Page 27 of Resurrecting His Soul
Lisandra rolled her eyes. “So am I, in case you forgot.”
“Sorry. It’s just hard for me to see you that way. You are still so, you.”
“Huh,” Lisandra huffed. “I’m a lot different than you realize.”
“Is that why you trust him so much?”
“No. At least I don’t think so. I know it sounds crazy, but now that I have met him, I think I felt this pull towards him before we were attacked on that ride. I didn’t know what it was, but I kept feeling this weird tingling in my gut, like butterflies when you have a crush on someone. But it was a lot stronger than that. I just couldn’t explain why that feeling had hit me there at the top of a Ferris wheel in the middle of nowhere. So, I wrote it off as nerves from finally getting away from Jameson.”
Allison leaned closer and put a hand over hers and smiled.
“That feeling only grows stronger the more time I spend with him,” Lisandra said. “It’s like we are actually connected. His emotions affect me almost as if they are my own. I can sense if he’s trying to hide or sugarcoat something. I believe I would know it if he lied to me.”
“You found your soulmate,” Allison said with a smile. “I told you they were real.”
Lisandra rolled her eyes. “You live in a fantasy world. Do you really think a person is supposed to wait more than 400 years to meet their soulmate? Because that’s how long Ricardo has been a vampire.”
“Probably not. In that amount of time you could have lived numerous lives. Each one a chance for the two of you to meet and find this connection. Sadly, I fear you may have been a hometown girl in those lives, too, and clearly you never met my old self, or I would have shown you the world and you would have met your soulmate sooner.”
Lisandra stared at Allison for a minute before she started laughing. Allison winked back at her. “I swear,” Lisandra said. “You should have been a writer. You really missed your calling in the fantasy book world.”
“In case you forgot,” Allison looked at her with a raised eyebrow, “you, my friend, are a vampire. A real-life, blood drinking, immortal vampire. I don’t think the idea that soulmates exist is all that farfetched when you consider what we have already discovered to be real.”
They both laughed. “I guess you’re right,” Lisandra said. “And I can’t think of a better way to explain my need to be near him.”
“I’m still worried,” Allison said. “I believe you when you say you would know if he lied to you, but that doesn’t mean he won’t hurt someone without planning to. It has to be hard to make such a big change after 400 years.”
“I could make that same mistake,” Lisandra said. “Hell, it’s more likely I’ll do something like that without wanting to. I almost did before we found you. It was Ricardo that stopped me. This hunger,” she paused, rubbing her throat, “it’s unlike anything I’ve felt before. I would imagine it’s what someone starving to death feels. It isn’t easy to control, and it doesn’t help that I can smell every human near me, hear the whooshing of their blood when their heart pumps it through their veins. Ricardo is helping me learn to curb my thirst. He never wanted to be a monster, Allison. Someone convinced him that was all he could be. He just needed someone to believe in the man beneath the vampire. To believe in his goodness.”
Lisandra quickly wiped away the rogue tears that snuck down her cheeks. Just the memory of nearly killing that girl was enough to make her feel like a monster herself. She understood too well how easy it would be to give in to that feeling and become the monster she was afraid of if someone pushed her just a little. To have someone you loved push you away, tell you you’re nothing but a monster, the way Ricardo had been pushed, well she knew how easy it would be to live up to that accusation. To get lost in that feeling and the thirst.
Allison moved closer to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “I had no idea.”
“I was ashamed. I thought I could prove Ricardo wrong. Prove we didn’t need to feed from people, so I took off on my own. Thank God he knew I would need help.”
“I’m glad he was there for you,” Allison said. “I guess he is better than Jameson. That bastard was never there for you.”
“That wasn’t the only time, either. He was there when we went to get you. To make sure I could control my thirst around you. He knew I’d never be able to live with myself if I hurt you.”
Allison rubbed the back of her neck. “I hadn’t really thought about what it’s like for you having me around. If it’s too much, I don’t have to stay here.”
“No.” Lisandra shook her head and grabbed Allison’s hand. “I can’t say you don’t smell delicious.” She winked at Allison. “But it has been easier to control myself with you. Ricardo thinks it’s because I love you. He also seems to think I’ve got some kind of extra control that I do not feel.”
Allison tapped her with her elbow and grinned. “Well, I’m glad you aren’t struggling not to eat me, and I’m glad he’s helping you figure all this stuff out.”
“So, will you cut him some slack?”
Allison grinned and shrugged her shoulders. “Probably not, but it’s my job to give him hell.”
Lisandra chuckled.
“I will give him a chance, though,” Allison said.
“Thank you,” Lisandra said. “Does that mean you’ll stop trying to convince me we need to leave?”
“I still don’t trust Melina. And I don’t believe for a second she will stay away just because he told her to.”
Lisandra relaxed back against one end of the couch, and Allison copied her pose on the other end facing her. “Yeah,” Lisandra said. “I don’t think she will either. I just need to keep my guard up. Maybe we should find somewhere else for you to stay? Just until we know she’s not a threat. I know you’re tough, but you don’t stand a chance against a vampire.”
