Romance with a Bite

by Tamsin Baker

  He was glad that Segana hadn’t travelled with them, but when he learned that they would be guests of the Viscount Garofono, he understood why she was happy to stay in Rome. Their feud was hundreds of years old and the viscount would never permit the bitch to be anywhere near him.

  She’d always been a master manipulator and unfortunately nothing and no one could ever kill her. At times he wished he could but as his maker, she was much more powerful than both he and Arvid combined. Everyone told him to believe in karma, but how many centuries would he have to wait?

  Every time that she’d killed the love of his life, she would demand that he satisfy her sexually afterwards. He begged her time and time again to kill him too, to take him out of his misery. A few times he’d attempted suicide, but she would save him with her venomous blood. He had no way to escape.

  He had asked vampires older than him to put him out of his mystery, but everyone gave him the same answer. His maker was too powerful and too dangerous to defy. He was fucked, and damned to eternity with the vilest creature imaginable.

  For a hundred and forty years he hadn’t had to worry. His Hosidia was gone. But now that she’d reappeared, he couldn’t rest. He was still hungry for her, even though he had made love to her a few hours prior. But he wouldn’t dare give in to his urges again. He would stay awake night and day, in fear that his dreams would infiltrate hers and reveal that she was Hosidia and all hell would break loose. Making love with her had been a huge mistake. A mistake he hoped wouldn’t cost her life. Being damned and living a life of emptiness was nothing compared to the pain that he felt every time he would lose his Hosidia. He would make sure that this time his beloved lived a long life. Without him.

  He was more at peace knowing that Adonia was aware of everything. She’d always been a woman he admired, but she had been powerless to do anything about Segana. But that was then. Now the situation was completely different. Once they returned to Rome, he would talk to her about devising a plan to get rid of that horrible murderess before she could harm Hosidia once more. No one would blame Adonia as they all knew she and Segana had the same maker, though Adonia had been turned first. Segana still had the power to turn many against Adonia, making her live a life of darkness and suffering. For centuries and more Adonia had suffered in silence every time Hosidia was killed and there was nothing she could do about it.

  FLORENCE 2019 Natalia

  The moment she stepped into the villa, she had a sense of familiarity. Like she’d been there many times. That couldn’t be. This was her first visit.

  “As beautiful as Adonia,” said the gallant Viscount Garofano, kissing her hand when they met.

  “Thank you, I wasn’t aware you knew Nonna.” There were so many things she didn’t know. She was sure this weekend was going to be an eye-opener.

  “When you have time, I can tell you a few old stories.”

  Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Zev running his fingers around the inside of his collar, as if it was too tight. He was obviously agitated. Something was annoying him. What, she didn’t know.

  FLORENCE 2019 Zev

  He didn’t think the viscount was going to get that familiar with Natalia. He wasn’t experiencing jealousy, just pure and simple fear. During Luisa’s life, Zev knew that the poetess had spent many days in this villa. His fear was that it could resurrect something from her past life and give Natalia the push to remember who she’d been in the past.

  Zev knew his place. He couldn’t do much. He could only stand back and hope for the best. He was thankful that it was already late and she didn’t have much free time to pass with the old viscount.

  “What’s wrong, old man?” asked Arvid from behind him.

  He didn’t answer. He recomposed himself and took charge of his emotions. He only hoped his premonition of destruction was wrong.

  CHAPTER 12

  FLORENCE 2019 Natalia

  Sleeping in a bed many centuries old gave Natalia anxiety. She felt as if she wasn’t alone, and the stress was causing her to lose much needed sleep. In the morning she had a full schedule and she wanted every detail to be followed to perfection. She tossed and turned, punching the pillow a few times until she succumbed to exhaustion and fell into slumber.

  An image of a woman descending from the sky appeared. There was no ceiling in the room, just an open sky full of stars. The mystery woman landed not too far from her, and with fear, Natalia moved closer. She trembled with each step and the closer she got, the harder she shook.

  A thick cord came out from the woman’s heart, and attached to that were another four long cords. She followed them to an obscure corridor. Each step was heavy, but she kept walking until there was a light coming from the other side of the long corridor. She was startled when she saw four more women, also attached to cords. She followed them, curious to learn their identities. Were they human? Were they from another planet? She reached out and turned one woman at a time and looked at them. Their faces were new to her, though something seemed definitely familiar. Then she recognised the clothes they wore.

  Each dress had appeared in her dreams when she’d dreamed of having sex with Zev. The last one was wearing the same dress that she’d worn the night before, when it was a reality. She walked to her, and the woman seemed to have the same face. But she wasn’t 3D like the others. Her double was transparent. She shook her head, trying to make sense of this madness but she couldn’t move. Suddenly she found herself standing next to the first apparition, who held her arms open, inviting her to come closer. She was scared to move, but her body betrayed her. Natalia’s feet moved of their own accord.

  “Who are you?”

  The apparition wore a long tunic, like a toga. Her brown hair was swept up in an elaborate hairstyle. On her feet were brown sandals.

  “Don’t be afraid of us,” she said.

  The voice sounded just like hers. She moved closer, her hands sweating, her limbs trembling.

  “Who are you?”

  “I am you, but in another life.”

  Natalia heard the pain in her voice. Yes, this was a dream and she would be awake any moment, but for now she had to see how it would finish.

  “I don’t know what to say or do.”

  “Just be yourself, and don’t be afraid of me.” The voice was soothing.

  “What’s your name?”

  “In the Roman times, in my first life, I was Hosidia, then in all the other lives my identity changed. Now I am you. Natalia.”

  Natalia took a few steps back. She didn’t know what she was dealing with, but this was freaking her out.

  “Don’t be scared. No harm will be done to you. Not from what you see at this very moment. What happens next is up to you. You have a choice to make.”

  Natalia didn’t understand. She looked like a queen from another planet and spoke in riddles, although something was familiar. But what?

  “Look inside your heart. Do you feel you can trust me?”

  “Yes, I do,” Natalia replied without hesitation.

  “The cords are attached to the other lives you have lived. Pull them, one by one. But I do hope the last one will remain transparent, or all of this will be for nothing.”

  Afraid but still determined to understand what was going on, she started pulling one cord after the other. The women moved closer.

  She found herself in the middle of them and felt safe, but melancholy. She looked at Hosidia. Once the Roman woman nodded her head with a sad smile, Natalia turned her attention to the others and they said their names, one by one.

  “Sabina.”

  “Lavinia.”

  “Luisa.”

  How she knew those names, she didn’t know. Then she noticed the last cord. The woman attached was like a see-through ghost. Where at first she’d seen her own face, now it was faceless.

  “Who does this belongs too? I thought she looked like me.”

  “We hope no one, but if you don’t come to understand who we all are, it will be you.”r />
  “What do I need to do?”

  “Trust us,” Hosidia said.

  She turned slowly in the circle of the women. She was absorbing love, pain, fear, protection.

  “How can all of you be me?”

  “You already have the information inside of you. Just trust yourself to find all the answers,” said Hosidia.

  Suddenly she knew the answer.

  The dreams of her with Zev.

  “You said before that you are me.” They nodded. “I’ve been dreaming of each one of you. All of you, except you Hosidia. Why?”

  “Because it all started with me, in Rome 79 BC. I am the only form who loved the human, Zev Akoi. For centuries I waited to reunite with him, and I did. But while I was conscious of what had happened, all my other reincarnations never knew the truth. Not until after their death. You are the only form who has had those dreams. Zev didn’t come to you, thought he desired you from the first moment he saw you. He resisted you because he didn’t want to feel pain again.”

  “That part is still confusing,” said Natalia.

  “There are only two individuals who know who you really are,” explained Hosidia.

  “Zev knows I am you?” She was incredulous.

  “Each and every time. While in the past he couldn’t lie to his maker, we ended up being killed. But this time he tried his best.”

  “Who else knows?” she asked, already thinking it would be Arvid.

  “Adonia.”

  Suddenly so many things made sense. She had been trying to keep her alive and away from male vampires. But it looked that no matter how hard Nonna had tried, her destiny was to be with Zev. Probably dead, but with him.

  “You must believe in this for you to stay alive.”

  “How would I die?”

  “By having your heart ripped from your chest. Your only sin is to love the African, Zev Akoi.”

  There was only one individual who came to mind when she thought of such violence and she was sure she was right.

  “Was your heart ripped out time after time by Segana?” She was the only one who was evil and mad enough to do such thing. From their expression, she was right.

  “How was Zev human?”

  “See for yourself,” said Hosidia.

  “How?”

  They all came closer, hugging her into the middle of their circle and for a moment she felt like. was losing the oxygen. Then in seconds she went back in time. From the year 78BC, to 1279, then1579, and 1879. One life after the other.

  Like a flash of lighting, the four bodies entered hers, the long cords falling to the floor. Centuries of life and experiences whirled through her brain. She loved, she cried, and died in all of them. There was one common lover. Zev Akoi. One common villain. Segana.

  ROME 2019 Segana

  “No, No! This can’t be real!” She needed all her wits about her. She was extremely angry and as usual when she was really pissed, she would start walking up and down, the floors, the walls, the ceiling.

  “That bitch turns up time and time again. I won’t permit this again!” she screamed at no one. Segana had killed any love interest that Zev fell for, but she never had any idea it was always the same slave. An insipid and common bitch.

  Coming down from the ceiling, she grabbed the table and made it fly to the other end of the room. Still screaming and crying, bloody tears streamed from her eyes and dripped on her jacket.

  “Damn you, Zev, you betrayed me more than I thought was possible.” A chair flew to the other side of the room, followed by another.

  “I am going to rip both of you apart. I will make both of you dust. But first, I’ll make you watch that bitch suffer. One last time, I will kill her slowly.”

  There was only one place she needed to be. Florence. To hell with Viscount Garofano. She’d travel to his villa, and she was prepared to fight him to death. She didn’t care that under vampire law she couldn’t kill anyone unless the elderly makers granted permission. She wasn’t a fool. She knew very well this wasn’t a cause to be presented to the tribunal. She would deal with them later. This time Segana was going to do what was right for her. She wasn’t going to follow and obey the rules.

  “Fuck the rules.”

  ROME 2019 Adonia

  “No, this cannot happen.” Adonia’s fear turned into reality. Her Natalia had the dream that she had hoped she would never have. There was not a second to lose. She’d have to go to Florence. She feared Segana had probably lived the same dream and now knew that all those girls she’d killed were one and the same. Hosidia.

  This time Adonia wasn’t powerless. She wasn’t going to take that crazy vampire’s abuse. She would turn her into dust. Now free of her maker, she had the freedom to do just that. But only if Segana gave her an excuse to kill her. She couldn’t just exterminate her for past crimes. But Adonia knew how Segana operated. She wouldn’t see anything but revenge and she would try to kill Natalia the same way she had in the past.

  Adonia wasted no time. Telepathically she contacted the viscount, her friend. She would be there in a flash.

  FLORENCE 2019 Zev

  He woke up sweating. If he’d had a heart, he would have had an attack for sure. The dream Natalia had was clear. She’d finally met her past selves—Hosidia, Sabina, Lavinia and Luisa. Now not only did Natalia know who she was, she also knew that Segana had killed her time and time again. Had this dream been just between the two of them? Or would his maker come to the realisation that he was in love with Natalia? That was something that he would have to keep from her. But for now, he would have to go to his Natalia. Would she remember the dream? Would she still believe it was only a dream?

  He knocked at her door, thinking she must be still sleeping. When she opened the door, he knew. Natalia had regained memory of every moment with him, and was now truly his Hosidia. He didn’t need words. He just had to look at her and hold her. She was trembling like a leaf and the only thing he wanted to do was protect her.

  They had so many things to talk about, but for now he just needed to be there for her. Ensuring she could deal with the realization that she had reincarnated so many times, and each time she was taken away from him violently.

  He wanted nothing but live through eternity with her, next to her, but he didn’t want her to live a damned life.

  He needed to be clever and keep all this from his maker. And if his behaviour in the past condemned Natalia to death, this time he was going to take extra care. Segana wasn’t going to find out.

  FLORENCE 2019 Natalia

  She was in her heaven—Zev’s arms. Every cell in her body had woken up to her past lives. It felt like a chip had been installed in her memory and she was able to account for every waking moment she had spent with him. Tears trickled down her cheeks.

  “I’m not sure if I should be happy or petrified of what is happening to me at the moment.” Her voice trembled.

  He wrapped his strong arms around her. “I waited centuries to be reunited with my Hosidia, and though you came back to me many times, something was incomplete.”

  “I wish I didn’t remember how she turned you. The screaming is still in my ears, and my desperation in not being able to help you haunts me.” They had so much to talk about, but this very moment the only thing she wanted was to be in his arms.

  “Please forgive me,” he whispered.

  “What for?” She raised her head to look at him.

  “For not being the man that you needed. For not being able to protect you. For who I am not.” She could hear so much pain in his words.

  “You can’t say those words to me now. I’m not just Natalia. Now I am everything and everyone who was with you from the start. I am aware of you not having any choices in life and that you never stopped loving me.” She circled her arms around his neck. “How many women have the luck to say their man loved them to eternity?”

  “I will never stop loving you.”

  “Come, let’s sit outside on the balcony. I so enjoy hearing the cri
ckets sing at night.”

  Zev followed.

  “The only thing we are missing is a carafe full of wine,” he said.

  “Just like old days,” she said, going back inside and coming out with two glasses of wine. As she handed him a glass, a realisation hit her.

  “I’m so sorry, I forgot.”

  He took the glass, smiling.” This is what I love. In your eyes nothing has changed since our first life together. Thank you,” he said, pulling her close and kissing her.

  She wanted to let him know that she never felt the fangs on her skin.

  “I’ve never been bitten.”

  “I never bitten anyone, and I’ve never had human blood.”

  Natalia took a sip of her wine, then taking Zev’s glass, placed them on the small side table then pushed him onto the cushioned settee and straddled him.

  “How did you survive?”

  “I would drink the blood of dead animals, then I became a butcher and it was easy to survive.”

  “Do you want me to be turned?”

  “I wouldn’t wish a life of damnation for you. I want you to have a normal life, as was intended.”

  “But we won’t be together forever, and how will you feel when you are still in your thirties and I’ll be in my sixties or seventies?”

  “My darling. Don’t worry about the physical. I’ve loved your soul in every form in which you return. But I’d rather see you aging and die of natural causes than see you being killed again.”

  “I always wanted a toy boy.” Natalia laughed and hugged his neck.

  She started giving him kisses on his cheeks.

  “Isn’t this romantic?” Natalia whispered.

  The moonlight was their only light, the crickets as background music, the air warm.

  It was undeniable. They were connected spiritually, emotionally and now physically. Their love had never ended. It had lasted through centuries.

  FLORECE 2019 Zev

  Having the love of his life and her awareness of who they both were was incredible for Zev. The feeling was better that winning his freedom back in 79BC. He’d waited century after century to hear his Hosidia tell him that she loved him. He wasn’t going to think of them being different. One human, the other a vampire. He would just concentrate on loving her.