by Ann Lory
Solidifying, Damian broke a chair, and with blurred speed, buried the pointed end of the chair leg through another’s back and through the heart. That vampire burst in a shower, too.
He tossed the improvised stake toward Christian, who shifted, caught the leg ‑‑ and as Diego turned in surprise ‑‑ buried it deep, a cloud of dust spilling into the air. The man Diego had held fell to the floor, where he quickly scrambled up.
D’Angel shrieked. Her fist plowed into Alyssa’s jaw, dropping her. The moment of surprise was gone as Damian’s sister faced him and Christian, almost incandescent in her fury.
“How could you betray us ‑‑ me ‑‑ this way, Damian?”
He caught a younger vampire who charged him, lifted the snarling and hissing man by the throat, and allowed Christian to launch the makeshift stake. The youngling was gone in an instant.
Two others approached Damian and Christian. As they fought, Damian noticed the dark-haired stranger had maneuvered to Alyssa’s side. The man struck at D’Angel, but she easily stopped him and knocked him to one side.
Damian looked in the eyes of the vampire he was engaged with, then plunged his fist through his chest, pulling and tearing the heart from the body. The man screeched, then flew apart.
Damian sped toward D’Angel, but she was holding a semi-conscious Alyssa against her chest. “Ah, ah, ah, brother, dear.”
His sister’s hand caressed Alyssa’s throat; he watched helplessly as Alyssa herself slowly came to the realization of what was happening. Her eyes were stark as she stared at Damian.
“You betrayed me for this? A mortal who tried to kill you. One who rejected your heart. And I? I’ve always loved you. I loved you so much I gave you eternity, offered you riches, women, anything your heart desired, so long as you stood by my side. Yet time and again, I saw only loathing in your eyes.”
D’Angel’s black eyes swirled with rage. “I’m the one who matters. I’m the one who loves you and gives you meaning. Not this mortal. Never her.”
Damian stared at his sister for a long time, peripherally aware that Christian had defeated his foe and was now keeping watch against the remaining few vampires.
“I loved you a long time ago, D’Angel, but somewhere along the line I realized you’d never change, that I couldn’t alter the nature of what was. You cause and enjoy the pain of others. I cannot love that in you.” He flicked his gaze at Alyssa for a moment. “Yes, I love Alyssa. She holds a light within her that you’ll never be able to understand or extinguish. And you’re wrong. She loves me. I know it.” He returned his attention to his sister. “It’s too late for you, D’Angel. I will kill you for what you did to our parents, to me, to Alyssa. You will finally be punished for everyone who’s ever suffered for your actions.”
D’Angel’s eyes filled with tears, but still she sneered. “Fine, but I take her with me.”
Damian moved, but he wasn’t fast enough as D’Angel’s talon sliced across Alyssa’s throat. He was forced to let her fall, shock registering on her face, as Damian blocked D’Angel’s killing blow ‑‑ and brought his other hand across her throat, splitting her from ear to ear as she’d done to Alyssa.
His sister stumbled, landed on the floor as she struggled to heal. But blood poured from the gaping wound. Her eyes were wide with fear, pleading for him to save her one last time.
With tears in his own eyes, Damian shook his head, then prepared to deliver the killing blow. Before he could, a stake flew through the air and buried itself in D’Angel’s heart. For one second more, her gaze was locked to Damian’s. Then she dissipated into dust.
Chapter Twenty-One
Damian looked at the young man who’d launched the stake, his mouth still in a snarl. He stood beside Christian, his breathing labored. Piles of ash were scattered about the room, proof that there would be no more attacks.
Damian slipped to his knees beside Alyssa, who was gasping for air. He gathered her into his arms and raked his tongue across the deep wound along her throat. The stranger knelt down beside her and whispered her name, reaching to take her from Damian, but Damian shoved him back, growling. The man returned the growl, fangs exposed.
The barest sound of distress escaped Alyssa, and they both looked at her.
Brother. Justin.
The words were spoken softly in Damian’s mind. He looked at the youngling, remembering him now from Alyssa’s memories.
They both stared down at Alyssa helplessly for a moment. Damian didn’t know if he’d come back from the hell he was surely going to enter if he was unable to save her. He tore his wrist open with his teeth and held it to Alyssa’s lips. Her eyes widened and she tried to speak, but blood foamed at her lips, spilling across her chin. Damian was desperate. Knew he would command her if she refused to drink, even if the outcome was that she’d hate him forever. All that mattered was that she lived.
“Please, Alyssa. Please drink.”
I’m scared, Damian. I don’t know if I can do this. If I can be a vampire.
“I love you, Alyssa. I love you like no other.”
I love you, too. I just wish I had more time.
He felt her grow weaker as she lost consciousness, heard her heart stutter, the air stifled in her chest. There was no more time.
Her brother stopped him. “No, I’ll do it. She can resent me forever if she wants, but I know she needs you more than she does me at this point. I’ve seen her memories; I know what you’ve done and how she feels about you. I’ll bring her over.”
Damian heard the disgust in the young man’s voice, but allowed Justin to cut his own wrist, take a firm hold of Alyssa, and forced her compliance. She struggled feebly at first; then she drank from her brother.
Damian laved his wrist and watched, his heart surely pounding as loudly as Justin’s. He strained to hear Alyssa’s, fearing the worse when there was nothing for a long, long moment. Then, there was a beat. And another and another, until the rhythm of her heart began to accelerate.
Finally, she was blinking up at them. When Justin released her, she looked confused, attempted to speak, but pain obviously gripped her. Damian and Justin jointly held her in their laps, trying to absorb some of the agony as Alyssa convulsed, screaming hoarsely as her body died and renewed itself.
Damian could hardly stand it, and her brother looked like he would be sick with every harsh jolt of his sister’s body.
“If I could kill that bitch again,” Justin said in a low voice. “I would.”
Damian leaned down and kissed her sweat-soaked forehead. She clung to him, weeping, breathing his name in panting breaths, pleading with him to take the pain away. Begging him.
He pulled her fully into his embrace, rocking her. “It will be over soon. I promise. Please hang on for me, for your brother. I love you, Alyssa.”
At last, after what seemed a lifetime later, Alyssa fell into the deep sleep, aided by Damian once her body had gone through the change. When he glanced up next, it was to find Justin staring at him, measuring him, Damian knew.
He lifted Alyssa into his arms. “Come. We’re going home.”
Briefly, Damian explained to Justin what they had to do. Justin and Christian remained silent as they all linked hands, making sure to grasp Alyssa. Then, as Christian’s power rose, they slowly twined their powers with Christian’s, and he returned them to his estate in the present day.
Justin held out his arms. “I’ll take her from here.”
Damian scowled, refusing to hand Alyssa over. “Don’t think to take her from me. You won’t win.”
Justin narrowed his eyes. “She’s my sister, and I’ll take care of her. We’re family; the last thing we need is your kind.”
Damian sneered. “Both of you are now my kind, and you’ve no idea how to take care of yourself, let alone Alyssa. The sun will rise soon; were you going to subject her to daylight? You’re still a youngling, foolish. You need to be taught how to survive as a vampire.”
Justin glowered. “I don’t need you.
We don’t need you.”
Damian shoved past the younger man. “Get out of my way. Your sister stays here with me. When she awakens, we’ll see what she chooses to do, but until then, you can fuck off.”
Justin shifted a step, but Christian put a staying hand on his shoulder, which Justin slapped away. Christian sighed.
“He’s right, you know. The sun is rising, and you need a place to stay. Come, I’ll show you to a room.”
Chapter Twenty-Two
Damian waited for her to open her eyes. He realized that he was afraid. Afraid that she would reject this life. Worse, reject him.
He whispered a silent prayer, hoping that God heard the call of the fallen. When he looked down again, Alyssa was staring up at him with onyx eyes. His heart ached at the sight.
She sat up on bed, glaring murderously at him. When she spoke, her voice was scratchy and hoarse. “I asked you not to do this. Not to turn me, but you did it anyway.”
Damian frowned, forcing his pain down at her look, her words. “I didn’t turn you, Alyssa.”
She averted her face, the sound of tears in her voice now. “You really expect me to believe that? I know what I saw. What you did. How c-could y-you?” Her voice broke, and she climbed from the bed, then stumbled. Damian caught her, but she jerked away from him, crying out. Her hands covered her ears.
“Turn down the noise!”
He grabbed her wrists and forced her to look at him. “You have to focus to block it out. Breathe and focus, think of the sounds floating away until all you hear is my voice alone.”
She was breathing heavily, but gradually she calmed as he softly murmured to her, and slowly lowered her hands. Tears streaked over her cheeks.
“You took the choice from me, Damian. If you love me, how could you have done that?”
“I swear to you, Alyssa. I didn’t. I admit I would have, rather than lose you, but it was your brother who turned you.”
She ignored him and exited the room. Damian followed her as she swept down the stairs. Christian and Justin were waiting for them in the front room.
They both rose when she entered. Alyssa went to her brother immediately, kissing his cheek. “You’re alive.” She held his face in her hands, kissed him one more time, then pulled away. “Did you turn me, Justin?”
He glanced at Damian; she saw him give her lover an inscrutable look before he answered, blinking for a moment. Her heart plummeted; Justin never could lie to her or her parents. “No, Alyssa. I didn’t. I told that man,” he indicated Damian, “that it wasn’t what you wanted, but he wouldn’t listen.” From the corner of her eye, she saw Christian stifle a quick movement.
Alyssa sighed and crossed her arms, staring at her brother sadly. “Justin, I love him.”
He stared at her long and hard. At last, he expelled a resigned breath. “All right. I turned you. I love you, didn’t want to be without you after I’d just found you again.” He sank into a chair, his face in his hands. “Please forgive me.”
Then he glanced at Damian. “I hate your kind and didn’t want Alyssa to be with you, so I planted a memory of you forcing her. It was easy to plant the memory, since Alyssa was so weak at the time. I knew I could, since I’d watched D’Angel do it time and time again to her victims. I started practicing on D’Angel’s human followers when she wasn’t around. I slowly got better at it.” He paused. “I know what I told you when I turned her, but I would’ve said anything in that moment for you to turn her over to me. I’m sorry.” He looked back at his sister. “I’m sorry, sis.”
Alyssa looked apologetically at Damian, then went to her brother and hugged him. “I forgive you, Justin. I do.”
He squeezed her to him, and for the first time she could remember, she held her brother while he cried in her arms. Her pain was forgotten as she tried to soothe him.
Damian and Christian left them alone; she was grateful for the courtesy, but felt Damian’s apprehension as he went.
She spent several hours with her brother. They talked about their family, retold old stories, laughed, and cried, relieved to be together once more. Eventually, they walked outside, strolling to the gazebo where she sensed Damian was.
Christian sat silently while Damian eyed her warily. It melted her heart that Damian, so strong and confident, could value her so much that he feared her reactions.
“Well, what do we do now?” she asked.
“You need teachers,” Damian answered. “Someone to teach you how to live as a vampire, not as a monster.”
“Not you,” Justin said.
Damian nodded and stood to face him.
Alyssa stepped between them. “Stop it, you two.”
“I’ll teach him,” Christian volunteered.
Justin shrugged. “Fine. And since I’m back in Alyssa’s life, you’re going to do right by her and marry her. She’s not a cow for you to keep getting your milk for free.”
Christian tried to hide his smile, but failed.
Alyssa gasped, and by the look on Damian’s face, he couldn’t have been more shocked than if Justin had just tried to stake him.
“Excuse me?”
“You heard me. As her brother, I’m going to make sure you do right by my sister. Treat her well.”
Damian’s hand covered his heart and he bowed. Alyssa was about to speak, but Justin held up his hand. She smacked it. Hard.
“Did you just refer to me as a cow?”
Justin kissed her cheek before responding. “You know what I meant.” She bit her lip to keep from retorting that he was the heifer, but it sounded so immature, like something they’d have said when they were kids. The thought made her breath hitch a bit; then she and Damian watched as Justin walked away, Christian following after him, chuckling up a storm.
“Can you believe him? First, he makes me a vampire, then he lies about it, then he starts demanding I get married and calls me a cow. I think he lived in the past way too long and forgot that women can’t be bossed around like that-- mmph!” Damian interrupted her babbling with his hands and lips.
She melted against him. When he let her up for air, she couldn’t help what she knew was the dreamy look of her eyes or the silly grin on her face.
“Not that I appreciate his attitude, Alyssa, but at some point, I was planning to ask you, whether you were a vampire or not ‑‑ or cow or not,” he teased.
Those damned tears were back again, and she couldn’t even be upset at his joking. “Really?”
He smiled, pulled a ring from his pocket, then bent on his knee before her, palm extended upward. The jewel was the most gorgeous diamond she’d ever seen. She smiled tremulously as he slipped it onto her finger. “This was my mother’s, one of the few things I have left of my parents. I’ve kept it all these years and had it shipped from Italy a week ago.” He smiled at her, and Alyssa felt like her heart was flipping double time in her chest. “Marry me, Alyssa.”
“So, I guess that means you get the tough job of teaching me how to be a vampire?”
He kissed her fingertips. “Of course. So, is that a yes?”
She tugged at him until he got to his feet, then kissed him, her heart bursting with joy. “Yes, that’s a yes.” She couldn’t help the wide grin on her face as she gazed up at him.
Damian laughed as he held her in a tight embrace. “I’ll show you the world, little one.”
She sighed as her lips brushed his once more. “I don’t need the world, Damian. Not when I have you right here in my arms.”
Epilogue
Alyssa looked down at the plain band on her hand.
Their wedding had been beautiful. Justin had given her away, and she’d met others like Damian and Christian. Kind men and their wives who’d welcomed her with open arms. She thought of Cassie and Kelly now, Dimitri and Jacques’s mates, and wanted to call them, see if they’d be willing to get together again in the near future.
She lifted a glass of wine to her lips as she stared out over Rome from the hilltop of her husband’s pala
zzo. It was beautiful here. True to his word, Damian was showing her the world, starting with his homeland, and she was loving every moment of it.
She grinned when she felt his arms circle her waist and leaned her head against him. “Justin and Christian are almost here.”
Damian groaned.
“What’s wrong, don’t you like Christian? You know I find him very charming.”
“You know I like Christian just fine. It’s your brother I don’t like.”
She laughed and elbowed him in the stomach. “Be nice. He’s coming around.”
She sensed Damian’s smirk. “Whenever he comes to visit, I’m always watching my back in case he decides to “accidentally” stake me.”
She set her wine glass on the balcony ledge, faced him, and hopped up on the stone, feeling secure with his hands at her sides. “He’s had a rough go of it, like you. If I remember right, when I first met you, you weren’t the kindest individual to be around.”
Damian laughed and kissed her nose. “And might I remind you, little one, you weren’t either, trying to kill me. It must be a Quinlan thing.”
She wrapped her legs around his legs, pulling him closer to her. “It must be, but you seem to have forgotten I’m not a Quinlan anymore, mi Signore Salvatorio.” She kissed his neck, feeling her incisors lengthen. He groaned and cupped her breast.
Then a loud horn honked at the palazzo entrance, and Damian looked down over the ledge, holding Alyssa close as she twisted to look around. Justin leaned out the window and waved. Alyssa called out to him and waved in return.
Damian lifted a hand, but Justin flipped him off. Alyssa laughed as Damian returned the favor.
“See what I mean?”
“I’ll keep you safe. I promise.” She nipped his neck. “I think we might have time to, you know, before they’re settled.” Damian needed no prodding as he swept her up and raced into their bedroom.
He sank onto the bed with her, kissing her gently. Alyssa’s heart swelled with love. She’d never thought she would ever find that emotion again, much less in a vampire’s arms, but she’d eventually surrendered ‑‑ and found life could indeed be sweet again.
