by Jez Strider
“Wake up.” Someone pushed me in the side with their foot. “I have a gun so don’t try anything stupid.”
Slowly, I opened my eyes. Wild blackberries were scattered all over the ground. It made little sense. I brought my hand around and picked one up, looking over the nodules of the sun-kissed fruit. My dark hair, now long and messy to appear more barbaric for the arena, shrouded most of my face as I lifted my head and popped the fruit into my mouth.
“I tripped over your body while I was gathering and dropped them all. What are you doing out here and what are you wearing?” The person asked.
I was still dressed in the ridiculous gladiator loincloth. No wonder she thought I was weird. As I was sitting up and resting back on my knees, I looked up at the girl. She had soft, short blonde hair that blew in the summer breeze. One stray strand was always over her eyes. Why hadn’t I recognized her voice when it played in so many of my dreams?
“Darcy Rose….” I whispered in awe of the angelic beauty. “I’ve died, haven’t I? None of this is real.” With a shaky hand I reached out for her.
She dropped her gun and fell to her knees in front of me, uncaring that she was kneeling in blackberries. “Preston?” Her voice was as incredulous as mine, quiet with disbelief. Both her hands touched my scarred chest, then one went up to the long first scar I earned from the vampires on my cheek. “Preston!” She said again and wrapped her arms around me.
Tears filled my eyes and I sobbed without fear of who might watch or judge me as I held her tightly in my embrace. “I love you so much. I never thought I’d see you again.” I confessed.
Darcy backed away just slightly to cup my face in her hands and kiss my lips. “I don’t understand. Where have you been?”
Without realizing it, I had still been clenching the ring in my hand. I was self-conscious of my more rugged appearance and what my absence had done to her. Should I even show her the ring? I didn’t even know if she had moved on. The kiss could have been a mistake by her in the heat of the moment.
“That day….” I shook my head. “I returned to the city for a surprise for you and I was captured. Vampires forced me to…well, I chose to do awful things to survive.”
“We all have scars from our mistakes.” She held out her wrist to me. At first I thought she was showing me she still wore the bracelet I had given her. But instead, she was exposing a horizontal cut that had scarred. “Apparently I did it the wrong way and when I saw the blood…” Her head was shaking back and forth. “My surprise for you was that I was pregnant. I lost the baby. I had already lost you. I know that’s not an excuse….”
I extended my hand, still clenched around the ring I had sacrificed so much to get. Her words filled me with guilt. I had no idea she had been pregnant and I had ran off for a meaningless bauble. “I’m sorry I failed you. Both of you.”
“It’s not your fault. I did say once I would never forgive you if you didn’t come home, but here you are, right?” She asked.
Feeling a million emotions, I opened my hand to reveal the shining ring in the morning sunlight. “This was my surprise. I still love you just as much as the day I left. If there’s no one else in your life, I want you to still have it.”
Darcy was nodding as tears continued streaming down her cheeks. “You went through more than I will ever be able to comprehend for that. No one has ever owned my heart but you.” There was hesitation.
“What is it? Is it the scars? Has it just been too long?” I bombarded her with questions.
“No…I just, I can’t go through this again. You have to promise never to leave me.. I want you to be cautious and safe. Never venture off alone.”
“I know information that can help people fight the vampires….” I told her. Fighting had been my life for so long. I wasn’t even sure I could shed what I had become.
She leaned forward and kissed me again. I had no argument. I’d still do anything for her. “Share the information. Send messengers. Just don’t leave me alone.” I hated to hear her begging for such a simple thing for me to give.
The ring had miraculously stayed clean through the attack. I slipped it onto her finger as I had longed to do years before. “I promise.”
Returning to a normal lifestyle was easier than I had expected. Nightmares plagued me nightly, but Darcy was always there to soothe me. A resistance formed, but I kept my promise and shared what I knew without joining the frontlines. Our first child was born about a year after I returned and my priorities lay with family. We named her Hope for all the people fighting to regain our world and end the vampire takeover.
From the Author
Thank you for reading and I hope you enjoyed the book. Reviews are appreciated. If you would like to be informed of new releases, sign up to my mailing list.
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Check out Jez Strider’s other books.
Vampire’s Eve
Expecting Eternity
Til Vampire Do Us Part
Fangs of Fate
