Bloodgifted

by Tima Maria Lacoba

  ‘Alec?’

  ‘Mmmmm?’

  ‘How was he able to overpower you? Doesn’t my blood make you stronger?’

  ‘I’ve been thinking of that. The only thing I can come up with is that a combination of your blood—when he bit you—and adrenaline created a dangerous combination. I was surprised myself.’

  Alec ran his fingers soothingly through my hair. We lay there quietly for a few minutes as I thought over the events of the last twenty-four hours. Then the realisation hit. ‘You nearly died Alec, you nearly died!’ I raised my head and looked down at him.

  ‘But I didn’t. I’m here, with you.’

  ‘Philippe was going to kill us both and he nearly did!’

  ‘He didn’t,’ he said quietly.

  My breathing sped up and before I knew it, hot tears spilled down my cheeks.

  ‘That’s what I’ve been waiting for,’ Alec said and wrapped me securely in the strength of his arms.

  I sobbed till my whole body shook. He held me tightly against his chest, cooed soothingly and stroked my hair till my tears had run their course. ‘Want to talk?’ he softly asked.

  I shook my head. ‘What’s there to say?’

  ‘How you feel.’

  I tipped my head up to look at him. ‘Better, now that it’s out. He… was my half-brother! He was supposed to protect me, look after me! Not what… he was planning to do. And I’m angry that he tried to kill us both because he didn’t get what he wanted! Well that’s life. Tough! We don’t all get what we want, but I don’t kill for it!’

  Alec listened and nodded and stroked my hair as the words came pouring out of me. ‘When I saw the way he impaled you with that dreadful piece of wood I didn’t know what to do and I was terrified he’d killed you. When I saw you were still alive, I tried to keep him away from you in case he came back to make sure you were dead and I prayed Luc would get here on time…’ It all came out in one breath.

  Alec’s eyes widened and he sat upright, raising me up with him. Holding me at arms length he stared at me a while, till I began to worry if something was wrong. Finally he spoke. ‘I’m trying to understand this. You were fighting to survive, yet you were worried about me?’

  ‘Yes.’

  There was another moment of silence. He opened his mouth and closed it again, then shook his head. ‘No one has ever left me speechless before. Laura you are…’ He drew me to him and kissed me so fervently I almost stopped breathing.

  My lip had healed completely and I didn’t want him to stop. I ran my arms around his neck and pressed myself to him. I didn’t wait for him to part my lips. He stopped and lifted his head.

  ‘What’s wrong? Why are you stopping?’ I asked.

  ‘I forgot—your lip, darling. I don’t want to hurt you.’

  ‘It’s fine. Don’t hold back. I need you to kiss me right now.’

  He nodded in understanding and gently drew me down, rolling me beneath him. ‘You don’t ever have to ask,’ he whispered against my mouth, and the passion and depth of his kisses did indeed begin to wash away the frightening images of the night before.

  How could I possibly love anyone else? Were I to be brutally honest with myself I’d have to admit that I’d never really been in love with Matt. There was affection and a certain type of love that develops over time with someone you’ve grown very fond of, but I‘d never experienced the depth of passion that Alec aroused in me. Thoughts of him consumed me, while being in his arms melted me to my core. It was like comparing an old and familiar dressing gown that didn’t quite fit, though one got used to over time, to a ravishing designer gown that slid over your body like a second skin.

  ‘It’s your touch I long for. It’s you, Alec. Only you!’

  ‘My Laura,’ he whispered as he bent his head and kissed me slowly, deeply and lovingly until I was lost in him.

  This is right, I thought. This is how it should be. Utter contentment blanketed my being and suffused my every pore until I felt myself drawn into him. I knew now what it meant to be part of a whole.

  ‘Always darling and forever I’ll love you.’ I heard his deep, rich timbre in my head. I’d forgotten we could hear each other’s thoughts and not only in times of danger, it seems. It was strangely comforting. I’d never have to pretend with him, but on the other hand it’d be hard keeping a secret. I snuggled into his embrace, letting every one of my senses be consumed by him.

  He slipped open my dress, unclipped the front clasp of my bra and cupped my breast. I arched into him impatient to feel his touch and my nipples hardened immediately. His fingers explored, his kiss deepened and my body quivered. Soon the dress and my underwear were on the floor with his jeans and T-shirt and he was sinking into me, moving with a rhythm I loved and matched. Our bodies melded as if made only for one another, and when I came I cried out his name with a long, contented sigh. Alec’s own release followed after and he collapsed on top of me, then rolled to the side and cradled me to him.

  We lay there, cocooned in our own blissful bubble and I knew no other man could possibly compare to him. Luc had been right. He chose Alec for me because he knew no one else would understand me as well, nor make me as happy. I looked into his beautiful lavender eyes, stroked the raven-black hair off his forehead and fell in love with him all over again. That moment, I realised not even eternity would be long enough to love him and learn everything about him. We’d missed out on so much. I wanted to know about his boyhood, his youth and why Luc had transformed him.

  As his hand tenderly ranged the length of my back, I thought it time to ask.

  ‘Alec?’

  ‘Mmmm?’

  ‘You know so much about me, but I know very little about you. Tell me about your transformation—if it’s not too painful for you.’

  ‘It’s not a painful memory and it involves your father and grandfather.’

  ‘I’d like to hear it.’

  In the quiet of the afternoon, as we lay in each other’s arms, Alec revealed his own history and the part my grandfather, Owen played. Somehow hearing that he’d accidentally shot Alec didn’t surprise me. From what I remember of him, he’d been an impulsive and impetuous man.

  ‘It was the last month of 1918, Owen and I were stationed at the same military hospital in northern France and he and Luc had some sort of falling out. He took out his gun meaning to shoot Luc and he got me instead. In order to save him from a hangman’s noose for killing a fellow officer, Owen begged Luc to transform me.’ He sighed. ‘I never forgave him for that and hated all Dantonvilles from then on—’ he kissed the top of my head ‘—except one.’

  ‘Why about Judy?’ Surely he couldn’t have hated my mother?

  ‘She was the other exception, too.’ I heard the smile in his voice.

  I’d guessed right about Alec having been a husband and father, if only for a short while. ‘Did you love her—your wife?’ I asked. Somehow it was important for me to know.

  He was silent for a while, so I angled my head to look up at him. ‘I liked Eleanor and in some way I did love her. There was no one else in my life and I had no objections.’ His fingers danced around my back. ‘Very different from the way I feel about you. I’d never been in love before. It’s a new experience for me.’

  ‘Is it?’ I couldn’t help the broad smile that stole across my face, flattered beyond reason that in all his one-hundred-and-twenty-or-so years, I was the first woman he had ever fallen in love with.

  He chuckled. ‘Yes, you’ll be happy to know, Miss Dantonville!’

  I raised myself slightly so I could plant a light kiss on his lips, but he laced his fingers through my hair and held me in place as his mouth ravaged mine. A while later, as we both came up for air, I straddled him, leaned down and took his face in my hands. ‘Alec, I know this will probably sound awful, so please don’t take it wrongly, but if your wife and baby hadn’t died you wouldn’t have gone to war, been shot by my grandfather, changed by Luc and’ —I took a deep breath— ‘we wouldn’t be
together like this right now.’

  ‘In those few words, you’ve summed up my life—my reason for existence. It’s you. Any pain I’ve suffered, the mistakes I’ve made, the path laid out for me have all led here—to you.’

  I released the breath I’d been holding. ‘I believe in destiny. Things just don’t happen randomly. There’s a reason behind it all. What does the Bible say about all things working for good? And meeting you last Friday was very good.’

  He kissed me again and said, ‘I’m yours for eternity.’

  ‘Eternity,’ I repeated, the words burning into my brain, so much so, it felt we’d made some form of sacred and unbreakable bond.

  Then he and I made love again.

  Long afterwards, as I lay contentedly in his arms, he said, ‘I phoned the hospital earlier. Sommers is recovering. You still want to see him?’

  ‘I need to say goodbye, Alec. He nearly died trying to protect me. I owe him that, in spit of his lousy intentions.’ Saying goodbye wasn’t going to be easy.

  ‘I’m coming with you.’

  After one last kiss, we both got out of bed. Alec pulled out his phone while I went straight into the shower. As I stepped out, I checked the bruises he’d mentioned. The mirror reflected back pale purple-bluish marks on my forehead, cheek and along my jaw. I tried not to remember how I got them.

  The dress I’d packed had a discreet, but low, sweetheart neckline and I feared anyone seeing me with Alec would automatically assume he was the one who caused them. I felt sick at the thought. Searching through my toiletry bag I located the concealer and a small bottle of makeup I wore on special occasions.

  It covered the bruises perfectly and blended in with my own skin. Hopefully, no one would look too closely to notice. I brushed my hair back into a ponytail, leaving a few tendrils to frame my face and zipped up my dress. It was a short-sleeved, knee-length white cotton shift.

  Alec must have rung for takeaway as there was a full English breakfast—although it was lunchtime—of scrambled eggs, two mini sausages, baked beans, and a hash brown, waiting for me. His espresso machine provided the coffee. It was delicious and I ate it all. There was a grim task ahead and I needed my strength.

  Chapter 49

  Goodbye

  LAURA

  Alec drove me to Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. He parked in the section reserved for the medical staff. I didn’t get out of the car straight away. Summoning up the courage to walk into the hospital was harder than I thought it would be.

  Alec took my hand. ‘Hey, I’m here. You’re not alone.’

  ‘I’m the one who has to tell him.’ Even though I’m tempted to send him a break-up text message, I thought, but that would have been cowardly.

  ‘Shall we go in?’

  ‘Yeah.’

  He knew which ward Matt was in—fourth floor, room near the nurse’s desk. My stomach churned the closer we got. He held my hand and squeezed reassuringly.

  We stopped just outside Matt’s room. The double-doors stood wide open and voices came drifting out. I recognized some of them—Matt’s mum, Evelyn, and one of his sisters.

  ‘I’m coming in with you,’ Alec said.

  ‘No! You can’t.’ I let go of Alec’s hand. Last thing I wanted was curious or questioning looks. Taking a steadying breath, I walked in.

  There were three other unoccupied beds in the room. A blue curtain had been partially drawn around the one Matt occupied—the side facing the corridor. At the foot of the bed, a dark haired young woman with a clipboard in her hand looked up as I stepped into view.

  She came directly to me but glanced over my shoulder. ‘Dr Munro?’ she enquired.

  ‘Yes,’ he replied.

  Somehow I knew Alec wouldn’t stay outside. I didn’t know whether to be angry or relieved.

  She turned back to me. ‘Miss Laura Dantonville?’

  I nodded.

  ‘I’m Dr Claudia Cardacci.’ She extended her hand to us in turn. Her large, brown eyes examined Alec. ‘I spoke to you on the phone the other day. Can I please have a word?’ She indicated for us to move away from the door, to a quiet corner near the end of the corridor. Several chairs and a coffee table had been set up for visitors use.

  ‘Is something the matter?’ I asked.

  ‘Maybe you’d like to sit down?’

  Whenever anyone said those words, it never meant anything good. And I was restless enough as it was—nervous energy was making me fidgety. I wanted this morning to be over. ‘No, I’d rather stand thanks.’

  ‘All right,’ she started cautiously. ‘Our recent tests reveal he may have suffered slight brain damage.’

  I felt my stomach plummet. Alec’s hand snaked around my waist.

  ‘It’s called an RML—’

  ‘Retrograde Memory Loss,’ Alec finished for her.

  She nodded.

  ‘What does that mean? Some kind of—amnesia?’ I looked from her to Alec and back again.

  ‘In a way,’ she continued, ‘although it doesn’t affect all memory, only a part. His injury caused a small blood clot to form on the brain, which we’ve removed, but it’s resulted in his inability to recall some events. We don’t fully understand yet how it works, but it seems he doesn’t remember the last six months.’

  This was a clanger.

  Dr Cardacci lightly touched my arm. ‘Mrs Sommers told me you and Matthew have been together for about four months?’

  I nodded.

  ‘I’m sorry, but he’ll have no memory of your relationship. You’ll be a stranger to him.’ She looked at me sympathetically. ‘I thought you should know before you walked in there.’

  My mind went numb and I had no idea how to react.

  ‘I’ll get you a glass of water.’ She went over to the small sink and filled a polystyrene cup with tap water.

  Alec sat me down and placed the cup into my hand. ‘Laura, drink this, honey.’ He was crouched on the ground in front of me, looking anxious, his hands over mine.

  ‘Look, I’m fine. It’s just the shock…’

  ‘You went white,’ Alec said.

  ‘I really am so sorry. I tried to tell you as best as I could,’ Doctor Cardacci said.

  ‘Thanks for telling us. She’ll be all right,’ he assured her, but his eyes didn’t waver from my face and his hands remained over mine.

  I briefly glanced up at Dr Cardacci. Her eyes darted between Alec and myself and a knowing look appeared in them.

  Just then, I didn’t care. Matt had amnesia. Amnesia! The word swirled round in my brain trying to sink in. He wouldn’t know me! In that surreal moment I realised the man I feared to hurt wouldn’t know me from a bar of soap! I should’ve been relieved, yet I felt a certain sadness. Matt and I had known and loved each other for nearly four months and now unexpectedly and suddenly it was over. Finished. I was having difficulty processing it.

  ‘Will his memory ever return?’

  ‘Probably not,’ Alec replied. ‘In rare cases it does, in others…’ he shook his head and shrugged.

  If Matt’s memory never returned, I reasoned, he wouldn’t miss what he couldn’t remember and he wouldn’t suffer the pain of our breakup. With that understanding, I finally allowed myself to feel a sense of relief, although I had good reason to leave him.

  Alec rose, sat next to me and put his arm around my shoulders. I leant into him, past caring who saw.

  ‘I’d better get back,’ Dr Cardacci said and she walked back down the corridor to Matt’s room.

  I forgot she was there.

  ‘Can’t hurt him now,’ I said.

  ‘Laura, he doesn’t deserve such consideration. He didn’t exactly confide in you when he got those white oak bullets, did he?’

  No, he didn’t. Matt was ready to kill those I loved without a word to me.

  I bit my lip, wondering what to do next. Should I still go in? Would seeing me somehow jog his memory so I could ask him about those bullets and give him the benefit of the doubt? Maybe they were for a police
training exercise? Highly unlikely, my common sense said. Or should I leave the way I came, not go in and leave him in blissful ignorance? But then Dave would have mentioned me. After all, he was found unconscious in my apartment. And his mum knows me. She’d mention something.

  I released a deep breath as I weighed up my options.

  ‘Still want to go in there?’

  ‘I don’t know what to do and how did she know we were coming?’ I said before gulping down the rest of the water.

  ‘I phoned ahead to see if there was any news on the test results. But they were still conducting them.’ He paused. ‘You have a choice here. One is to walk into that elevator and not look back. The second is to go in there, face him, and have closure. Decision’s yours.’

  I let out a sigh. ‘Flight or fight, huh?’

  Alec nodded.

  I glanced at the door, heard the now laughing voices coming from within and made up my mind. ‘Second option, I think. If I don’t show it’ll look suss. Matt may not know me, but his friends and family are bound to ask.’

  I gingerly rose from the chair and steeled myself to enter that room. Alec stood next to me, his arm still supportively around my shoulders.

  ‘Okay?’ he whispered into my ear.

  ‘I suppose.’

  We started for the door. Alec released me just as we walked in, but he remained close by my side. The blue curtain had been drawn back.

  Matt’s mum, Evelyn, saw us first. She smiled and got up from Matt’s side.

  ‘Laura, I’m sorry we didn’t come to see you. We were told you were hurt. You still look so pale,’ she said as she came and gave me an affectionate hug.

  ‘No, don’t be. Matt needed you.’

  I turned my attention to him. Strips of gauze and tape bound his head and he was smiling at Dr Cardacci. The dimple in his right cheek danced as he spoke to her.

  ‘Matt, look who’s here. It’s Laura,’ Evelyn happily announced. ‘And…’ she stopped when she spied Alec.

  ‘This is Dr Munro. He treated Matt at the scene,’ Dr Cardacci said.

  Evelyn’s eyes widened and a huge smile spread across her face. She went to him and took hold of his hand. ‘Thank you for saving my son’s life.’ Her voice broke and she tried blinking away tears.