Page 52 of Blood and Wine

I dream that I’m fourteen, getting my braces removed. My teeth feel like a string of pearls when I run my tongue over them. The dental hygenist hands me a mirror and I smile at my reflection. Then I notice that my teeth are all sharp, each one capped with a fang. My lips are bleeding. So is my tongue. I ask the hygienist if Will is here yet, and she says no.

I dream that it’s prom night. I never went to prom, so I know I’m dreaming. Plus, I’m wearing the red beaded dress Edward gave me for my birthday. My boyfriend—who happens to look just like Zack Morris fromSaved by the Bell—is trying to convince me to go all the way with him tonight. I tell him I’m waiting. He asks what I’m waiting for, and I say, I’m waiting for Will.

All this time, I’ve been waiting for Will.

Now he waits for me.

Chapter Twenty

Mariah

Dying isn’t the hard part. It’s coming back to life that’s the real bitch. I’m there for all of it, every millisecond my body spends repairing itself, building itself anew.

Stronger. Faster. More powerful.

I feel about a thousand years old by the time I’m ready to open my eyes again.

The room I’m in is familiar. Yellow walls, white linens, a big armoire in the corner. It looks like my mom’s room in the guesthouse, but the furniture is arranged differently.

Will is seated in a chair beside the bed with his eyes closed. My mother sits at the foot of my bed.

“He’s looking for you in the twilight realm,” my mom says. “He wants to be there to greet you in case your transition failed.”

I’m quite certain the transition didn’t fail. My canines feel sharper, though they aren’t long and terrifying like Will’s were in the midst of his bloodlust. Maybe that only happens when a vampire is turned on, or hungry. I have so much to learn about my new self.

I sit upright to stretch. Someone—most likely Will—has dressed me in my mom’s old Fleetwood Mac tee shirt.

I reach for my mother’s hand and my fingers pass through her.

“You’re corporeal,” she says. “We’ll have to save the hugs for when you’re projecting.”

I reach over to touch Will’s face, but he doesn’t stir. He must be in deep.

“Do I have to wait till I’m asleep, or do you think I can learn to project while awake?”

“I doubt becoming a vampire has made your giftsweaker,” she says. “You could test it out.”

Closing my eyes, I picture myself rising out of my body, light as air. I soar over trees and roads, until I find myself in front of the estate.

Suddenly, I’m there.

I take off into the field in search of Will. When I find him, it’s in the same spot where I first met him, standing among the vines, facing the horizon.

“Hello,” I say.

He turns around, the brightness of his smile dulled by sadness.

“Hello, there,” he says. He thinks I’m a ghost.

I run and jump, leaping over trellises. He grunts softly as I tackle him to the ground, shocked to find me solid.

“How’s this possible?” he asks.

I kiss him, moaning softly as he folds his arms around me.

“Anything is possible in a dream,” I tell him.

We return to the physical realm at the same time. As soon as he’s back in control of himself, he rises from the chair to embrace me.

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