Marked

by A.N. Meade

of someone else’s blood, not when we’re so close to making progress.”

  Enric walked over to the side of the bed. The ribbons of purple had faded under Kate’s skin. He noticed that her body had begun to take on a kind of otherworldly glow. Her skin and hair were radiant, like a woman with child. She was saying something as if she were reading from a text, low, and methodically under her breath. It was a text they knew, from the 240 BC writing, the Egyptian Book of the Dead.

  She repeated the phrases over and over again. The words seemed to give some measure of comfort to Marc. “She is finding her way back.” Marc stroked her face as she spoke, his words in sync with hers.

  Natasha recognized the words from a book she was familiar with. “That’s from the book of the Dead?”

  Marc had always found the moniker insufficient in some way. He grinned in amusement. “Well, that’s what the English call it.”

  Natasha was confused. This text was significant historically, but she could not fathom how it had anything to do with what was happening now. “What significance does the Book of the Dead have to this?”

  Marc began to explain as best he could. “The Egyptians possessed great wisdom. The information in those scrolls is the key to understanding a large part of what we must face in the underworld. It’s like a wilderness, vast and confusing. There are many paths that can lead in many different directions. One set of choices leads to reincarnation on this earth if your soul’s learning is complete. One leads to paradise and the other to torment.”

  “What about the immortals?”

  “Well, that’s something else altogether. For Vampires, it is a journey backward against the raging river, back to our bodies, a gateway quickened with unnatural life.”

  One more day, that’s all they had left. Kate was so close to reaching the end of her journey beneath. Marc had found that his grief had subsided, and in its place was fierce anticipation. He wondered if she would reconnect with who she was in their life together so long ago. He wondered if she would love him, or if she would come to regret her choice and resent him for what she would become. Either way, Marc was pleased that she was resting so calmly now. The sun broke through the heavy velvet drapes and danced across her face. She was so beautiful. Then he noticed it, the gash in her arm had begun to heal. He took off the bandage just to be sure. The cut was fading like it had never been there at all. She was changing. She was becoming a Vampire. Marc rested a moment, knowing that she would awaken soon. He leaned his body against the thick post at the end of the bed. Natasha and Enric had joined him again to keep vigil over her. He was pleased to tell them the worst had passed. “Her wounds are healing.”

  Enric and Natasha could not help but smile. There had been so much tension over the last couple of days. This was good news. Her body had at last stopped fighting, and Marc’s blood would begin to strengthen her. They watched him bite deeply into his wrist for the last time, and gently tilt back her head.

  “She’s getting stronger, it won’t be long.” When Marc glanced back at them it was frightening at first. His skin was shadowed, and his eyes gleamed, bright and piercing. They looked a lot like a kaleidoscope. They were predominately green in hue and as wild as any animals. His fangs stood out dramatically. Even the way he carried himself was different, dominant, and more aggressive. He wiped Kate’s lips with a white kerchief, and bound his wrist carefully with gauze and a heavy leather cuff watch. He glanced down and then met their eyes to explain what must be done next. “It will be a few hours before she awakens. I must go. I’ll be back as soon as I can. Take care of her until I return.” Then he paused, there was one more thing he needed to know, “Enric, are you certain you still want to do this?”

  Enric’s response was immediate. “Yes. We have seen how much she means to you.”

  “Good.” With that, Marc closed the door.

  Natasha had never seen him like that before. He had remained perfectly composed, but underneath it was plain to see that his hunger had grown intense. Day hunting was very dangerous. He would make a good choice, she knew that. Marc liked to choose someone who was disconnected and cruel. He often chose criminals. Still, it was hard to know what was happening. It was terrible for the mortal, no matter what Marc’s skill was. As fast and skilled as he had become at killing, it was still bad for Marc too. He had never really enjoyed hunting men. Even though he needed to at times to survive it never seemed that simple. He had always viewed it more like murder. There was no other choice; if he didn’t hunt he was far too hungry to control himself during a feeding. He had to let the beast inside grow hungry, so that he could be there like he needed to be for Kate. Now, he needed to quench that hunger so that he could be logical and strong for her to lean on after her awakening.

  It was dusk before Marc returned to the house. His eyes were calmer. With the storm inside him abated, Natasha could not help but wonder for a moment about the specifics of his hunt. Who was it he chose? Were they afraid? She knew that their face would always be with him. He remembered every human he killed, every single one. He had told her so once. He even remembered the faces of the warriors he bested in battle before he was immortal. Marc had not hunted since they made their agreement, until now. It seemed so terrible from a human point of view, but he was not human after all. Natasha told herself that what he had to do was natural, no matter how terrible it seemed.

  Marc did not rush to Kate. Instead, he went first into the bathroom. He didn’t utter a word as he passed Natasha and Enric in the hall. He dared not meet their gaze with the blood still dry on his lips from his kill. He turned on the hot water and stripped off his clothes. They smelled like death. He dipped his hands into the water and rinsed his face, letting his fingers run along the side of his head. It never got easier as strange as it was. He had killed dozens of men in battle as a mortal. He had killed hundreds more as an immortal, and not one of them haunted him like now. The stream enveloped him, beginning to release the tension in his muscles. He used his shirt to wipe clean a space on the mirror. He had cleaned away the blood and bits from his body, but his teeth were stained a sheer red. “What have I done,” he thought, “this has been such a curse and here I have given it to the soul I love above all else.”

  He knew he did what he needed to do. He did what had to be done. There was no way that Natasha would have survived his brutality. He was far too hungry, and he would have killed her. Though it was necessary, Marc found it difficult to accept at times.

  It was well into the night, before the final traces of his deed were washed down the drain. Marc found Enric and Natasha sitting in armchairs beside Kate’s bed, deep in conversation with one another.

  “Are you ready then?” Natasha beamed a satisfied smile at Enric. This would be one more thing that they could share together. Natasha had been waiting for this, for Enric to commit fully to this life. She wanted him to have what she had with Marc. Their friendship had changed her for the better.

  “I am,” Enric replied in his typically collected tone. He smiled back at Natasha and then lifted his gaze to Marc as he entered the room.

  “I’m glad to see you are ready, dear friend. We’ve only a couple of hours now before she wakes.” Just saying it out loud made Marc’s heart race. He was so close to having her back.

  “How soon will she need to feed?”

  The faint tremor that Marc detected in Enric’s hands was the only give away that his composure was crumbling. He was afraid. It was good. New vampires were often overly eager. It was not unheard of for a willing donor to become injured or even to die if the feeding were not monitored closely. “She will need blood almost right away, but I would like a few moments in private with her at first.”

  “Of course.”

  “It is well past time for dinner, I have asked Edward to prepare a meal for you. It is important that you eat and have your strength, especially you Enric.” Marc had been gentle in his guidance and he could see that the idea was readily accepted by Natasha. She could n
o doubt remember the fatigue that she felt at the beginning of her arrangement with Marc.

  “Thank you, Marc. Do you wish to join us?”

  “No, excuse me please. I want to be here when she opens her eyes.” Kate was in a deep sleep now. Her body had been utterly exhausted by the journey. Marc felt responsible to be there when she awoke to this new existence. He thought then of another need that would have to be met. “Could you do me a favor, Natasha?”

  “Yes, what do you need?”

  “Kate will need something to wear. I don’t want to her to be self-conscious when she gets up. I would like something simple and elegant. Cashmere would be perfect.”

  “What about the ivory sweater dress? And I could bring the brow belt with the turquoise insets?”

  “She’ll like that.” They smiled in agreement. In their life before Kate had always loved blue. It sounded perfect.

  “I’ll have it ready when you call for us.” Natasha and Enric moved downstairs then, to set about devouring their dinner and easing Enric’s anxieties.

  The anticipation was about to drive Marc insane as he waited upstairs. Intently, he watched every twitch of her eyelid. She had overcome all the obstacles of the underworld. Here she was, after all of that, lying in front of him