“Then it’s time for you to go.”
With one fluid motion Aries simply stood and followed Gavin out of the sanctuary. They made their way to the perimeter in silence, Aries strolling in the early winter sunshine and smiling to himself. “You did the right thing getting me to her. I know it couldn’t have been easy for you.”
“No it wasn’t, but it was the only option I had.”
“I’m two for two. I saved you from dying, and now her. Not bad for someone you wanted to kill just yesterday.”
“If it hadn’t been for you she wouldn’t have been in this situation in the first place, so don’t pat yourself on the back too hard.”
“Well, be that as it may, she is well and that’s the only thing that matters isn’t it?”
“It is. Now, this is where we part ways. Good luck,” he said to the creature.
Aries scrunched up his features in confusion. “Good luck?”
“Yes. I know where you are now. I suspect you’ll be moving your camp, but I’ll find you again and when I do you’re going to need it.”
Aries eyed him with astonishment. “But you said you wouldn’t kill me.”
“And I won’t…today. But as of tomorrow all bets are off. You better get going. It’s going to be a lot of work to move all of your men in just one day.”
“You would really kill me? After I’ve proven my loyalty to her?”
“You have a fucked up definition of loyalty, Aries. Now get going.”
Aries stomped his hoofs in anger, then took his leave and disappeared out of sight to the other side of the invisible boundary. Gavin took off running back toward the sanctuary. There would be plenty of time to think of tortures for Aries in the days and weeks to come. Rachel would be awake soon and he didn’t want her to wake up there, alone. He knew the disdain she had for that place, and truth be told, he shared it. He wanted her to wake up in their bed, in the only home she’d ever known with his arms around her and no one else’s. She was his and his alone and he desperately wanted to be with her and keep her close.
Wrapping the still sleeping vampire in a blanket he took her out of the sanctuary and headed toward the woods and into their backyard, carrying her as quickly and as gently as he could. He walked past Ian and Duncan who were sitting at the kitchen table and placed Rachel in bed, then shut the door and climbed into the bed next to her, holding her close. Finally after months of separation and hardship she was here with him, the only place in the world he knew she was meant to be, and they were alone.
Part three:
rachel
Chapter One
My body screamed. The sound of air filling my lungs was so loud that it roared at me through the churning blackness. A darkness so murky and bottomless that I was sure I was dead, and this was hell. It hurt to move. It hurt so bad that I wanted to cry out, but no sound came. Then all at once it stopped. The pain and confusion came to a halt like the sudden jamming of a car brake. Through my closed eyes I could see the light filtering through and for a moment I was afraid to open them. I was afraid of looking up to see Christina. I was frightened of her for some reason. Terrified of her wrath, her anger.
Then I felt a warm hand clasping over top of mine and soft familiar lips kissing my cheek. I knew him immediately and now was afraid to open my eyes for an entirely different reason. I was terrified he wouldn’t be real. “It’s ok,” I heard him say, “Everything’s alright.”
Finally I summoned enough courage to look and saw Gavin, observing me and smiling. I touched his face to make sure he was real, and then taking in my surroundings couldn’t believe what I was seeing. “You’re home,” he said, kissing my hand. “Home where you belong.”
I sat up, slightly dizzy, and remembering the baby I put my hand to my stomach. “Baby is fine,” he said. “Holly says he’s good and strong.” Relief washed over me as I took in the news. I had spent the last few weeks trying to push him out of my mind, but now all of a sudden he was one of only two things that mattered. I loved him already and even the threat of his loss was unbearable.
“Gavin, what happened? How did I get here?”
“I brought you home. That’s all you need to know. Just lay down and rest. I’ll find you someone to feed from later. You need to eat. Are you hungry for food or blood right now?”
“Not right now,” I said, putting my arms around him. It was a moment of pure joy. I had wanted nothing more than to be home with Gavin so badly at times that it had ripped me apart, and now here I was, waking up in my own bed.
There was a soft knock at the door and Gavin put his head on my shoulder, looking slightly annoyed. “Come in,” he said.
Ian, Alexander and Duncan all entered at once. Needless to say I was surprised to see Ian, as he was supposed to still be buried. Duncan’s presence was just a plain mystery. I didn’t have time to ponder their attendance for very long because in seconds Alexander was on the bed, grabbing me around the neck and practically crushing me in his overzealous hug. Immediately I heard his thoughts inside my mind.
Rachel! You’re home! I’m so happy to see you. I have so much to tell you. Where have you been? I’m not sure but I think I have a boyfriend. Where did you go?
His questions went on and on. He was obviously still communicating mentally. “Easy,” I said, “I just woke up. We’ll have lots of time to catch up later.”
“He’s been lonely inside his own head,” Duncan interjected. “I’ve been talking with the boy since he returned from Sydney an hour ago but other than that I don’t think he’s had much conversation.”
“Duncan,” I said, turning my attention to the old vampire. “What are you doing here?”
“I come to see if you were in need of me. Didn’t I tell you to come to me if you were ever in trouble? Ah, but you’re as stubborn as…” he stopped himself short. “Anyhow, I heard you were in a bad way and I wanted to see you. That’s all.”
Ian stood back, just near the doorframe, not wanting to come forward. It was the moment I’d dreaded. We were all in the same room, and all of us knew. “Hello Ian,” I said, addressing him finally.
“Rachel,” he nodded. “Are you feeling better?”
“I am. What are you doing here?”
“Gavin dug me up to help bring you home.”
“Thank you,” I said, not knowing what else to say. Ian simply nodded and turned his eyes away. “What happened? I don’t remember leaving the city.”
“You had some bad blood,” Gavin said. “That vampire you were feeding from tricked you.”
“Christina? But all the others feed from her and it doesn’t have any effect on them.”
Duncan sat on the foot of the bed, the mattress heaving under his weight. “Oh I wouldn’t say it has no effect. You’re lucky these two got you out in time. You were being poisoned.”
“How did you undo it?”
Duncan opened his mouth to continue on but Gavin interrupted him. “It doesn’t matter how it was undone. The point is that it was and now you’re going to be ok.” Gavin’s eyes lit up just then as if he remembered something. “Hey,” he said, “where did you get this?” He reached down taking the charm Zale had given me in his hand.
The memory of what I’d done came back to hit me full force. “Zale!” I cried, my hands trembling. “Oh my god.” The memory shook me to the core as I saw his poor unsuspecting face looking at me in horror, and then his eyes softening in death as he told me I was forgiven.
“Who is Zale?” Gavin said.
I became hysterical, crying and shouting at the memory. “I killed him, Gavin. Christina gave me a sword and I drove it straight through his heart. I murdered him,” I cried.
“Shh,” Gavin said, pulling me close. I pulled away.
“I have to go back. Christina killed a bunch of satyr mothers. She wants to kill them all. I have to go back. I have to tell them I’m sorry. I have to help them. We can’t let all those women…all those children die. When I murdered him I killed them too.”
“What? Rachel you haven’t killed any children. What are you talking about?”
“Take me back,” I demanded. “I have to go back. I have to stop her.” Gavin was unmoved.
“Here,” he said offering me his wrist. “You’re blood hungry Rachel. Feed from me and rest. You’re not making sense.”
“No!” I screamed, pushing his wrist away. Gavin’s face registered a look of hurt, which he quickly swept away.
“Easy there child,” Duncan said. “When you’re stronger we will remedy the whole situation, but for now try not to think badly on yourself. When one is under the influence of bad blood one can do terrible things. If that’s the worst thing you did you got off easy, and you’re still here. We’re all thankful for that.”
“Yes,” Gavin said. “Now feed. Holly said you’ll get your strength back in a day or so.”
“Holly? How is she?” I asked, afraid to hear the full answer.
“She’s doing better, but still pretty sick from the loss of the bond. She’ll mend. She managed to help see you through this. I think she’ll be ok.”
“Gavin I have to see her.” He gave a nod to everyone else and they made their way out of our bedroom, closing the door behind them.
“I’ll take you to see her, I promise. For now though you need to feed, at least a little.” He held his wrist out to me once more and as he did, I smelled the sweet coppery scent from just under his skin. I had dreamt of this moment when we were apart. His blood, still the sweetest I’d ever tasted, had called to me out of a dead sleep many times over the past few weeks. Now that it was this close I found myself consumed with hunger for it.
Pushing his wrist gently aside I pulled him close, moving my mouth to his neck and licked his throbbing jugular vein. As I did it pulsed harder still. “Mmm,” he smiled as he threw his head back, giving me easier access. “I love you so much,” he said, tangling his fingers up in my hair.
“You still love me after everything that I’ve done?”
He pressed his hand into the back of my head forcing my lips to his neck, urging me to bite. “We are one, and you’re the only one I could ever love. I’ve never loved another and I never will. Take my blood again, please. I feel like I’ve waited for this moment forever, don’t make me wait any longer.”
I kissed the spot I was about to bite, softly and gently, feeling him shudder against my body which was now pressed tightly up against his and ran my fangs out. Then with a rush of intensity so great that it threatened to swallow us both I struck. He gasped and I felt him strengthen, pressing his groin into my hip as he pulled me closer to him. I sucked hard and swallowed deep, over and over again until my belly was full of the warm, comforting liquid.
Then, placing me on my back he carefully undressed us both and lay down on top of me. I trembled with nervous excitement, feeling almost like we were making love for the first time. Everything was forgotten and I was swept into a world that contained only the two of us, face to face. Slowly he claimed me and I opened up to him, being taken willingly. His fangs extended and as much as both of us wanted him to bite, he held back, kissing me carefully instead. His deprivation released itself through his body and he grew harder still, thrusting deeply and forcefully.
I explored his body with a renewed sense of wonder, caressing and kissing him all over. It had been so long since he’d been in my arms that I’d almost forgotten just how deep this bond really went. Life with anyone else would be pointless, irrelevant, and unliveable. Any feelings I’d had toward Ian evaporated and the only thing left was the pure love between man and woman, maker and progeny, husband and wife. Gavin was the only one in this world I could ever fully want and I knew he felt the same. There was no beginning and no end to what we were and to have entertained the thought of another now just seemed trivial.
“I love you so much,” he whispered into my ear as his body became rigid.
“I love you too, and only you.” He smiled his wide beautiful smile that I had not seen in what seemed like centuries and I took it in, devouring the sight of it like a starving animal. Moments later he released himself into me as we climaxed heavily together. It was bliss. I vowed never to willingly be away from him ever again for as long as I lived, and now instead of wishing for death, I coveted eternity.
We dozed off and woke about two hours later to an empty house. Although we didn’t leave the bed I could tell it was empty due to both the absence of noise and the absence of thoughts. Gavin picked my head up, lifting my chin so I could meet his eyes and planted a small kiss on my lips. “Do you know how unbelievably hard it is not to bite you right now?”
I felt a sadness break through, ruining what would have been a perfect moment. Gavin must have seen it on my face because his brow drew down with concern. “What is it?”
“Gavin, if you could never feed from me again, would you still want me?”
He smiled wide again. “Of course I’d still want you. But it will be safe to feed from you again once the baby is born.”
“But what if it wasn’t?” I said, remembering what Christina had revealed about the blood of satyr mothers. Gavin seemed happily unaware.
“Well, if that were the case I wouldn’t love you any less. It would be quite frustrating though. I love your blood. I wouldn’t want to go the rest of my life never tasting it again.”
I felt as though I needed an answer right away. I knew what Christina had said, but she wasn’t exactly someone to be trust. There was only one person close by who would know the answer for sure and I had to see her right away. “Take me to see Holly,” I said, sitting up.
“Ok, but I want you to be prepared, Rachel. She’s nothing like she was. She’s changed physically as well as mentally. She’s still Holly, and I know she’ll come around. She did her best to help you even being as sick as she is, but you have to realize that she’s not the same and may not be for a very long time.”
“I know. But I have to go sit with her. I need to see for myself.”
***
Even though Gavin said Holly had changed physically it didn’t prepare me for what I saw. I had expected to see her as she had been, but perhaps looking tired or smaller, more emaciated or drawn. Instead the figure I saw huddled underneath a pile of blankets was a frail old woman. Holly was over four hundred years old and in that moment she looked almost every day of it.
Her sunken face took on somewhat of a corpselike appearance and her white hair fell in sparse strands down around her shoulders. Her body was small beneath the sheets and the one hand that stuck out over the coverlet was nothing but fragile skin and bone.
Gavin’s mother stood to greet me with a hug as I came closer. “I know it looks bad,” she said, seeing the alarm on my face. “But this is fairly standard. She’ll come around, she just needs some time.”
I nodded. “Do you think I could sit with her for a while? Alone?”
Margie said yes, although I could tell she was reluctant to leave her daughter’s bedside.
“Come on mom,” Gavin said. “Let’s take a trip to the kitchen and see what we can find. When was the last time you ate?”
“About a month ago. I’m alright. It’s enough for me.”
“Let’s go down anyway. Maybe there’ll be something good that will keep you for another month.”
“Alright.”
The door clicked shut behind me and I sat down gently on Holly’s bed, not wanting to disturb her. I had come in the hope of asking questions, but now, looking at this feeble old lady, who if she was a human would be on death’s door, told me I might not get them.
After a few moments, as if sensing me in the room, Holly’s eyes gently fluttered open and she gave me a weak smile. “Rachel,” she said, her voice cracking. “Your blood is clean.”
“Thanks to you,” I said.
Her head came slightly off the pillow. “Aries,” she said, before letting it drop again.
“Aries? I don’t know what’s going on with Aries. I guess he’s still hid
ing from Gavin. Holly I need to ask you something. I don’t know if you’ll have the answer but I don’t know who else to ask.”
Holly widened her eyes with much effort, attempting to focus in preparation for the question.
“Is it true that my son will need his father to complete his transformation? That he’s the only one who can do it and he’ll die without him during the change?”
Holly nodded in the affirmative and I felt a horrible twinge of fear. Her eyes closed for a few seconds and opened again. She was on the verge of passing out. “Will my blood be poisoned to other vampires forever now? Will Gavin be able to feed from me ever again?”
Holly nodded in the affirmative once more. I took a moment to let out the breath I hadn’t known I was holding in. “Holly, do you think it would be possible for us to turn him? To turn my son before he becomes a satyr and make him a vampire?”
Her eyes widened as if she’d never heard such a thing and she twisted her head to the side so as to look me directly in the eye. I wasn’t sure if she was giving me a look of wonder or a look of disgust at the suggestion. She was ready to formulate a response when her eyes snapped shut and she fell into a deep and exhausted sleep. That question would have to remain unanswered for now.
I tucked the frail, bony hand underneath the covers and pulled them up to her chin. Then giving her a kiss on the cheek I exited the room. Gavin had given me another sanctuary pendant and I decided I needed to go for a walk to clear my head. I made my way off the grounds, my feet taking me instinctually in the direction of home. It was good timing too because Duncan, Ian, and Alexander had all returned. Gavin was still at the sanctuary.
“I need to talk to you all,” I said pointing to the kitchen table. None of them said a word, each taking a seat and staying silent, waiting for me to begin.
“I need the two of you,” I said to Duncan and Ian, “to come back to Halifax with me and help me kill Christina. Will you do that?”
“It would be a pleasure to kill that filthy creature,” Duncan said.
The Vampires of Soldiers Cove: The Unborn Page 16
