Page 34 of Watch Me Turn
It should feel wonderful, but whilst he plans our life together, blissfully unaware of the danger, Paloma's warning echoes inside my head.
You can never tell another soul.
It can't be a coincidence that two vampires visited Paloma looking for a rare herb that stops the process of turning. Someone wanted to block Angel's transformation. Someone wanted to stop this from happening.
The question is...who?
Angel pushes his wet hair back from his face and winks. "We should come back to this place a year from now. Like an anniversary thing. A romantic bunker staycation."
I offer a weak smile. "That would be nice."
You can never tell another soul.
Maybe La Madre was right. Maybe these people are snakes after all. Maybe they set me up to undermine her authority and bring shame to Las Malditas.
I should have known better.
Now my blood, my ancient, magical, Maldita blood runs through Angel's body. The blood I am forbidden to share with another pulses through his veins, mingling and mixing with the essence of a very dangerous man.
But I had no other choice.
Paloma told me that there was a chance that my blood could save him. Especially as I had already tasted his.
"I drank from him, P," I confessed back in her office. "He asked me to...but that's not why I did it. I did it because I wanted to. I did it because I had to know how he tasted. He's under my skin, but I wanted him to become part of me forever."
"That makes things complicated," she'd said. "The Sangre Negada is powerful but fickle. It doesn't always work." She'd held my hand like a doctor delivering bad news, softening hervoice and speaking each word slowly. "I know this isn't easy to hear, Soph, but there was a chance that he could have fought off the sickness and turned anyway. But by drinking his blood, you weakened the effect of his maker. If Angel makes it through, the maker's influence over him will be less than a regular vampire, and I'm guessing that's not part of the deal."
"His maker is the leader of the 6th Clan," I'd said with my head in my hands. "He's going to kill me, isn't he? I'm dead. I'm so dead."
Then she'd tentatively told me that the only way he might survive is if I fed him my blood. Of course I'd refused outright.
"Fuck no. There's no way I'm doing that," I'd raged. "Do you have any idea what would happen to me if La Madre found out? She'll kill me."
"Or Lazaro will," Paloma offered unhelpfully. "Either way, you're screwed, mana. Your blood being so special is exactly the kind of thing that would probably save him."
"Probablysave him? You can't give me better odds?"
She'd shaken her head. "I wish I could, but we're in uncharted territory here."
As I'd left, she'd offered the warning. "Whatever you decide, you can count on me to keep quiet, but you can never tell another soul. Lazaro would kill you, and I need you in my life."
"I know," I'd said. "This stays between us."
The journey back to El Paso gave me more than enough time to gather my thoughts, but it turns out I didn't need it. The moment my talons left the asphalt, I'd made my decision. I was going to save Angel no matter what. I was going to make him whole again.
I was going to make him mine.
In just six hours,we'll be out of here.
If you'd have told me ten days ago that I'd be desperate to stay in this underground prison, I'd have never believed it, but right now all I want is to spend eternity in this bubble we've built.
Vampirism looks good on Angel Ruiz, and I don't just mean the physical change. Sure, his dark eyes are darker, his jawline even sharper, and the corded muscle that runs through his body more pronounced, but the real change is how he holds himself. How much more comfortable he is in his skin.
Being back in bed with him is much more fun now. The chains and shackles are intruments are pleasure, not torture. I nuzzle my cheek into his shoulder, and he responds by kissing me on the crown. The intimacy between us feels so easy. It always has. A physical connection blooming from the darkness that began the moment he pushed a blade against my throat.
Now I'm inside him forever, and the connection is deeper than anything I could have imagined. If this is being a sire, then sign me up.
"I wish we didn't have to leave," Angel says as he strokes my arm. "I wish we could just stay like this."
