Ever After

by Heather McBride

  “I’m still sensing you are human, you are very nearly done changing though. I think your blood may still be strong enough to get Will out of this. It is all we can do to let you try; no other humans are near here. We would have to break the coven rules if we go that route and take a human from someplace.”

  I swallowed hard trying to fight back the flood of tears in my eyes as I watched Will; he was in horrible pain as Doc held him. “I can save him then?” I asked desperately hoping they would let me try.

  “No she can’t.” Will managed to say in a forced whisper. “She’s too weak, I won’t do that to her again!” He was angry as he looked at Doc and Pratt; he had to fight to keep his eyes open.

  “Will, its ok. Corrine is nearly fully changed, she is very strong now, and doing this would not hurt her at all. The only thing she needs is a slight bit of venom to push her change into completion. If she gives you her blood, some of your venom will, of course get into her system and help her and her blood will help you.”

  “Are you sure about all this Pratt, we must be certain.” Doc asked nervously.

  “Yes, trust me, you smell her wrist and tell me what you sense.” He snatched up my wrist, obviously annoyed with Pratt now. Doc took my arm gently, smelled my wrist, and nodded in approval.

  “Yes, you are right.”

  “Then let’s do this, Will is fading quickly we have not got much time.”

  I scooted closer to William, this time Pratt held my small pale wrist next to William’s lips. Will looked up at me sadly; his blue eyes seemed so dark now, a royal blue almost.

  “Are you sure?” He whispered.

  “Yes Will, you heard Pratt and Doc, you must do this before its too late.” I begged him, tears sliding down my cheeks uncontrollably now.

  I knew if this did not work, he would die. Doc would break the coven rules and steal a random human from near here if he had to, but we no longer had time to find one. If my blood was too weak, nothing could be done for William.

  “Do it!” I ordered him and sniffed, making myself stop crying. There was not going to be any more negotiation about this, Will could see the steel in my eyes, and that I meant my words. He slowly nodded and looked up at Doc who now held my wrist.

  I quickly kissed Williams lips, and whispered I loved you to him. His eyes were closed now; he was too weak to even speak anymore. Doc held my wrist to Wills lips. I felt him kiss it softly before I felt his razor sharp fangs sink deeply into my tender skin. I quickly shoved my hand over my mouth to muffle a cry of pain. Pratt put his arm around me to comfort and keep me from falling over.

  “Breath Corrine, it will be ok.” He whispered to me.

  I nodded, my eyes squeezed tightly shut, the venom was starting to burn my wrist, but I fought the pain. Suddenly the room began to spin, and weak. I fell back into Pratt’s arms; they were wrapping my wrist with a towel or something.

  “Pressure, put pressure on her wrist, he bit deep.” I could tell that was Doc’s voice now.

  “Ok I have it.” Pratt answered. I could hear Sayann in the room. She was helping Pratt with my wrist. I could not open my eyes, and felt so tired it sounded like many people were in the room now. I heard Roth’s voice and Lydia’s as well. Doc was booming out orders like a drill sergeant to everyone.

  “Roth get Will up to the top floor office, and into the bed closest to my office, Sayann, you go along and help him please. Pratt and I will be up shortly after we see to Corrine.” I heard then both say yes, and movement as they took Will to Doc’s office somewhere in the massive house.

  I was picked up and carried to my bed, by Pratt. I knew his scent, as each vamp had one, somehow the guys all smelled like some good cologne. Lydia and Emma tucked me in and I felt a heart monitor put onto my finger. Pratt was at my ear again and I had to think hard to understand his words.

  “Corrine dear, were giving you a sedative, as the venom will begin to hurt you soon. You will sleep through the pain, all will be well.” I felt a prick in my arm, the shot I assumed but I didn’t care. I felt like I was floating, or in a dream. I soon drifted off to sleep all of their voices became muffled. The one thought I kept having as I drifted, was where William was, and was he still alive.

  .

  Chapter 40

  Winds of Change

  Sometime later, a few days I figured. I finally woke up from my deep sleep. It was dark in my room, not unusual, as the curtains were old and heavy. I looked around the room, and despite the dark, I could see amazingly well. I knew then it was my night vision, a benefit of being a vampire.

  I slowly sat up, ready for a wave of pain or nausea but I felt nothing like that at all. I felt perfect, no pain no anything. I felt great. I looked at the clock on the fireplace mantel, and it read seven o clock. I figured it was in the evening.

  I was desperate to know how William was and where he was right away. I cautiously slid out of bed, not knowing if my legs might give out on me. I was fine though, as I padded in my bare feet across the wood floor to the window. I pulled back the heavy curtain, which was probably older than I was and peeked outside. It was nearly dark, the ground two stories below my window was coated in ice, the massive tree’s surrounding the house were as well. It must have been the ice storm Doc was worried about earlier when we got here.

  “Corrine!” A voice squealed and made me jump nearly out of my skin. “You’re up and out of bed.” It was Sayann’s excited voice; she rushed to my side and wrapped her arms around me happily. Quickly she let go and held me at arm’s length looking into my eyes knowingly.

  “You’ve changed, I felt it when I touched you, this is wonderful!” She giggled. I winced as her high-pitched laugh hurt my newly enhanced hearing. I quickly covered my ears.

  “Oh sorry, I forgot the first few day’s your ears are crazy sensitive.”

  “It’s ok I feel great.” I gave her a weak smile. “How is Will doing? Can I see him yet?”

  “Doc and Pratt have been so worried about you both, they run back and forth all day between your room and his.” She patted my leg and smiled.

  “How long have I been asleep or out or whatever?”

  “A week, we were all getting worried about you.”

  “So Will is up now?” I said as I stretched, feeling very stiff from my long nap. I could see she didn’t want to answer me as she looked at her feet and avoided my eyes. “Sayann what is it, you must tell me.”

  “He’s not awake yet, but don’t worry Pratt is with him. I won’t lie to you, he is very sick and Doc and Pratt have worked nonstop trying to get him better.” I knew she meant well, and I trusted Pratt but I worried about him anyway.

  “I was out for four days when I changed. Pratt said Will’s just about doing the phasing thing again. I think he said the dead blood that Vincent gave him, set him back. They were saying he has to nearly phase all over again to recover, it’s complicated.” She frowned.

  “Doc and Pratt can tell you all the details. I forget stuff all the time.” I looked at the clock and hoped they would at least let me see him tonight any way. I shivered as I felt a cold draft suddenly.

  “I felt hot tears welling up in my eyes, thinking of the pain Will must be in, and how sick he was right now.”

  “You’ll need a robe, the house is freezing. The power went out a few hours ago and they are having trouble with the generators.” She got up and pulled a think red robe out of the closet for me to wear. “You can’t get a chill, you might get sick, you are a half blood remember, you can still get ill.”

  “Yes I remember that.” I smiled, as I pulled on the furry warm robe. I walked over to the window again, and looked at the frozen trees visible now only in the dim security lights.

  “It’s as bad as it looks; everything’s frozen the roads the power lines. We are all stuck here, couldn’t leave if we wanted to, most of the roads are closed.” I could see her studying me as I sat there listening to her. “Corrine are you ok?” I forced a smile and nodded, fighting off the tears.<
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  “Sure I’m ok. I’m just so worried about Will that’s all. I should have seen this coming. I should have known he was sick.”

  “You couldn’t have known. Doc said he must have been hiding it for a long time. They think the deal in the woods just drained him; the cold gave him pneumonia as well. He told Doc he was trying to medicate himself so he wouldn’t worry any of us.” I sighed that was just like Will, to try to protect me from worrying about him.

  “That sounds like him, never wanting to bother anyone with things that concern him.”

  “Corrine don’t beat yourself up, Doc and Pratt feel to blame. Doc has been beside himself all week, so upset he didn’t see Will was sick. You were trying to recover yourself; you couldn’t have known how ill he was.” She patted my hand and smiled reassuringly at me.

  “I know, but I was the one with him all the time. I just feel I should have seen him acting weird or sensed something was going on with him.” I got up, walked over to the bed, and sat back down. “Can I see him?”

  “I’m sure you can, let me call Doc and ask him if I can bring you upstairs.” Sayann flipped open her cell phone and asked Doc to come to my room and see me now that I was awake.”

  The door swung open minutes later, and a very tired Doc and Pratt walked in to my room.

  “Corrine, you’re awake and you look wonderful.” Doc smiled.

  “Yes look at you, I can tell you have made the complete change.” Pratt smiled. “This is exceptional!”

  “How do you feel?” Doc asked as he pulled out his stethoscope and Pratt got out his blood pressure cuff.

  “I feel great it’s really amazing.” I smiled at them all. They all were staring at me as if I was a miracle on two feet or something. “How’s William though? Sayann said he was really sick right now.” I saw Pratt and Doc exchange worried glances.

  “Yes Corrine, she is correct William is very ill right now unfortunately. Pratt and I are doing all we can to get him better as soon as possible.” Doc went on to check my vital signs and the typical things.

  “She said he had pneumonia, can he get over that?” I sat back in the love seat. Sayann handed me a blanket seeing me shiver. The old house was very cold, due to the freakish ice storm still going on outside.

  “Yes, with time we feel he will recover fully, he just need time.” Doc began to put away his medical things he folded up his black bag slowly.

  “You’ve successfully fazed Corrine. You are now an official half blood, are you ready for all the changes?” I forced a fake smile, wondering why he was asking me this now. It was too late even if I was having second thoughts, which I wasn’t.

  “Sure I think I know what I’m getting into, and I have no problems with it.” I joked giving Sayann a wink.

  “Very good, but remember if you have any questions just ask any of us and we can help you.” I nodded, but my mind was consumed with William. I needed to see him with my own eyes. That’s the only thing that would put my mind at ease.

  “Didn’t the blood I gave him help at all?” I asked. Pratt walked over and sat next to me on the couch.

  “Yes, it did just as we hoped it would Corrine. The human virus, pneumonia is what’s causing the delay in his recovery. You must remember as half bloods you and Will are both susceptible to human illnesses. In normal cases, that virus wouldn’t hit even a half blood as hard as it did William, but he was worn down on top of that. The fact his system was weakened made him get sick very quickly.”

  “What about the Dark coven and Leo? Are we even safe here?” I had a million questions running through my head and I had to know what was going on. If it had been a full week that I had been “out” a lot could change and probably not for the good.

  “No” Doc said in a quick sharp tone. “None of us are safe here or any place for that matter. Leo seems to be in a rage. I am to meet with him in two weeks to discuss if we can arrange some kind of treaty. This needs to end as soon as possible.” Doc sighed and looked at Pratt who sat down in the armchair next to the fireplace.

  “Leo for some reason has become obsessed with getting William back with him in the Dark coven. I have spoken with him very briefly over the past few days and he is hell bent to get Will back.” He paused and took a deep breath.

  “It worries me even more with his view regarding you. He said he feels you should be destroyed for getting involved with William; he thinks you have broken some rule he has about humans and vampires not being together. I can’t begin to think what insane rule that is.” Doc frowned.

  The room was silent for a long time. I was getting scared now, more so than I was five minutes ago. Leo the headcheese of the most hated evil coven of vamps wanted me dead and the love of my life back in his coven. I couldn’t think of anything worse. It felt like I was in a nightmare, but sadly I was wide-awake.

  “What do we do now?” I asked softly, not to anyone in particular. I just said it aloud hoping one of them had a plan or some idea of what we would do.

  “We are bracing for some form of attack by the Dark coven.” Doc said he sighed deeply and rubbed the back of his neck.

  “I haven’t much faith in this meeting we have planned. Leo is power hungry and insane, two very lethal combinations for a vampire to have. The Dark coven worships him and will do exactly what he tells them to do.” Doc finished speaking and looked very tired. I couldn’t imagine how much stress he had been under since this all began and I could see it in his face.

  Chapter 41

  Plans

  Pratt too looked on edge. He and his coven in France could become victims of the Dark coven went on an attack. Leo would hunt down Pratt’s coven and kill them all if he decided he thought they needed to die. I had never seen Doc look so nervous, he was always calm and pulled together. His own brother was the source of his fear, anger and a massive threat to his coven.

  “We’ve decided to leave for France if the meeting between Doc and Leo goes badly. It may be the safest thing for the coven to do so. My home is secluded and secure, even if Leo does come after us he will have a difficult time reaching us there.” I was in shock. I never imagined the coven leaving the country.

  “It seems to be our only option. If we try to fight them, we will be lowering ourselves to their level. We are not killers; we live in peace as much as possible. If we start a war here with the Dark coven, it may set off a type of frenzy amongst the Dark coven. It is highly possible they, after attacking us, will randomly kill innocent humans in the area we are in.” He took a deep breath; I could see the worry in his eyes.

  “It will naturally set of suspicion about us, and possibly expose us to humans. It could mean a major disaster for all of our kind. It would be like the Salem witch hunts, the country would be hunting anyone they even remotely thought was a vampire and kill them.” Doc looked at Pratt to carry on.

  “Yes, Doc is right such a thing is very possible. We must all be on alert for anything unusual. Leo may not wait for his meeting with Doc to strike out at us. I do not trust his word to Doc that he will wait till the meeting and leave us alone till then.” Pratt’s eyes were like Doc’s now very dark and upset.

  “Corrine, you and William must be extremely careful as you are targets for the Dark coven, unfortunately.” Doc added as he shifted uneasily. I could tell he had more on his mind. “What worries me right now is William’s condition. He is weak still and helpless. If the Dark coven attacks, he will be un able to defend himself. It is important he never be left alone, until he has recovered.”

  “I agree fully.” Pratt nodded. I knew they saw how un easy I was.

  “Sayann will take you to see William now. I can see you are anxious to see him Corrine.” Doc said as he got up and headed for the door as Pratt followed him.

  I followed Sayann down the long hallway to William’s room. It was only a few rooms down from my own. I felt my stomach turn, fearing he might look sick or somehow not be the same. Sayann opened the door quietly. Lydia was sitting next to William’s bed
reading as we entered and gave a small wave hello.

  His room was, much like mine except no floral wallpaper and only one tiny window. The window was shuttered closed and had a lock on it. I knew why his window was like that; his room had to be secure open windows were not an option now. Will’s room was also next to Doc’s and across the hall from Roth’s, so they could watch over him.

  Sayann stepped aside so I could go in alone.“I’ll be waiting out in the hall; you and William need some privacy. Let me know if you need anything or if William does.” I gave her a weak smile, and looked nervously at the darkened room.