Page 19 of Eternally Theirs

Chapter Five

Ever’s fingertips tapped an impatient rhythm on the edge of his desk. It had been a week since the Council met, and still no word about the rogue vampire Gaius. He was growing impatient. He would have taken somebody’s head off by now had it not been for Mercy and Deo.

They had been a lovely distraction. But no, he was fooling himself to credit them with nothing more than that. He knew their quiet, tender new strength, understood how it held him up. Held him together. He still thought of his lovely Vérún, but not with as much despair. Not as much despair about his own existence, as well.

Strange, how much could change in only a week’s time. But as he’d said to Deo, time was different for the vampires.

Time had shifted for him in the last days, had come to weigh a bit less heavily on his mind. While he’d spent the last number of months doubting his ability to remain rational for another twelve centuries—and certainly not happy—the happiness Mercy and Deo brought him made it seem possible again.

Possible.

Perhaps even happy. He’d never really thought of himself as happy. Satisfied, yes. Basking in this luxurious life, certainly. But happy?

His human life hadn’t been happy. The life of a Viking was rough, with death, loss, hunger and pain a part of everyday existence. He’d loved his brothers fiercely. Had done everything, felt everything fiercely. But in that era, in that part of the world, so cold and bleak and hard, there had never been time for happiness. He wasn’t sure how he recognized it now, but he did. And he wanted it.

Possible? Perhaps it was, with Mercy and Deo. If he could allow himself to soften. It seemed insane to even consider it. He was too ancient, had seen too much, experienced too much. He’d spent centuries indulging his desires while keeping those deepest parts of his heart closed off. He’d needed to. And yet…

He stood and began to pace the sleek marble floors of his office, gazing out the windows. London was dark outside, the night sky streaked with a little silver from the full moon, amber from the street fires—whether those belonging to the many homeless or the result of a small riot, a bombing, he didn’t know.

Strange that he even considered it—what was happening in the mortal world outside. It was something he hadn’t thought about in a very long time, other than ensuring the rules set down by the Council to maintain the vampires’ aura of power and mystique, to be certain the humans would never have reason or the ability to challenge them. But responsibility was very different from… compassion.

He ran a hand over his sleek hair, unnecessarily smoothing down the long ponytail, drawing it over his shoulder.

He sensed Mercy’s presence, smelled the scent of her skin, like the petals of some rare flower blooming, and turned.

She was standing in his doorway, so delicate in her pale blue silk chemise, her feet adorably bare. “Ever? May I come in?”

“Of course, my sweet.”

She smiled, her lovely face lighting up. He could see her shining blue eyes from across the room, ablaze with preternatural light and pure pleasure.

Desire surged through his veins, his cock going hard. His heart beat faster.

Mercy.

My Mercy.

She came to him and kissed him on the cheek, a soft brush of her pink lips. “What are you looking at out there?” she asked him, her fingers threading through his.

“The night. The city, perhaps.” His gaze went back to the tall windows.

She remained quiet beside him, watching with him. Then she said, “There is so much pain out there.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t mind leaving that part behind, that part of being human. The vulnerability. The fear.”

He stroked his thumb over her hand, feeling the satin of her flesh. Her body—and Deo’s—had become harder even in this past week. They were changing already, their bodies adapting more and more each day to being immortal. Yet they were no less sweet, either of them.

“I don’t remember that anymore,” he said. “It’s been far too long. But it wasn’t so long ago that I could still relate, somehow, to humanity. There was a time when I’d reach out with my mind to take in what was happening on the city’s streets, but it’s been years since I’ve taken such an interest in the mortal world. All that’s interested me has been the clubs. Sex and blood. Luxury. Those things that feed my desires. It’s only now, since you and Deo have come to me, that I even realize it.” He paused, sighed. “How shallow I’ve been.”

“I never felt that from you, Ever. Even that first day, you were caring of me. Of us.”

He turned to her, slipped a finger along her jaw. “Ah, but you and Deo are vampires. Not human.”

“Still, I don’t think it’s possible to be a vampire for very long without separating ourselves from mortals. I can feel it happening already. So does Deo. We’ve talked about it. We are different. It can’t be helped. And I can only imagine, after so many centuries as a vampire, how foreign humans must seem.”

“Foreign, yes. Still desirable. There is something I envy in them, even now.” He realized as he spoke the words how true that was.

---