by Tonya Nagle
"The first way is to kill the vampire that made you."
"I won't do that."
"Why not? It's as easy as killing anyone else." He said it so coldly, that Laura wasn't sure she should have saved his life. She trembled.
"Oh, I've forgotten. You've never killed anyone in cold blood. Yes, you've killed to defend yourself, but you've never hunted."
Stunned by his statement, her eyes went wide. "How do you know that?"
"I know a lot about you, Laura Cordelais. I know you wished on your mother's 27
grave to have your life back. I know that you've had a fight with David."
"You were there in the cemetery?"
"Your unique purity attracted me. I've been following you, watching and waiting to see what you would become. Then you made your wish, and I knew. So what was the fight about?"
She shook her head. "That's not your business."
"Is David the vampire that made you?" he asked. "I can kill him for you."
She slapped Thomas and stood up ready to leave him there. "No, you will not.
He's taken care of me. He's done almost everything I've ever asked of him. I will not reward his kindness by betraying him. Do you hear me? You will not touch him."
Thomas rubbed his face. "All right, but it is the easiest way. The other way is a lot harder."
Laura considered leaving him there to his fate, but he had her on a hook. "What's the other way?" She needed to know.
"The second way is much harder."
"You said that already."
"You're going to have to be brave in ways you cannot imagine. And you're going to have to leave with me and never come back."
Laura laughed. "This is some sort of trick. I will be stuck with you forever, won't I?" Nothing about Thomas attracted her. He wasn't the mysterious dark lover she was accustomed to. Just the thought of David made her shiver involuntarily.
"No, after you've changed back, you can go wherever you like, except..."
"Except?"
"You must never go back to him. If the undead bite you again, you will instantly 28
turn into ashes. Your soul will wander with the wind of the storm. I'm offering you the only way out, the only way back to a mortal life."
"Why are you offering to help me?" Laura narrowed her eyes. David had often accused her of being too skeptical.
"You are a shining light in the storm. You're different and you know it. You're pure of heart. The Darkness didn't overtake you like it did the others."
She couldn't stop shivering. The idea of it, getting her life back! But never seeing David again? She closed her eyes. They did break up hours earlier. Still. She could always feel him near, and funny as it might seem, he always made her feel safe.
"It's time we left." Laura went to the door.
Four men toting guns burst in.
"Looky, looky, wat wakd inta my house. Pretty birdie, com ta me." One man laughed. He shoved her back into the room.
Laura pushed Thomas out of the way and rushed the first man. He fired. The bullets passed through her. She lifted him up and threw him into another man, who crashed through the wall into the street. Laura seized Thomas by the arm. They ran out through the hole in the wall.
Halfway down the street, a feeling tugged at her heart and she turned. The other men fought with someone. It was David. He'd been there all along. The men fell like broken dolls against the pavement. Then a truck of men with guns blazing rushed towards them. Clutching Thomas around the waist, she flew up into the storm. The water in the street rose higher.
Laura didn't want to think. Tears fell down her face. David had been there for one reason. He didn't care about the stranger. He was there for her.
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The wild abandon of the wind and rain made her linger in the sky. She felt fierce and free here, even if she wasn't sure what to do or where to go. Then she found the storm's edge and bounced off it, westward. They landed on a quiet stretch of road in the drizzling rain.
"Well, it's time to leave and start your new life." Thomas walked on ahead of her.
David appeared by her side. "You weren't going to say goodbye?"
She wasn't surprised to see him. "David, I don’t want to bring up what happened."
He opened his mouth to speak, but she put up her hand.
"Everything else you've ever done for me has been wonderful, and I thank you. I don't want to hurt you, but I need my life back. I need to be happy and whole again."
David looked into her eyes. "He's been lying to you. Did he tell you that he's a unicorn? I don't know what he's been telling you, but he's dangerous, Laura. Unicorns hate vampires. There's a reason he's lured you out here alone."
She glared at Thomas. In a flash, he was a white unicorn charging at David.
Laura jumped between them.
He stopped inches from her heart. "Move aside, Laura, and you'll be free of him forever."
"No, I won't let you kill him. Kill me, if you must kill someone."
The unicorn backed off several feet.
"You've brought me out here to deceive me."
"No." Thomas's voice sounded like song. "I brought you here to free you. Leave him behind. I can free you. You must believe me, Laura."
Still standing in front of David, she asked, "Can you free him?"
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"No." The unicorn shook his head. "He is not worthy."
"How can you be so sure I am? I didn't tell you how I became a vampire. My life was awful. The man I was supposed to marry left me for another woman. Then my mother died here in New Orleans, and I didn't have the money to come for her funeral.
Everything went wrong. On that night in August, I leapt out of a cab on the Brooklyn Bridge. I climbed over the rail. Every part of me wanting to die. Then I changed my mind. I slipped. I sank. I breathed in the cold numbing water, and in my despair welcomed death as it approached.
"It happened so fast. I was underwater. David dove in after me. He pulled me from the river. He talked about life being precious. All I could think about was death. I was so cold, so very cold. Every part of me hurt unspeakably. He was taking me to the hospital. I had massive internal injuries." Her voice broke.
"From the moment I met you, I loved you." David's eyes softened as he gazed at her, his words shattered her heart. "But now you have a chance to live again. I know all the things you miss not being human. While killing the vampire that made you, won't free you, a unicorn can, if it wishes to, make you mortal again."
Then looking at Thomas, he growled. "I have no reason to trust you, but I'm asking you not to harm her. If you do, you'll regret it. You are going to make her mortal, aren't you?"
"Yes."
Turning back to Laura, David said, "Now you will be happy, and that's all I want for you." He softly kissed her lips and whispered, "Goodbye."
Before Laura could say anything to him, he was gone, really gone. He had probably returned to the city. For the first time in a year, Laura felt his absence.
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Confusion filled her. The excitement of getting back her life made her giddy. David would become a memory. He let her go. He wasn't there to help her, if she needed him.
In the world she was going to she wouldn't need him. She would be free and happy.
***
Laura stood alone facing the unicorn. Then she turned and watched the storm ripping apart the city in the distance. She felt its force upon her heart and wept.
"It's time, Laura. In every way, your purity shines. Now it is your time to walk in the mortal world."
She turned to Thomas. "Thank you."
Together they walked to a cornfield. Only a few hours of darkness remained.
Stars peeked out from behind dark clouds, while miles away the hurricane reigned.
Thomas stomped around, until he had made a flat circle in the field. Then he outlined it with his horn.
"Kneel, supplicant."
Laura knelt on the stubby ground.
"R
emember, I said you would have to be braver than you've ever been."
"I remember."
"Then we begin. With life, comes joy and pain, do you accept it?"
"Yes."
"Extend your right palm." The unicorn touched his horn against her hand.
Laura almost collapsed. Being a vampire, she'd forgotten pain, but now it seared through her. She screamed into the night. No one answered.
She recovered and knelt again.
"Do you denounce the life of blood?"
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"Yes." She feared what came next.
"Extend your left palm."
She did. Again he touched his horn to her hand. An unseen fire seared her palm.
Laura gulped air, trying to stay conscious.
"Now when the final question is answered, my horn will pierce your heart. You will fall, but you will not die. You will awaken with the first rays of dawn, transformed into a human being. Your life will be yours again. Have you given any thought about what you'd like to do first?"
"I'd like to sit in the sun and feel its warmth." She smiled. Even holding her throbbing hands against her sides, Laura felt happy. If she could only keep the goal of a happy life in her mind, she could endure the ritual. "Yes, I am ready for you." She closed her eyes. Laura didn't want to see the unicorn stab her.
"Remember this is your choice. You must answer now. Do you promise to deny vampires and all forms of dark creatures, refusing to acknowledge them if your paths should cross, and denying them sanctuary or comfort of any kind?"
Laura's face went white. "What? But what if David needs help?"
"Laura, it's for the best. He could bite you."
"David wouldn't do that, if I told him not to."
Thomas laughed. "You really think you can trust such a foul creature."
She stood up. "Don't call him that. He's not foul. You're not so pure yourself with all your deceptions. If you've been following me, then you've done a bad job of it.
There's a lot you haven't found out. Did you know that I was the last person he's bitten?
Did you know that he's given up hunting, because I find it repulsive? We dined on animal blood bought from a butcher. We slept in a bed because I couldn't bear coffins.
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He brought me to New Orleans to see my mother's tomb. He changed his entire world for me, and tonight he even set me free." Tears flowed down her cheeks, as her mind displayed all the times David demonstrated his love.
Thomas changed back into the man. This time he didn't wear glasses. She figured he never needed them in the first place. It had only been part of his disguise.
"Laura, I'm truly sorry. He did the right thing by setting you free. So many would do anything for the gift of life I'm giving you. If you're worried about being alone, I will stay with you as long as you want me."
Laura shuddered at the thought, but she knelt down again. "Okay," she replied half-heartedly. She did want to be human. "Let's do this."
Thomas asked again, "Do you promise to deny vampires and all forms of dark creatures, refusing to acknowledge them if your paths should cross, and denying them sanctuary or comfort of any kind?"
Laura took a deep breath, readying herself for the pain that was certain to come.
"No," she shouted. Then she stood up and walked toward the black cloud of hurricane that engulfed the far off city.
"No! You cannot refuse the gift."
She wouldn't listen and kept walking. The unicorn charged. Fast. When she turned, she couldn't see him.
In a blink, he appeared and stabbed her. Laura collapsed. The fire of the horn burned through the right side of her body. If she didn't get up, the sun would burn the rest of her, daybreak being less than an hour away.
Thomas disappeared then reappeared as a man. He knelt next to her and took her into his arms. "You don't understand what I'm offering you. You will have such a 34
beautiful life, Laura. Please, say yes."
"You said it was my choice," she gasped.
"Yes, but you must make the right choice. The wrong choice will destroy you."
"I understand."
He helped her to her feet. Laura turned to return to the field with Thomas.
Then she turned and ran. Stepped to leap into the wind. Too late! The horn rammed through her back. Laura lurched forward, trying to escape the fire, the horrible burning torment. The horn pulled out. Screaming, Laura turned as it touched her breast. She grasped the horn, trying to push it away. Its fire burned her hands. She screamed, wrenching up and away from her. Using everything in her that was still vampire she jumped up into the sky with such force that with a sickening crunch the horn broke.
Thomas now the white horse galloped futilely after her. She left him far behind on the ground. His words meant nothing to a vampiress. He was lucky she left him alive. In her hands was his bloodied horn. He roared at her. She let the winds deafen her. He wanted his horn. He wanted her. Well, you can't have everything you want.
Her wounds slowly healed, as she flew toward the storm. Soon the unicorn, cursing as he raced after her, would become a memory, one forgotten.
***
What do you do when you've hurt someone who loves you? Laura didn't know how David would react to her return, so she hid in the fading shadows as she entered Marchon's house before dawn. The lights had gone out the day before, but it did nothing to dampen the candlelit party in his banquet room. Vampires danced to the strains of a fiddle, swinging and singing their way into the morning. Someone played 35
the saxophone, and Laura was such a sucker for that sound that moaned through her.
New Orleans fell to the storm, and the undead celebrated.
Laura closed her eyes a moment to concentrate. Invisibility is an old vampire trick, but it had taken her almost a year to master, and David was incredibly patient in teaching her.
Sitting in Marchon's kitchen, David took out a wine glass and poured blood from the red rose bottle. His trembling white fingers pulled at his dark brown, curly hair. He stared at the full glass. A lone tear streaked down his cheek. An angry growl escaped his throat, as he threw the wine glass against the wall. "Laura, remember," he cried, "I love you."
Getting up, he ignored the revelers in the next room and went up the back staircase to the bedroom. He lay on the bed in the dark and chuckled. "I can't believe it.
I'm a vampire that sleeps in a bed." Then he sighed. "I know, Laura," he said talking to himself. "Actually I can't blame you for hating coffins. I don't think I'll ever be able to sleep in them again. Only now my bed is so lonely."
Laura stood in the shadows of the room. She wanted to say something, but his grief had silenced her. She watched him go to sleep, turning and tossing in pain. By closing her eyes, Laura could see his dreams. Each memory of her crawled over him.
He saw the Cordelais crypt in the cemetery. Years passed and on it a new engraving read: "Beloved Wife and Mother." As he examined it more closely, he saw Laura's name on the panel. He gasped. She would live life without him, and he would only be a shadow in her memory. He would exist for eternity without her. The pain tore through him.
He sat up, confused for only an instant. "Someone is here."
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Laura stood in his doorway. "Why aren't you at the party downstairs?"
David's mouth fell open. "I was tired."
"Immortals do not get tired."
"Why didn't you accept the unicorn's gift?"
"I was going to. I was going through the ritual, but when it came time to choose I remembered my wish. All I ever wanted was to be happy."
"You chose me over a mortal life?"
She smiled. "Will you dance with me, David?"
He stood up and walking over took her into his arms. Slowly they danced, oblivious to the music downstairs.
"Are you still angry about Rhea?"
"Should I be?" She nuzzled his neck and felt his tremor.
"No, you shouldn't. I was waiting for you that ni
ght to come up to bed. Rhea, materialized on top of me naked. I didn't invite her. You're the only one I would ever invite." He kissed her neck just above the spot where he'd once bitten her.
Laura looked up into his dark eyes. "You're not lying to me."
"No, my love." His lips brushed hers. "I ache for you."
The warmth glowed between them, increasing with each fervent touch. An electric current drew them together, and the fire eternal they created as their bodies rubbed against each other, teased, tantalized, and blazed white hot. It was a long while before he noticed that she had something in her hand.
"What's that?"
"Thomas tried to force me to choose a mortal life. I found him unworthy." She tossed the unicorn's horn on the floor.
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David smiled and kissed her hand. They twirled around to the music inside them. The storm outside sang. Laura never knew the beauty of the gale until that moment, as it whistled and howled around their sanctuary from the living. David led her into bed. Like children they laughed and pulled the blanket up over their heads.
"I knew you would remember that I love you."
"You are my shining light in the storm," she whispered in his ear.
***
Daylight greeted a broken city, but one whose true passion endured even with scars. Laura melted into sleep beside David and welcomed the dreams that come with rebuilding a life. Each time he moved he rubbed her. Each time she sighed he caressed her again. He laughed in his sleep.
Drowsily, she nudged him. "Why are you laughing?"
"I've just thought of a surprise." He rolled over and slept.
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Chapter 3
Three nights later
"You look like an angel, cher." Marchon's voice startled Laura. She pulled up the satin sheet and covered her bare breasts, as she sat up in bed. Her nipples hardened as the cool material brushed against her skin. He grinned.
