Page 62 of Taken By the Vampires
The tears I’d been holding off started falling, instantly freezing on my cheeks. Xander, Cassius and Davon hadn’t heard me and I was too cold and the Holy Trinity was too close for me to utter a sound. I was trapped and my Vampires weren’t coming. Realization washed through me like a tsunami of despair.
They weren’t coming because they’d faded away into nothing. The cursed fulfilled. Evil abounded. They weren’t coming…because theycouldn’t come.
Nausea rose in my gut. I was late. Too, too late. They were dead. Bile rose up my throat and I worked hard to swallow it back down again. I could have had everything and now I’d lost it all. Through fear, stupidity and naivety.
If only…if only…if only. The words of regret.
I folded my body over Mom’s in an attempt to keep the weather as much off her as I could. I was either going to die of exposure or the townspeople were going to find us. Whichever way it was, it wasn’t going to be where I really wanted to be.
In the arms of my Vampires. Being cherished. Cared for.
Loved.
That’s what they had shown me. That’s what they had already known and I’d been too scared to recognize it. The tenderness Davon displayed when he spoke about his Father. Cassius’s need to feed me with any meal he thought I would like. Xander’s strict control that was undone the moment he laid his hands on me.
Those weren’t the actions of unaffected men. They had known all along how they felt.And that I returned it. You didn’t have tounderstanda bond to know it was there. And they loved me enough to send me away when I didn’t know what I wanted myself. That was real love. That was a bond that went deeper than the mere time we’d known each other, or the facts and figures about our lives.
If only I’d looked deeper andbelieved. I owned a Grimoire. I’d met Vampires. Apparently, I had powers that had been supressed through great evil. These were things in front of my face and yet I’d still rejected them.
Why did I only see it now, when it was too late? I folded in on myself and connected to the river of pure love that had been gifted to me and to them. It was boundless. Timeless. Real. I dipped my consciousness in and knew –I knew– it was a true blessing.
I really did know their hearts. It was mine I had no clue about. Their heart was my heart. Stupid,stupidme.
I bent down and whispered into Mom’s ear. “I’m so sorry. I’m not better than Ginevra. I damned them all the moment I refused to save them. I wish I did. I wish with all my heart that I had. Because I’d give anything to have them back.Anything.”
But nothing, not even a spell from my Grimoire, could reverse time.
Chapter Forty Three
Someone knelt next to me, gently brushing my hair. I made myself look up, expecting to see Gary’s harsh features, or the unforgiving eyes of the Trinity.
Instead my heart leapt. “Xander!”
His serious gaze went to my mother, “She is very ill.”
Mom hadn’t moved a muscle and I feared the ride and the walk was just too much for her. A wave of tears spilled down my cheeks, shame burning my soul. “The others?”
Xander’s mouth firmed, “I will take you back, but first – your mother.” He picked up her wrist and moved the sleeve to bare her veins. I caught a glimpse of his sharp teeth before they sank into her skin.
I remembered the last time those teeth sank into me. They had given me the most intense orgasm of my life and my cheeks burned despite the cold. As though knowing that thought, Xander’s eyes stole to mine. Held. A sense of knowing washed through me.
He did know. Of course, he knew. The bond worked both ways.
That was how connected we were.
They knew everything about me and yet they’d still held back. Giving me time and space when they had none themselves. Shame rose like acid in my throat.
Xander smoothed his thumb over the small puncture marks at Mom’s wrist, wiping away a drop of blood before tugging her sleeve down. “There is nothing to be ashamed about, Tu Ena. We knew you, like you know us. We’ve just had three hundred years to get used to the idea when you had none.”
I choked on a sob. They were dying and yet Xander was still being sounderstanding. I didn’t deserve that. Them. My actions were detestable.
My breath caught when Xander stroked my cheeks, wiping away my frozen tears, “No recriminations. I don’t like seeing you like this. Come, we need to get back to the house.” A frown marred his brow? “But can you walk, Ella? I need to carry your mother.”
“Yes, of course.”
The sounds of people thrashing through the underbrush was fast becoming louder. They could very well break through the barrier at any time. Our only hope would be that they wouldn’t see us and be put off by the intense storm.
Xander lifted Mom as though she weighed no more than a pillow, despite her being a dead weight. I clambered to my feet, finding it difficult to stand on frozen limbs. “Is she..?” I could barely hope that Xander might have cured her. It couldn’t be that easy. Could it?
