The Vampire Who Loved Me

by Theresa Meyers

  Focusing with everything she had within in her she tried to reach his mind. Achilles. Wake up. I’m here with you. I have the antidote. Wake up!

  A faint moan issued through his cracked lips. Beck started at the sound, her hands gripping the edge of his bed. Her fingers shook as she took a syringe from her pocket and filled it with the antidote, then blindly searched for a vein in his arm to inject it. With no pulse it was nearly impossible. But she finally found a spot and began to inject the serum.

  Beck gasped as she felt herself being transported. No. Not now! She held on to Achilles not knowing who was taking her or where she was going.

  She found herself sprawled on her knees, Achilles’s limp body beside her in a dark field of damp grass. A half moon, cleaved in two just like her heart, hung in the cold air. Her breath came in small pale puffs, as the cold knifed into her lungs.

  Blinding pain shot through Beck’s skull as her hair was viciously yanked backward, making her back arch unnaturally. Holding her hair was Eris, her blue eyes so cold they glittered like chips of ice. “This isn’t over yet.”

  “Don’t you touch him!” Beck scraped her fingernails against the woman’s hand prying and digging to release her hair. The blonde was incredibly strong.

  Her brittle malicious laugh echoed loudly in the cold air as if it had been broadcast into a microphone making Beck’s stomach shrivel in fear. Her voice shifted, reverberating and powerful as her body shifted, growing taller, broader until she was a nine feet tall, her hair writhing as if it had a life force of its own. Beck had never seen anything like it.

  Eris’s face glowed with dark triumph. “Are you afraid, little mortal? You should be!” She inhaled the air and smacked her lips in satisfaction.

  Beck covered Achilles’s limp body with her own. “If you’re going to take him, then take me, too.”

  “Do you know who I am?”

  Beck nodded her head, but that didn’t stop the dark goddess from crowing.

  “I am Eris, goddess of discord. If I let him die, then how could I possibly enjoy more of his suffering? Of course he’ll live,” she spat. “But you, you will suffer for the rest of your days. You’ll suffer knowing that he never truly wanted you and desired you to go back to being mortal so he’d be free of you. You’ll suffer knowing that you gave up on an eternal bond that could have saved you both centuries of regret and rebirth. You’ll suffer, my little mortal, because in the end you’ll know you gave up every chance you had at being with the man you loved, just to be mortal again.”

  Beck looked down at Achilles’s pale face, his profile so still it could have been carved of marble, and wept. Eris’s laugh echoed long after she’d vanished in a cloud of black mist.

  Beck wasn’t sure how long she lay there, holding Achilles in her arms. But the bone deep ache and searing pain had begun to subside. Perhaps she was becoming numb to it. Perhaps half of her was already dead, or dying, just as he was.

  She stared up at the bright points of starlight in the sky above until the blackness crowding around the edges of her vision blotted out everything.

  Chapter 19

  Beck awoke, her face wet with dew. The pale light of dawn rimmed the edge of the trees beyond the field, a low fog clinging to the cold earth.

  She sat up and blinked, putting a hand to her head as her vision swam. Glancing in the half light, she caught a glimpse of pale skin beside her. Achilles lay in the grass, still as stone.

  Beck scrambled to her knees, grabbed handfuls of his shirt and shook him. “Achilles! Achilles! Wake up!”

  Eyes closed, his head lolled to the side. He didn’t answer. Oh, God. Was he dead? Really dead?

  Cold beneath her hand, his shirt was as damp as the blades of grass around him. Her heart was beating hard from the adrenaline spiking through her system, swelling and throbbing in her throat. But then, for just a few seconds, shock stopped it. Just when Beck thought it might not beat again, it did. And boy did it hurt.

  Worse than sitting beside her father when his lips turned blue as the heart attack claimed him when she was twelve. Worse than being told her mother had died while she was in college, only to discover later that she’d been turned into a vampire by her latest boyfriend and she’d never see her again.

  She’d not let herself love after that because it had always ended badly. She should have known better.

  Beck lay her head down upon his chest, tears flowing free and hot into his shirt. Great sobs clutched at her chest and she couldn’t seem to find enough air to fill the lungs that had gone unused for several weeks.

  The ache inside hurt so badly that she almost didn’t notice the fingers gently stroking the hair back from her temples. She stilled instantly, holding her breath.

  With caution, she opened one eye a fraction and was greeted by the green gaze of the man she loved looking back at her.

  He tried to speak, his words little more than a grating rasp she couldn’t interpret.

  “Achilles? Say it again.” Beck scooted closer, leaning her ear close enough to his lips that she could feel his words.

  “I’m not dead, sweetling, merely undead,” he whispered.

  Her heart flipped then double thumped. She laughed, a nervous giggle that bubbled up from inside. It was fantastic. It was impossible. And it made her want to sprout wings and fly. Tears were still streaming down her face. Harder now. But the reason had completely changed.

  Achilles had survived.

  “You’re back!” She grasped his face between her hands and kissed him fiercely. His hand cupped her head, as he threaded his fingers through her hair. The strength of his kiss grew to match her own as he sat up, pulling her into his arms.

  The damp wetness of their clothes began to steam in the chilly early morning air. They explored one another with the frantic fury of long-lost lovers. It didn’t matter that she was mortal and he was vampire. All that mattered was that they had both survived. An affirmation that despite everything, love could and would prevail. The distinct flick of his fangs coming out didn’t even faze her. She welcomed them as evidence of his desire as he kissed her.

  It felt strange not to feel the pressure build and throb behind her gums as it was doing between her thighs. His hands slipped beneath her clothes sampling the texture of her skin, his thumb grazing the arch of her nipple as he tested the weight and feel of her breast in his palm. Beck leaned into his touch. Craving it. Needing it. She gasped at the sparks shooting through her.

  His tongue traced the seam of her lips, stroking, gliding, tasting. Showing her exactly what he’d like to do to her. She broke their kiss, lungs aching for air, lips tender from the press of his fangs against her mouth. “I thought I’d lost you,” she panted.

  “Never, sweetling.” He crushed his mouth to hers as he twisted his body, laying her down in the grass. Achilles pulled back, tracing his fingers tenderly across her face. He brushed the pad of his thumb against her swollen lips, making them tingle.

  Beck wanted him to kiss her again. Just like that. Like everything in the universe depended on that kiss alone to hold it together.

  “As much as I want you, we have to be careful. You’re mortal again, and I don’t want to hurt you.”

  Beck nibbled at her tender lip. “About that. I’ve decided that I don’t want to be mortal after all.”

  His brows drew together. “Why?”

  “I want to be with you. Now. Forever. Always. And I can’t do that if I’m mortal, now can I?”

  His mouth twisted into a heartbreaking grin. “No. You can’t.”

  Beck combed her fingers through his damp, silky hair, drawing his face back to her. She turned her head, baring her throat. “Be my maker.”

  “Do you really understand what you’re asking of me?” he demanded harshly.

  She cupped the back of his stubborn head, tugging his mouth closer to the life’s blood throbbing beneath the surface of her skin. “Is it really so different than being my imprinted mentor?”

  He resis
ted the pull, even though Beck felt the hard ridge of his arousal against her thigh, and knew that his fangs must be aching to finish what she’d started. Close. So close.

  “It seals the imprint,” he warned, his arms tightening involuntarily around her. “It won’t matter if we’re parted three thousand years from now. You’ll always be able to find me, and I’ll be drawn to you. You’ll always hear my thoughts and feel my power as part of your own. Being your maker only makes an imprint more powerful.”

  “And what if I don’t care?”

  “You should.”

  “What if I want that with you?”

  “How can you—”

  She pressed her fingers to his lips. “Trust me, I know.”

  His kiss was one of pure joy and Beck let it infuse her. She pulled back unable to resist teasing him.

  “As my mentor you’ve been remiss about one part of my education.”

  “Really?”

  “You never told me how to make a vampire.”

  “Ah. Yeah, didn’t think you’d really want to know as it involves the giving and taking of blood and ichor. I know how much you dislike blood.”

  Beck swatted at him.

  “And as much as I’d love to give you that particular lesson right now, we’ve got something more important to do.”

  A bit of disappointment nibbled away at her glow of happiness. She really hadn’t thought he’d balk at her request. Of course she hadn’t counted on his drive to do his duty no matter what. But that was one of the things she loved best about him.

  “Let me guess. We need to save the vampire world from Eris’s vaccine.”

  “You got it, Doc.” He stood up and then reached out to pull her up from the ground and into the circle of his arms. “Ready to fly?”

  “As long as we go together.”

  The familiar suck and pull of transport had a certain comforting quality to it as she held Achilles close, burying her face in his chest, absorbing everything of him she could. They landed back at the clan’s medical center, just outside the locked door to her lab. She knew she couldn’t do this alone. Screwing together every bit of mortal focus she could muster, she called out to the vampires she knew she could trust.

  “You’re the only one with the combo, Doc.”

  Beck reached out and tapped in the security code, and as she did so, the hallway filled with dark particles. Six familiar vampires took shape. Good. She’d been crossing her fingers hoping they’d respond. Hoping that her ability to tap into Achilles’s power was still viable.

  She glanced at Achilles. “I took the liberty of calling your security team, Dmitri and Kris. I think I may know how we can get this distributed.”

  Beck led the troop of massive male vampires and her best friend into the white lab and stared for a second at the tan puddle of spilled tea on the floor, now gone cold. She phased away the mess, glad she had reached Achilles when she had.

  On the countertop sat the dozen vials of the antidote she’d managed to create.

  “We found out which facilities were manufacturing the vaccine and wiped out whatever was in process. But we couldn’t stop the distribution of the vaccine completely,” Titus reported.

  Beck stared at the vials. Did she have enough? What if she could use the very powers that the virus sought to destroy to make more?

  “Achilles?”

  “Yeah, Doc?”

  “If you have a small sample of the antidote, do you think you could phase it into a larger portion?”

  “I don’t see why not. As long as it exists, it can be replicated, or increased.”

  “Then I have an idea. Achilles and Kris, you’ll be production. I’ll pipette a small amount of the antidote into each of the vials, and you phase the rest of it until the vial is full. You five—” she glanced at the security team members and Dmitri “—will distribute the antidote.”

  “How do we know where to go first?” James asked.

  Dmitri swiveled around looking at the security team members. “Go to the clans in the areas where the vaccine went out to the public first. Then make sure every clan in the country has a supply. We want to grant access to every vampire that needs the antidote.”

  “One thing before we get started.” Beck rolled up her sleeves and grabbed a set of syringes and one of the vials. “I need to inject each of you as a precaution.”

  They worked through the daylight hours and into the night, until they were exhausted. Considering how close Achilles had been to death, Beck was astounded at his resilience. Sixteen hours of constant phasing and transporting was enough to sap the strength of even the most virile vampire.

  Beck grinned as she watched Kris lock on to Dmitri with a big hug. “We did it. I think we got it all out in time,” said Kris as she turned toward Beck. “Not bad for a mere mortal.”

  “Pfft,” Beck huffed. “Just because I’m mortal doesn’t mean I can’t bring it.” As proof, Beck tapped into Achilles’s powers via her imprint and phased in a round of ice cold beers on a tray. “I think our accomplishment calls for a little celebrating.”

  Kris grinned. “Absolutely.” She grabbed Beck in a big enthusiastic hug. “By the way, a little bat told me that you’ve been reconsidering your stand on remaining mortal.”

  Beck’s gaze flicked to Achilles who shrugged and took a long draw from his beer, green eyes inscrutable. Imprint or no imprint, would forever even be possible if he didn’t truly love her?

  Kris bumped into her shoulder. “He didn’t have to say anything. I can still smell the imprint between you. You two are made for each other.”

  Beck couldn’t resist the magnetic effect he had on her. She walked over to Achilles and he put an arm around her. “I can see where being a vampire might have a certain appeal,” she said.

  He leaned in and kissed her soundly. Titus and Slade wolf whistled, while James, Mikhail, Dmitri and Kristin cheered. But deep inside, Beck still had her doubts.

  She knew she loved the man, the vampire, beside her, but did he feel the same about her? Was it truly just the imprint drawing them together as he’d said? Doubt collected uncomfortably in the pit of her stomach, and Beck pulled away from Achilles. Perhaps she was expecting too much. Love wasn’t always a two-way street.

  Dmitri stiffened, his face turning serious as he phased away the drink in his hand. “Hold up. It’s not time to celebrate just yet. The council wants a report. Now.”

  Beck shoved her hands through her hair, tired, elated and most definitely feeling the drag of exhaustion like a heavy wool blanket around her shoulders.

  “You stay here. I’ll be back in half an hour,” Achilles ordered.

  “I think I’ve earned the right to be there,” Beck fired back.

  “Mortals don’t go before the council.”

  Kristin cleared her throat. “I beg to differ. When I went the first time, I was still mortal. And I’m with Beck. She’s earned the right to be there.”

  Achilles’s gaze connected with Dmitri’s. Instinctively Beck knew there was communication going on between the two of them, but she could no longer hear it. She resisted the surge of disappointment.

  She didn’t realize how quickly she’d come to rely on her vampire powers, which were no longer hers to command. All she could do was tap into Achilles’s powers through the link of their imprint.

  She tapped Achilles on the shoulder, then lifted herself up on tiptoe to whisper in his ear. “Is there any time for us to clean up first?”

  A rush of warm air blew over her and Beck realized he’d phased away her stained lab coat and rumpled dirty clothes, leaving her shower fresh and in a clean pressed skirt suit.

  “Better?”

  Beck grinned. “You’re good.”

  “Let’s see if you still think that after we make it through the meeting with the council.”

  He grasped her about the waist and transported them together to the familiar dark doors. They entered the council chambers, but only Roman was present.

  Dmitr
i, Achilles and Beck stepped up onto the dais facing Roman. No one said anything. Maybe they were waiting for Roman to speak first.

  “I have been in contact with the lairds of the other clans and our king. They are most pleased with efforts of the Cascade Clan to assist them. You have done well.”

  “Thank you, my Laird,” Dmitri said as he bowed his head in deference to the head of the clan.

  “However, Trejan, it remains that we have a unique issue at hand. Vanquish is still in circulation, and despite the antidote Dr. Chamberlin formulated so successfully—” he nodded in her direction “—the rules of our world have permanently changed. Vampires are no longer locked into this existence once the choice has been made. Our security is at risk. Those, such as Dr. Chamberlin, who have been accepted into our clan complex, and then later return to their mortal form can reveal our deepest secrets to the mortals. We must take steps to eliminate this risk.”

  “Or you could take the risk and give people free choice,” Beck pointed out calmly.

  Roman’s eyes darkened. “You do not know what you are asking for, Dr. Chamberlin.”

  Everything she’d experienced over the last month about what it meant to be vampire and what it meant to be imprinted made Beck bold. “Actually, I think I do. A year ago, people didn’t even know vampires existed. Six months ago if the vampire virus got you, you turned vampire no matter how it had happened. Yesterday, vampires learned that the very thing that gives them their powers could also be used to make them mortal again. What you really have to ask yourself, my Laird, is if you can stop change.”

  “We have been the same for thousands of years.”

  “Yes, but eventually everything evolves or disappears. Change is unavoidable. Perhaps it’s time for vampires to evolve again, my Laird.”

  Roman rubbed his bottom lip with his finger, the silence becoming a living, breathing thing within the rock walls of the chamber. Finally he pinned her with his dark gaze. “You have a point, Doctor.”