by Allegra Skye
“And now I’m telling you that I do care about you. I didn’t want to, didn’t plan to. But the truth is, I do. I care very much.”
In a flurry of happiness, Amanda threw her arms around him. “I knew it, I felt it,” she said.
It felt so wonderful having her close to him again. Percy hadn’t realized how much he’d feared losing her.
“I want to be with you forever, Percy,” Amanda breathed into his ear.
That word forever had never meant anything to him before. But now in this gorgeous moment, it did.
“You have no idea what you’re saying,” he was shaken to the core.
“Yes, I do,” Amanda insisted. “I’ve thought about it for days. Now I know who you are for sure, and I want to be with you anyway.” Amanda was babbling. “I can’t bear our being apart. I want you to turn me.”
Percy froze. His entire body turned into ice water spilling up and down his veins. “I can’t do it.”
“You have to,” she said. “That’s the only way our relationship will last.”
“You don’t know what you’re asking for.”
The tears in her beautiful eyes overflowed. “I know everything,” she whispered again. “If you turn me, we’ll be together forever.”
“But you don’t know the horrible pain, the agony.” Percy could hardly get the words out.
Amanda didn’t listen though, just leaned over and kissed him on the mouth as he spoke. Then she threw her head back and lifted her bare neck towards him, ready for whatever came next.
CHAPTER 22
After the attack, Keira and Cooper fled hand in hand, out of there, over hills, through the forests and straight to the next stop, Gull Island. Keira never imagined he’d be accompanying her. Overjoyed, she showed him the directions that Philomena had left written on the map, including the few words written at the bottom.
On the waters of Northport Bay, sits a landmark, treasured for its importance as a bird sanctuary, Gull Island. Go there immediately. The first occupants of Gull Island were the birds who nest there to this day. The Gulls have nested here since the beginning of recorded history. Many tales speak of the human family’s struggles with the bird.
This is where your tribe has rooted, hand in hand with the gulls who they have become partners with. Their tribe is located on the great, steep, sandstone cliffs on the island. The cliffs are up to 200 feet above lake level and have been naturally sculptured into shallow caves, arches, formations that resemble castle turrets and human profiles. They will amaze and frighten you when you see them. Within one of the shallow caves that goes back for miles, your family waits for you.
“Why did you come back?” she’d asked Cooper as they were moving across space, traveling at high speed over hills and across sandy places. “Was it because I called you and you heard me? Are you doing this out of a sense of duty?”
He’d only held her hand tighter, couldn’t speak.
Keira had endless questions for him though. “Did you get their permission to leave? Do they know where you are? Do you have to be back?”
As soon as she arrived on the island, Keira felt deeply at home. The salt air washed through her mind and brain, lifting her to new heights. The sound of the water on the rocks calmed and reassured her.
“I know where I am,” she said to Cooper joyfully.
He squeezed her hand in his.
She turned a few times on one foot, peering over the landscape and the cottage with the red door stood out noticeably.
“There it is,” she said, and they both looked at each other with delight, and made straight for it.
The inside of this cottage was sparer than the other places they’d been to. More temporary. There was a simple handmade wooden sofa and two simple chairs. On a small round, wooden table, with a cluster of sea shells. A futon on a low platform was placed inside an adjoining room, for a bed. Outside, she could hear the far off screeching sound of gulls.
“Cooper,” Keira said as soon as they’d closed the door. “I’m so happy you’re here.”
He pulled her to him, breathless then, and they kissed. It was sudden and unexpected, a deep, long, powerful kiss. Keira’s heart began pounding violently. It had been so long since they’d been together like this. Then the thought of Tua rose up in her mind. He had someone else. Keira had seen her. She’d seen the two of them.
“What about Tua?” she pushed back. Despite herself, Keira’s eyes filled with tears. “You loved her.”
Cooper’s face grew somber. He lifted his hand to Keira’s face and stroked it.
“I don’t care about her. I never did. It was all a lie.”
“Your mother told me you’d found the love of your life. The one you were meant for.”
Cooper looked up startled. “She told you that?”
“Yes,” said Keira.
A long moment of silence hung between then. Then Keira saw lights around Cooper’s eyes.
“Is that why you left?” he asked in amazement.
“Of course,” said Keira. “She told me to go.”
“My mother told you to go?” His face flushed with pain and darkness. “She told me you left on your own, ran away, vowed revenge. I’d thought you’d stopped loving me.”
“I will never return,” breathed Cooper, gruffly. “You are my family now. You are my home.”
Keira gasped as he pulled her to him, and kissed her again and again with all his might.
“I am nothing without you,” he murmured.
Keira’s head started spinning.
“I want to be with you forever. I left my tribe for you.”
Then he swept her up in his arms and carried her into the next room.
“We deserve to be together,” he continued. “We have a right to. It’s our destiny,” and he placed her down on the bed.
Keira closed her eyes and drank in his words as he kissed her passionately. Then, quickly he lay down beside her, and took off her clothing.
As they made love, in ecstasy, Keira heard the cry of the gulls, singing for them. She also felt something else, something stranger. A shiver rose up through her entire body, as if something alive, had entered her being, taken over and nested within her.
The Electric Child, thought Keira. It has come, it is here, within me. She listened to Cooper’s rapid breathing and knew the two of them would never be parted. This child belonged to both of them. It would be theirs forever.
As she thought this, Keira looked out the windows and to her amazement, saw a row of Gulls lining the sills. They were looking in, watching, blessing the union. They also knew what was happening, thought Keira, they were welcoming the Electric Child.
Keira felt ecstatic, light headed, as though she had everything she’d ever dreamed of. And beyond all this, tomorrow she would be meeting her people, going home to her tribe. Finally, Keira would discover who she really was.
COMING SOON…
Book #3 of the Shadow Vampires
Please visit Allegra’s site, where you can join the mailing list, hear the latest news, see additional images, and find links to stay in touch with Allegra on Facebook, Twitter, Goodreads and elsewhere:
www.allegraskye.com
Table of Contents
CHAPTER 1
CHAPTER 2
CHAPTER 3
CHAPTER 4
CHAPTER 5
CHAPTER 6
CHAPTER 7
CHAPTER 8
CHAPTER 9
CHAPTER 10
CHAPTER 11
CHAPTER 12
CHAPTER 13
CHAPTER 14
CHAPTER 15
CHAPTER 16
CHAPTER 17
CHAPTER 18
CHAPTER 19
CHAPTER 20
CHAPTER 21
CHAPTER 22
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