gone, the spot on the stones where he lay scrubbed clean.
“Is he...” I look from the stones to Lucius’ shadowed face.
“Staked. I got him while he was distracted. I couldn’t have done it without you, pet. You saved my life.”
“Yes.” Pain twists in my temple, I rub it away. I have to remember. “I’m glad he’s gone. He killed my pack. My family. It was Xavier.”
“Oh,” Lucius sounds as pained as I feel. “Selene.”
I shake my head and wince. “I’m glad he’s gone.” My head throbs like it’s been clubbed. I sift through my memories, reliving what happened. Xavier, in the crypt, Lucius staggering-- “He hurt you. You were hurt. You...when Xavier was here. You seemed to be weakened…” I stop as he smiles. “You were faking it! How did you know?”
“An educated guess. Xavier seemed so smug.”
“He used me to try to kill you.”
Lucius’ smile fades. “Yes, pet, and I’m sorry. Your death is my fault.”
I jerk in his arms. Bring my hands up between us, not to push him away, but to examine them. My hands look the same as they always have. A bit paler, perhaps. “I’m not...dead.”
“Not in the way you think.” He looks so sad, I cup his face.
“It’s all right,” I murmur.
“When you find out what I’ve done...I can only hope you can forgive me.”
“Of course. What--”
In answer, he takes my fingers and puts them to my mouth. I don’t understand until he pushes them past my lips. I touch something hard and slim and cold. Needle sharp. A fang. Not a wolf canine, but a tooth belonging to a greater predator, a--
“Vampire?” I ask, dreading his response.
Slowly, he nods.
A little sound escapes my throat. A whimper. A moan. “You turned me.”
“I turned you,” he confirms, and before I can say more, he gathers me into his arms. “I would do it again even knowing you’d change your mind. You said you wanted to be with me. I couldn’t let you go. Not now. Now when I know--”
“Know what?” I turn in his arms so I’m facing him. My heart beats loud in my ears. Under my palm, Lucius’ heart pumps blood in matching rhythm.
“I love you. Selene, I love you, and I couldn’t let you go.”
I raise my hand between us, right in front of my face. It looks the same, the pale skin, the bluish veins His blood flows through my veins. Immortal blood.
Everything is different. But when I retract my hand and see his face, I know: everything is the same.
“I know. Lucius, I know.” I lay my palm on his cheek. His hair is tousled in contrast to his elegant features. For once he’s not perfectly groomed. It only took a meeting with his enemy and a near death experience for him to forget his vanity.