Page 69 of Forever Midnight

“Will Tru remember when you go away?”

Benedict nods. “He will. Goodbye, Leander. Please let yourself love Tru. He needs you, and so do I.”

Tru goes lax in my arms, his eyelids fluttering until he opens them and focuses on my face. His breathing is heavy, his expression awed.

“How do you feel?” I ask.

“Well, I just had someone take over my body and speak through me, so pretty good, all things considered.”

“You felt it?”

“Hell yeah, I felt it. I heard my own voice speaking French, but somehow I understood every word. Part of Benedict is in me?”

“Yes.”

“Like reincarnation?”

“I believe so. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”

“And…we were meant to find each other because of it?”

My heart flutters in my chest. “Apparently.”

Tru blows out a breath. “There’s only one thing I’m still trying to figure out.”

“What’s that?”

“Could we go over something again? Am I crazy or are you a vampire?”

I nod. “You’re not crazy. I’ve been trying to find a way to tell you.” With all that’s happened in the last few minutes, I finally slip from his body, unable to keep my desire. I have to believe that what Benedict told me is true.

“Benedict rejected you,” Tru says more than asks.

“For several reasons, the least of which was my…nature.”

“Nature. Were you born a vampire?”

“No. I was made. Created.”

“By who?”

“Yves. He chose all of us to be his companions.”

Tru nods. “Okay.” Blowing out a shaky breath, he pulls himself up to a seating position. “Tell me how it happened, all the way up to Benedict leaving you.”

“I was born in Greece in 1511 in a small village near Athens.”

“Wait. 1511? That means you’re…”

“Over five hundred years old, yes.”

“Wow. You look good.”

I laugh. “I am forever twenty-five, but I try to age myself up to fit my disposition for a modern world.”

“Tell me more.”

“I was very poor. My family struggled for food and basic necessities. I had no schooling. I had to work in the fields with my father and sisters. Eventually, my two sisters were sold off and married.”

---