Page 93 of Shadows of Eternity

“Do you hate me now?” he asked. “Want to take my head?”

“Of course not.” She hesitated before asking, “Do you still love me?”

“Until the day I die.” He studied her a moment, confused that the first thing on her mind hadn’t been blood. Some new vampires went into a feeding frenzy, others couldn’t function until they fed the first time. But that didn’t seem to be the case with Leia. He thought about it a moment, wondering if it was because he had been turned by a powerful vampire and now he was a powerful vampire in his own right. Although why that should matter, he couldn’t begin to guess.

Leia took a deep breath. “Do you still want me now that I’m a … ” She couldn’t bring herself to say the word out loud. To do so would make it all too real.

“I don’t care what you are,” he muttered. A thought locked the door and then he was beside her. Pulling her down on top of him, he kissed her.

It was a long, almost brutal kiss, but Leia gloried in it. He had been holding back before, she thought, afraid of hurting her. What would their lovemaking be like now? she wondered. Sliding her hand under his shirt, she raked her nails down his back and shoulders. They were writhing on the bed when someone knocked on the door.

Rohan muttered an oath as he stood and tossed the covers over Leia. A thought unlocked the door.

Leia quickly sat up and tucked the covers under her arms. “Come in.”

Her father glowered at Rohan. “I want to talk to my daughter. Alone.”

With a nod, Rohan left the room, quietly closing the door behind him.

Feeling afraid and vulnerable, Leia glanced at her father. What would he think of her now? Would he see a monster every time he looked at her?

Winchester cleared his throat. “The vampire told us what he did,” he said bluntly. “It’s a terrible thing and he had no rightto do it, but … ” He took a deep breath. “Your mother and I would rather have a daughter who’s a vampire than no daughter at all. We love you, honey. We’ll help you in any way we can.”

“Oh, Daddy,” she murmured, and burst into tears.

“There, there, it’ll be all right,” her father said as he sat on the edge of the bed and gathered her into his arms. “You can stay here as long as you like. The vampire says we’re all in danger as long as that other vampire lives. But once this is over, I never want to see him again.”

“He saved my life.”

“He took your life, Leia. I can’t forgive him for that. I’m grateful you’re still here, but none of this would have happened if it wasn’t for him.”

“Dad … ”

“I don’t want to talk about it.” He kissed the top of her head. “The vampire said you might need some time to … to adjust, so come downstairs when you feel up to it.”

She might never be up to it, Leia thought dolefully as she watched her father stride out of the room. How was she going to face her mother, Janae and Trent? Her brother? She felt the sting of tears in her eyes when she realized she wouldn’t be able to teach kindergarten next year, or spend the summer days at the beach. She would never go out to lunch with Janae again, or watch the sun rise, or share dinner with her family, or open presents on Christmas morning. Until she had survived a hundred years, she would be trapped in a death-like sleep until the sun went down. It wasn’t fair.

She couldn’t live like this, didn’t want to live like this. She didn’t want to be a vampire and exist on nothing but the blood of others. She just wanted to be plain old Leia again.

Railing against fate, she buried her face in her pillow and let the tears flow, wishing all the while that Rohan had just let her die.

Chapter Thirty-Eight

Trent looked up as Rohan entered the kitchen. “What the devil’s going on?”

Rohan shrugged. “Leia’s trying to adjust to her new life. It’s not easy. Sooner or later, she’s going to be craving blood and she’ll be embarrassed and sickened by it. I’m a little surprised that feeding wasn’t the first thing on her mind.” He had listened to her conversation with her father, ready to intervene if she suddenly attacked him.

“Were you?” Trent asked, obviously curious about the whole vampire thing. “Embarrassed the first time?”

“Not really. But I came from another culture, a different time. Death and killing weren’t viewed in the same way back then as they are now. In ancient times, the Scythiansdrank the blood of their enemies.”

“Nice.”

Rohan shrugged. “It will be normal for Leia now. If she views it that way, it will be easier to accept. She’ll think it’s repugnant the first few times because she knows she’s supposed to feel that way. But after a while, she won’t think anything about it. So, have you seen any sign of Josiah?”

“No, but I could feel him lurking around outside, no doubt looking for a way in.”

“Yeah.” Rohan dragged a hand across his jaw. What the hell were they going to do about Josiah? He opened his preternaturalsenses. Leia’s parents had gone to their room. Leia was feeling restless. In a few minutes, she would start to feel discomfort and then pain. He expanded his senses, searching for Josiah, but found nothing.

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