Page 14 of Bitten By Love

“So all the books on vampires are somewhat true,” I said in amazement.

“Humans are quite gullible creatures, we can feign any imagery, and they will believe it. Even the weakest of us can convince a human of anything.”

“What happened to thestrigoi?”

“A long time ago, when we established our kingdom, they were assigned physical and repetitive work. Now they dwell in these woods, free to do whatever they want. They usually feed on animals.”

“Wait. What about the other magical creatures in The Other Realm? Like Solomonarul, Tiberiu and his pack, and even Zburatorul.”

“Though their lifespan is much longer than that of mortals some still have died of old age. But most of their progeny perished during the Wallachian Wars,” Gabriel said somberly.

“Oh no. How is that possible?”

“They were against our new species. They made a coalition from which they created an army and attacked us. We had no choice but to defend ourselves. Ultimately, we vanquished our enemies.”

“I cannot believe Solomonarul or Tiberiu would do such a thing.”

“Tiberiu’s son was the one to lead the army.” I could see the pain in Gabriel’s eyes.

“Truly devastating,” I said.

“But let’s not reminisce on the past. What has happened, has happened, and it wouldn’t do us any good in stirring up painful memories.”

“You are right.” Still thinking of my friends and mourning their demise.

“Would you like to drink in their honor?” asked Gabriel. “Yes, I would.” As we sipped from the champagne glass,

silence befell. “I still cannot believe this is real. You, us, our marriage. Wait. I am married to the strongest vampire ever to exist. That’s mindboggling.”

“We were married in the past, not yet in the present. But no worries, we will rectify this insignificant blunder quite soon. However, I’ll need to meet your parents first. Have you spoken to them?” He asked all excitedly.

“I did. They were quite curious to meet you. My mom figured it out in less than ten seconds. The woman is a mind reader.”

“I cannot wait to meet her.”

“You and her both. But I’ll have to warm them up to the idea of marriage, even though I’ve been married for two years now.”

“You might need to add a few more hundreds of years to that, but indeed you’ve been taken for quite some time.” Gabriel smiled playfully.

“I forgot my husband is an immortal being. A sexy immortal at that.” I peered into his eyes.

“And my wife has the great talent to travel through time and to hold my heart captive for centuries.” He kissed my palm.

“It wasn’t intentional.” I tried to defend myself.

“If I were given a choice, I would meet you all over again. I might be immortal, but I believe only you have the power to kill me.”

“If only with my magnificent rendition of Three Blind Mice played on the recorder.”

“You should’ve seen my stunned face when I found out this melody was a nursery rhyme.”

“You say nursery rhyme. I say an elevated piece of music.”

Gabriel burst into laughter at my failed impersonation of a distinguished lady and didn’t hesitate to tickle me.

“No, no. I hate being tickled,” I said as I tried to suppress my laughter.

“I will stop only if you say yes,” he said.

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