Talon

by Alice Wade

  “Shh.” She kept whispering, “Shh, Dace. I’m here.” She stroked his cheek and brushed his hair away from his forehead.

  “He can’t hear you.” Talon looked shattered.

  “Maybe he can.” Something in his voice alerted her, so she shifted her crazed evaluation of her mate to her guardian and sucked in a breath. He looked depressed, “What’s wrong?”

  “I did all that I can do. The rest is up to him,” he mumbled.

  “I know that. Why are you acting like this?” His outward behavior was disconcerting.

  “Personal reasons. Something that I must work through and get past, but for now it causes great sorrow,” he mumbled again.

  “Personal reasons which have everything to do with me now, so please talk to me?”

  “Nothing you don’t already know, honey. I just vowed I’d never do this act; this turning of another.”

  Lainey understood his plight, had sympathized with him even, but now that the act was done, this melancholy seemed harsh. “You did this as his request. I assume there is a difference? That you deem converting someone against their will to be the ultimate sin?” Talon lifted his blue eyes and watched her without speaking. “You didn’t do that. He asked for this. Knew the process and still proceeded. He also knew what it meant to be a vampire and still made this choice. You didn’t do anything wrong to breach your vow. Nothing.”

  “I never thought of it like that. Maybe,” he said before he stood and ran his palm over Dace’s forehead, which was already heating up with the fever the venom brought. “He’ll need you. Stay with him to make sure he is all right. Call me if anything changes.”

  “Thank you,” her head raised and met his eyes once more, “For doing this with grace and compassion.”

  “I would not have done it any other way. Kaen was a monster, Lainey. He chose his own methods and preferred cruelty. I regret that you had to experience this change at his hand, but I can’t correct that or control what he did.” He now touched her cheek before he moved away, “You deserved so much more and I tried to make this better for your mate.”

  His profound emotions touched Lainey’s soul deeply, but her focus dragged back to the shaggy haired blacksmith who uttered a tortured groan as the venom burned hotter.

  “I’ll leave you now. Just call me if anything changes. He should waken tomorrow sometime.” Talon didn’t wait for a reply and just left the room quickly. He stopped long enough to collect Kailani in his arms and proceeded to walk quickly back to their room with her cradled in his embrace. She recognized his anguish and felt the depth of his despair, opting to say nothing and allowed him to hold her as he practically ran back to their room.

  It would take him years to come to terms with what he had just done, but Lainey’s words helped to open the door for some form of self- forgiveness. Maybe he’d find it, eventually. For now, he needed his mate. He needed to smother himself in her succulent body and let her love and devotion blast away all the self -loathing that weighed heavy on his soul. For now, he just needed Kai and he wasn’t going to stop until he was sealed behind closed doors alone with her for hours.

  * * * *

  Lainey heard the moan and woke instantly. She checked Dace and found him to be moving as if he were clawing his way back from some bad dream.

  “Talon, I need you! Dace is waking up.” She called in an excited panic.

  Talon’s groggy voice answered her, “It’s too early for that, but we’ll be there in case you are right.”

  “I’m right!” She snapped. She saw Dace’s eyes fluttering as if he were trying to open them.

  “Dace?”

  The sound of her voice had his head swiveling in her direction. His entire face scrunched in pain from the sound.

  “Dace? Baby? Can you hear me?”

  All he could hear was a mind shattering pounding in his ears and the sound of her voice exploded in his head. It hurt. She knew she talking but the words weren’t clear. He wanted to go back to sleep so he could escape it but he couldn’t. Something was pulling him awake.

  “Dace?” she tried again and smiled when he shook his head in a juvenile fashion trying to avoid answering her. “I know the pounding is horrendous. You are hearing our hearts, crazy isn’t it?”

  He still would not open his eyes. Small beads of sweat appeared on his forehead while he struggled with the painful noise.

  “I think you need Talon to feed you since he sired you,” she tried to speak quietly knowing even the sound of her voice was amplified with his new heightened sense of hearing.

  While Lainey waited, she ran her hand over his naked body. She’d undressed him once he passed out last night, and the pain of the fabric pained him. Dace was stubborn and fought the process trying to remain conscious as long as possible but finally lost the battle. He fell unconscious just as the moon rose high in the night sky. Since then, he’d remained still, but burned hot with a raging fever.

  She took a moment to feel his newly formed body, reshaped while she slept. She couldn’t help the smile which lifted the corners of her mouth. Sweet Vasila, he was perfect. She caressed his now chiseled broad chest, laddered stomach and narrow waist. He’d been similar before but now it was pronounced. The muscles jumped at her touched and goosebumps broke out in the wake of her caress.

  She earned a moan when her hand rested on his groin, inches from the flesh that was rock hard and pulsating with his new rapid heartbeat. Waking up as a vampire was no different than a human, so his body was stiff and laying flat against his stomach.

  Talon entered the room and looked down upon the struggling Dace and asked Lainey, “Have you reached out with your mind yet?”

  Her head pinned him with a surprised stare before she looked back down at the man she loved and tried. It had not even dawned on her to try this since she’d never communicated with in this fashion. “Dace? Open your eyes, baby. Talon is here with us now and we can explain what you are experiencing.”

  Dace was confused to say the least. He fought not to scream for the pounding to stop and now she was whispering in his head? Why wouldn’t they just let him go back to sleep?

  “Dace?” she tried again with more desperation.

  He felt a caress along his mind and then something he could only describe as a tug he could no longer deny, “Lainey?”

  Relief washed through her and was passed to him through their bond, “Yes. It’s me. Open your eyes, baby. Open them so we can welcome you to your new life.”

  His new life? What was she talking about? Memories filtered through his head, images of arguments with Lainey about being converted; negotiating with Talon to do it while they were in his homeland; Talon biting his neck; pain, tremendous burning pain that made him want to scream in agony and fight to stay conscious because Lainey was holding him and she was worried…then nothing until now. He was a vampire now, changed. He had wanted this; demanded he be converted and now he was waking up.

  Struggling to make sense of all of this he thrashed around, trying to avoid the scents and sounds assaulting his mind. He felt the cold sweat of fear make his skin clammy, and drops of moisture dripped down the side of his face. The pounding became louder when he heard Talon and tied that to what Lainey just said about hearts. That made sense. However, the scents he smelled were intoxicating and starting to distract him beyond rational thought. Those were making want to rush out and drink…blood.

  His throat burned with a dryness that was bizarre. He cleared his throat a few times then swallowed to try and wet it to no avail. It just made it worse. Whimpering in frustration he coughed to clear whatever was there and found that it also made it worse.

  Still he refused to open his eyes. If he was converted, then it would only make it worse for his sense of sight would only add to the confusion. No, he thought, he would not open his eyes just yet. His throat was dry
and no matter how many times he swallowed, he couldn’t ease the burn. “What is wrong with me?” He asked through his new link. He felt Lainey through it now, and relished in that sensation. She was worried and excited at the same time, but he still resisted opening his eyes to see how she looked through his new eyes.

  “You are hungry. That dryness is your thirst and you must drink or you will go mad.” Lainey gently stroked his cheek in comfort, remembering how unnerving the first few moments were.

  Dace wrinkled his nose, “What is that smell that is intoxicating though? It’s overwhelming at the moment. I can’t identify what it is and it’s making me a little crazy.”

  She laughed, “You are smelling blood, Dace. The really fresh smell that is sweet? Do you smell that?”

  He groaned when it tugged at ability to stay calm. “Yes, that is what is driving me mad.”

  Lainey laughed again. “That smell is the elves, baby. All around, and infused in the very air, all the time. Get used to it. It’s why we feed more frequently here because it is enough to drive you mad.”

  Dace groaned louder and rolled towards her, still refusing to open his eyes still. The pounding in his ears was becoming an annoyance. “That pounding? You said something about heartbeats?”

  Lainey could not resist stroking his face again. She glanced at Talon for a moment then answered, “Yes, you are hearing our hearts. You will get more acclimated to it once you awaken, but the first day it’s very hard to get the sound from your head. I swear, it does fade in time and becomes almost ‘normal’.”

  Dace clutched at her body and caught her. In a firm motion, he pulled her to him and held her tight, almost desperately. All these senses assaulting him at once was almost too much to take. “This is overwhelming. How did you stay sane?”

  She planted a small, lingering kiss on his forehead. “It was awful. Remember that was around the same time you turned away from me, so I was guarded by Kailani and Talon for those first days. I guess I just didn’t go out much.”

  He relaxed in her embrace as guilt rolled through him. “I had no idea you were dealing with this. Now I understand why your wait for atonement was a lifetime. I’m so sorry.”

  Lainey laughed aloud and gripped his chin. “Open your eyes. I want to see you.”

  As if he counted to ten, he paused then he opened and she took a sharp intake of breath at his absolutely stunning change. His normally gentle hazel eyes now were a shocking olive that had gold specks in them. That wasn’t what was the most dramatic; around each pupil was a thick black ring that made the olive color punch bright and his eyes completely dominated his features. Dace Veridan was now a god, perfect in every way.

  “Oy, Dace. You take my breath away.” She sighed as she lifted a shaking hand to touch his face. “Your eyes are incredible.”

  He was too distracted to hear her. Seeing Lainey with his new eyes was intense. It was as if the life he lived before was muted, veiled. But not now. Everything, including her features were more sharp, his acuity crystal clear. He saw freckles on her face he didn’t know she had and the tiny gold specks in her vibrant green eyes. They practically glowed against her pale skin. Dace shifted, grabbing a piece of her hair and twirling in through his fingers. He loved her hair. It was unimaginable; he saw each strand that curled into the mass of blackness which hugged her pixy and succulent face.

  Dace looked at her in wonder and grinned sheepishly.

  “I could say the same about you, honey. I thought you were stunning after the conversion; I have no words to describe your beauty now. None. I’m speechless.” His own hand, more confident than hers came up to cup her cheek, “Oh, my Vasila. If I can look at you every day and see you how I see you now, I’m one lucky man.”

  That made her smile. “Well, you asked for this so whether you like it or not, you’re stuck with me for life now, baby.”

  “I’ll never complain,” he whispered just before he pulled her head to his and kissed her soundly, enjoying the feeling of her silky tongue as it dueled with his. That was when their teeth collided and he pulled back in surprise and a little pain as the vibration still rallied in his head.

  Talon watched this quietly, not wanting to interrupt. He knew a smooth transition was best done with a familiar face to greet you. In this situation, it was the face of his mate that greeted him, so he let Dace work through his confusion while Lainey walked him through it.

  Then he saw Dace’s incisors had dropped. Now he needed to let Dace feed or he’d attack Lainey at any moment, and he didn’t want that to happen. “Dace.” Both heads turned quickly in his direction, “You need to feed. Lainey will be here when you are done, and I’m sure you will remember the aftereffects, so can we get this completed so you can feel the joy of that moment?”

  “Talon,” he said as he eyed the elven prince from head to toe. He had never really seen him before but now, he had to admit that Talon was painfully handsome. The vampire stared down at him with an expectant look at his face and it was very clear he was trying very hard not to smirk.

  “Welcome to your new life. Now, I want to teach you a few things about vampire etiquette…” Talon then launched into the same lecture he’d given Lainey and taught Dace how to manage a clean feeding. He offered his neck in the same way he had with Lainey, and Dace figured it out. His actions were clean and accurate, demonstrating innate control.

  When he leaned back and eyed the closed wounds where his teeth had punctured Talon’s neck, he whistled in amazement. Talon was still leaning back with his eyes closed as the coercions that Dace had used still gripped him.

  “You can release Talon now,” Lainey said, beaming with pride. He did such a wonderful job feeding the first time that she could barely contain herself. Dace was a vampire. Dace, her Dace was like her now!

  Talon slowly came around and when he saw Dace, he smiled, “Well done; I felt nothing. Did you feel the pressure I spoke of when you drank?”

  “I did.”

  “Excellent. That will become second nature to you as you feed more frequently, but for now you’ll practice on me and only me. Since I’ve brought you into my coven, I need you attuned to me first and foremost. After awhile it will fade, but you will always be part of my family.”

  The passion of desire flashed in Dace’s olive eyes and Talon rolled his eyes. “That’s my cue. I’ll be just a thought away if you need anything. Lainey will teach you the wonders of our side effects, so enjoy. Just try not to devour each other,” he teased as he slowly rose and headed from the door. “Welcome to my family Dace, officially.”

  “Thank you. I’ll be in your debt for the rest of my life,” Dace replied while he pulled Lainey to his side. Small shocks traveled his body when their skin collided and he could not control the groan.

  Both Lainey and Talon chuckled and made a silent eye contact before he slipped from the room to let Lainey introduce Dace to the next benefit of being a vampire—the sex. It was even more intense once you made love to your mate, so he smiled at the memory of his first time with Kai. Dace would be a changed man tomorrow and that brought another chuckle to Talon before he walked quickly back to his own woman. Kailani still lounged in bed waiting for him to return.

  Epilogue

  The four vampires experienced a blissful time in elven lands. In the human realm it equated to about a year, in elven about three. After a short while, Daerwen was unable to deny Lainey’s charm any longer and conceded to allow both Lainey and Dace to have permanent residence in his homeland, under one condition—they never fed off the elves. In addition, he frequently entertained the pixy vampire when she was alone while Dace was practicing his craft. The king was completely taken with her, which made the entire process of solidifying Talon’s family that much easier and less dramatic.

  Talon and Kailani returned from hunting and found Lainey walking briskly towards the master blacksmith whe
re she knew Dace would be. “Lainey, what are you doing here?” Kailani called.

  The younger woman skidded to a stop at the sound of her voice.

  “Hi. I need to go get Dace. We’re late. I should have pulled him out an hour ago, but I was delayed.” She indicated her hair which had each wild curl skillfully pinned to her head with a pearled pin. Obviously, whoever took the time to do that took longer than expected. Regardless, the effect was impressive.

  “I’m sure it will be fine.” Kailani laughed as she approached. Lainey still could not accept the change that had come over her guardian. Once her strength had returned, Kailani quickly accepted her position at Talon’s side and acclimated to her new role as princess. Gone were the masculine clothing choices, replaced with delicate garments that flowed and hugged her curves with exquisite beauty. Kailani belonged here, that was clear. She belonged in this eternally peaceful and elegant culture that allowed her to embrace her feminine side and be free to explore what that meant.

  Forgetting her rush, Lainey had to smile when she got a good look at Talon. He never lost that glow that seemed to form a halo around him whenever his mate was at his side. Lainey knew Talon was beyond the moon with joy that Daerwen adored her, as did the people. It was clear he didn’t regret their decision to stay here and felt a sudden emotion towards her guardian.

  “You two just fed,” Lainey commented with a little jealously. She was tense and taking a moment to feed would have definitely eased her anxiety. Other arrangements were waiting for her, because she still had not mastered the intense after-effects so knew she had to wait until after to indulge in that activity.

  “We did. Omar and the renegades are gathered and everything is set. These things always start late, so please don’t worry about being tardy,” Kailani offered. “You look stunning, by the way.”

  Lainey looked down at her dress that an elven seamstress had designed for her. It was a strangely white iridescent fabric which hugged her body and left her shoulders and arms bare. The corset top cinched her waist tight and forced her ample breasts to nearly spill out. She beamed and seemed to immediately relax at that compliment. “Thank you.” Her head moved towards the valley where the blacksmiths were stationed. “Now, if I could get him dressed, we’d be a pair.”