Page 58 of Taken By the Vampires
I could offer to share my blood now. I could offer to bring him back. The answer seemed to be simple.
And yet, even faced with the consequences, I couldn’t do it. I was a horrible, shitty person. A person who wasn’t worthy of this fate or this gift. I wasn’t this person they thought I was. I was a selfish person who was going to ultimately use them before they disappeared forever. And condemn them.
Because still I didn’t know if I loved them in return and fading to nothing was better than living a bitter life for centuries more.
Chapter Forty
I thought they would have demanded my blood right here and now, but Xander only touched his palm to my cheek and said, “Go, Ella. But be back as fast as you can.”
I bent towards Davon, caught myself and stumbled backwards, hating myself that I wasn’t offering the very thing they needed. I could still save Mom. I could let them take my blood, save them and still bring Mom back.
But then I’d trap us all. Trap them with Ginevra’s ancestor. I might not even save them at all, but curse them to more horrors.
I tripped backwards as Davon’s pain-filled cry permeated the air, and then everything became silent. I drew in a blunt breath. Once. Twice.
They’d disappeared, their voices replaced by the silence of the forest. The snowstorm gone as though it was never there. I edged forward. My hand brushed through what felt like cobwebs. Sights and sounds morphed. The snow reappeared. Davon sat up, his arm protected against his front, Xander and Cassius at his side.
I’d passed through the barrier as easily as taking a step, and it had wounded Davon. Maybe mortally.
Why couldn’t I just feel differently? If this bond connected all of us, why wasn’t I down at his side offering up a vein? The reality horrified me and I stumbled back to the protection of the barrier and to Gary’s truck, the keys still in the ignition where I’d left them.
It took a couple of turns of the motor before it roared to life, the deep rumble courtesy of the powerful V8 motor and expensive modifications to make it noisier than necessary. How I was going to make it to my house without being noticed, I didn’t know. I’d just have to make it fast. Get there. Get Mom and get back.
My stomach churned as I slipped the truck into reverse and eased the massive frame back and forwards until I faced the track without falling over the edge of the mountain I’d slipped down.
My knuckles turned white as I eased the truck down the overgrown path. The recent storm made it more mudslide than anything and I only let out a breath when I finally eased over the ditch and onto the dirt road that would take me to Conway.
I glanced at the empty seat, realizing for the first time I’d left the Grimoire back with the vampires.
Dusk turned everything into shadows as I finally eased Gary’s truck into my driveway. I’d only passed two vehicles traveling the opposite direction, luckily no one I recognized. I held my breath and prayed to any God of goodwill that I would go unnoticed.
I dashed outside, leaving the door open and the motor running and bounded up the front porch steps three at a time. The front door swung open and I stopped, just inside.
Inside was dark. And cold. And silent. The fire I usually started was absent. No lights were on. No smells of dinner cooking. I stumbled inside on legs I couldn’t feel. “Mom?”
A shadow shifted. A slight movement from Mom’s chair. I dove into my knees in front of her, “Mom!”
“Ella? Is that you?”
My God. Her voice was reed thin. Weak. Coldness streaked on my cheek. I flinched back, only realizing that it was Mom’s fingers. I reached for them, wrapped my own fingers around hers in an attempt to share her warmth. “Oh my God, Mom. You’re freezing!” I felt up her arms her face. Everywhere was cold. Everywhere. “Why didn’t you light the fire?”
“Ran out. Of wood.” She was so weak, talking was too much for her.
Of course, she would have run out of wood. I wasn’t here to restock it. “You should have used the gas.”
“Didn’t. Pay. Bill.”
“Oh, Mom.” I pressed my forehead against her cold one. She was so weak. I could feel the life trickling out of her as I spoke. I squeezed her hand. “I’m getting you out of here.”
“Can’t. Get up.”
“I’ve found some…people…who can help you. They can save you, Mom. But you have to get up. I have to take you there.” If I’d have come back tomorrow, I don’t think my mother would have been alive. I stifled my sob. It wasn’t going to help her.
“You’ve found them.”
I froze at her words, a jumble of questions forming in my mind. I sat back on my haunches and gripped her hand. “Who do you think I’ve found?”
A smile ghosted her lips. “I see. You have. Knew you. Were special.”
