by Ruby Raine
“And what of me? Do you not deserve me?”
“No,” he responded with absolute certainty. “I do not deserve to be loved by someone as kind and as beautiful as you. But I dare say I cannot help myself.”
“And a mere human no less.” Her eyes teased him, dared him to come closer.
“The most magnificent human I have ever laid eyes on.” His feet disobeyed his orders, taking lustful steps closer. He stopped, closed his eyes and stepped back.
Angelina stepped forward and cupped his face in her hands. “I love you, William Wakefield. With all my heart. No matter how my family reacts to you, or us, nothing will ever change that.”
His fingers stroked her chest, stopping over her beating heart. He wished deeply at that moment he was human again. To be rid of this vampire curse. A curse that meant a solitary life. He craved to live just one lifetime. A normal, human life. With Angelina Howard.
Her thumping heart under his hand was proof enough they would never be together. He could not live with himself if he took her life and infected her with his curse... and yet the thought of living without her was equally painful. And this would happen. Their years together would be far too short.
These memories flooded through William like a broken dam rushing towards freedom. His eyes flickered open, just inches from the name carved into the urn on which he leaned his head.
It read, Angelina Howard.
He caressed the stone as if caressing her cheek. “Not a day goes by that I do not miss you.”
Another memory forged into his mind. One that made his brow furrow, his breath heavy and pained.
It was dark, and a summer’s night. Angelina Howard stood by his side. Time had clearly passed; her face aged a few years. A little fuller. Thin lines around her mouth and eyes. Still, William looked upon her with complete adoration.
Other Howard Witches, all of whom had now accepted William into the family, also surrounded them on both sides.
A battle ensued.
Spells cast.
Orders shouted.
Blasts of fire lighting up the darkened night sky.
It continued for hours, witch against witch, Howard against Deane. Deep in the woods of The Demon Isle.
Morning threatened to arrive, casting golden beams over the tops of the trees. The battle raged on. Two Howards and three Deanes dead.
William dashed to block a falling tree that was about to crash to the ground, crushing the unconscious man lying underneath its path. As William thrust the tree out of harm’s way, his beloved Angelina screamed.
He twisted around just in time to see her collapsing to the ground.
William was at her side so fast she had fallen only inches before he caught her, instantly whisking her away from the battle. He stopped, the battle a distant echo, gently placing her on the ground.
Angelina clutched her stomach, unable to stop the warm blood gushing out of her body. William's eyes widened as he feared what so much blood would do to him, but he looked into Angelina's eyes and all fear subsided, the blood a mere passing thought.
“I know what I swore to you,” he spoke, in uneven anguish. “But I cannot express how it pains me, to see you dying and not save you.”
“But you have saved me, William. And my family. You discovered the Deane's plot to take over the Isle. It was you who gave us enough warning. Because of you, they will not win.”
“And now, because of me, you are dying.”
“I know you won't change me, William. You swore you would not, and could not, do so. You haven’t forgiven your past, and still hold the belief that you do not deserve love, or happiness.” She stopped, coughing, her breathing labored.
William's face turned to forlorn stone. “I do not know how I will continue through my long years without you.” What would become of his life? It finally held some purpose. Some meaning. Without Angelina, or the Howards, his life was worthless. Meaningless.
Her heart stuttered, her bloodied hand lifting to caress his face. It took almost all her strength to do it, but she needed to touch his face one last time. “I will never stop loving you, William. One day, I hope you find the one that makes you believe, like I did not.” Her eyes closed and she let out a strained moan.
William’s dejected gaze fixed on her, laden with remorse that he could not give in. That he could not change her and make her like him. A companion to love for the rest of his days, however many those might be.
His fangs bit into his lip, the desire to sink into her flesh, to let her feed off his blood. To save her. But his reasons would be purely selfish. He would not curse her with a miserable existence like his own. To watch everyone he loved grow old and die. Year after year. Decade after decade.
“William...” her voice called out, to him weakly.
“Yes, my love.”
“There is one thing I ask of you. Don’t leave the Isle. Stay. Protect the Howard line. They need you, William. You’re one of us now.”
He promised, “Yes,” without hesitation. “Always. For as many days as I am kept alive by my curse, I will protect the Howard line. For you.”
“Thank you, William.” Her hand dropped, strength used up.
He leaned in, kissing her lips, her warm breath fading against his icy inhale. Her body went still. Silent. Empty.
Angelina was gone. Nothing more than a memory he would never be able to forget. He rocked her body against his, leaning against her forehead.
“Why couldn’t I have just saved you?”
Was it too late now?
He knew it was.
Shaking, he kissed her and closed her eyelids. Never again would her brightness lighten the darkness he carried inside him.
“I should have saved you,” he cried, tearlessly.
William pulled Angelina’s lifeless body into his own, her blood covering his clothes. The blood meant nothing. The smell didn’t drag him in. Didn’t tempt him. But the loss burrowed into his veins, pulsing fury into his core.
Fury aimed at those responsible for stealing away his beloved Angelina. His eyes opened, peering back towards the direction of the battle. His chest heaved, rage building. He set her on the ground and bounded towards the battle.
He stopped at the edge of the battlefield, a clearing deep in the woods. His eyes narrowed in on his prey: every Deane still alive on the battlefield. He aimed his deadly gaze at the closest Deane.
Something stopped him abruptly. He stood at the edge of the battle realizing Angelina would never condone revenge. To slaughter them all would turn him into the very thing he’d fought so hard to suppress. A monster. With no other purpose than to hunt and kill.
Angelina’s memory deserved more than that. She had taught him compassion. Showed him that love did exist. Her family had accepted him as one of their own. It had taken a few years but he wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize that now.
And he’d promised her he’d look out for her family.
The fury didn’t subside. However, rather than take it out on each Deane in the battle, he threw it into the trees lining the field. Smashing straight through the trunks with his fist, splintering them into pieces that went flying through the air like dangerous wooden missiles.
The tops of the trees fell with a deafening crash after crash.
He didn’t care how stupid it was to toy with fate, as one of these wooden missiles could easily have ended his life with a direct hit to his heart, but he did not care. Even after promising Angelina he would live, and stay on the Isle, he did not care. His fury had to let loose. He needed to end this battle before anymore Howard lives were lost.
The fighting stopped, all eyes on William.
A sudden eerie silence filled the battlefield. The only sound heavy breathing.
“This. Will. Stop. Now!” Each word roared a venomous warning to every Deane listening. Each inhale and exhale holding onto a rage about to burst free. “Every Deane will leave this Island before this day ends! Or I will kill each, and every one of you. T
his is the only warning you will receive.” He spoke as if the words themselves might reach out and poison any Deane that dared disagree.
The ferocity of his tone frightened everyone, including his friends.
Franklin Howard, Angelina's older brother, Charlie, Michael and Melinda’s great grandfather, rushed to his side. He did not need to ask what had happened to her, realizing instantly where William's rage was coming from. He gently touched William's arm, forcing the vampire to look at him.
The moment William looked into Franklin’s sympathetic eyes, he crumbled. His chest heaved and his face contorted as if he meant to cry. But he could not cry. His body did not produce tears.
He ran away.
The battle was over. They would not dare start up again. Not after his warning.
Angelina’s body lay on the ground. William knelt down and picked her up. With deliberate steps, he carried her home.
The Deane’s would leave the Isle.
He would bury the woman he loved.
Reality came slicing back to the present day.
William knelt on the ground in front of Angelina's urn.
He turned and slumped to the floor, leaning back against her urn, speaking to Angelina, as if she was sitting next to him, listening.
“The Deane’s have returned. I always feared this day might come. I steeled myself for it to happen. But so many years have passed. And yet I find myself uncertain. Can I move beyond what they did, what they took from me? What they took from this family? I feel obligated to fulfill my promise to you, Angelina.”
He stopped and closed his eyes tight.
“This life is becoming more than I ever could have imagined. But like you taught me Angelina, love is the hardest thing you can do. And I love this family. You are my only reason to continue existing.”
William reopened his eyes. A pained expression on his face. “But love makes you care. More deeply than I ever thought possible. But even surrounded by this family I love so much, I have never been more alone. I crave something more. What I had with you and wasn’t able to keep. What I lost when you were stolen from my life. When I swore I’d never love another human woman again.” His exhale burned his throat, heavy with the need for answers.
Help no one could give him. Because he was the answer. He was the help. To anything and everything the Howard’s needed. How much longer could he continue being this for them?
“Who am I kidding?” he reeled.
This wasn’t his biggest problem, and he knew it. He let out a woeful sigh.
“Oh Angelina. My dearest love. Melinda grows more like you each day. She has your eyes. Your lips. Your compassion and strength... even your vulnerability.” His mouth curled into a sad smile. “And she most definitely has your stubbornness.”
William lowered his head.
“She is the reason I almost broke all my promises. I am... afraid...” his voice trailed off, shame weighting his words.
“Afraid my feelings for her will be my undoing. But she is young. An adult, but young, and naïve in so many ways. Sheltered. This is partly my own doing. She has suffered so much already and I cannot stand to see her in pain. In some ways her life has made her old. Wise. A caring soul. But she hasn’t lived enough to understand her own feelings. To understand love. And she deserves love. To have a normal life. A family. To carry on the Howard line. Something I cannot give her.”
For a moment, his heart ached so terribly he swore it had started beating again.
“I do not know how many generations of Howards I can watch come into this world, only to leave it, and me, behind. If I could bring myself to leave, I would. But I cannot. I tried. Last night I tried with every fiber of my being, but my feet would not obey my request. I have a duty to fulfill, a promise to keep, but more than that, even if I allowed myself to love Melinda and she returned this love, it will end the same. She will be ripped from my life just as you were. They will all be taken from me, like you’ve all been taken. Whether by fulfilling duty, or old age. They will all succumb to death. Perhaps...”
He paused, a moment of disbelief fluttering through him.
“Perhaps it is time I consider my own. Perhaps my time here must also come to a determined end.”
He thought about how he would do it.
A stake to the heart? Purposely miss his dose of masking potion and burning up in the sunlight? And when? Now? Right away? Or after the current generation of Howards grew to a certain age, no longer needing his help. Perhaps if Jack Howard were found alive, maybe then? With the patriarch of the family returned, perhaps this would be the time for him to slip away and never return.
His thoughts returned to the night his beloved Angelina died.
When he’d been ready to slaughter every Deane on the battlefield, but stopped, knowing she’d never condone such behavior.
His suicidal thoughts sickened him, guilt filling his bloodless heart. How could he possibly think of leaving the Howards? They were his redemption. His penance. For all the despicable things he’d done before finding out there was another way to survive with what he’d become.
Was he such a coward, that he’d just take the easy way out?
No.
He could not add this blasphemy to his list of failures. He had no idea what awaited him after this cursed life did finally end. But something inside told him he needed to stay. His time in this life was not yet finished.
He bounded off the ground stalking out of the mausoleum. Sudden determination eating away the gloom that had taken over.
He closed the heavy iron door.
“I will not repeat my mistakes,” he declared. “I will never love another human as I did you, Angelina. But as long as a Howard still lives and breathes in this world, I will keep my promise. They will not be forsaken. Especially at the hands of a Deane.”
THE PICNIC BASKET RILEY packed had yet to be opened. It balanced precariously on a rock near their heads, blocking Melinda and Riley from view. They laid on a sand covered blanket facing each other, just inside a small cavern. Just the two of them, hidden away. It was, indeed, the perfect spot as Riley had claimed. Melinda had been on this beach years ago, but she didn’t recall the cavern.
Outside of their little picnic spot waves crashed onto the shore, seagulls squawked as they circled overhead searching for food, while distant voices echoed from people having fun on the beach.
Riley’s fingers trailed down her neck and arm in deliberate slow motion, setting off little charges of electricity that drew her closer to him.
“Are you hungry?” his eyes never left hers as he asked.
“No,” Melinda sighed. “Not hungry at all.”
“That's probably a good thing,” he hinted, sounding relieved. “Seeing as when I unpacked the blanket, I realized I must have been so excited to see you that I forgot to pack the food.”
Melinda giggled. She couldn't help it. She had to bite her lip to stop. He nipped at her, unable to stop himself when she did that.
“Yup. My brother is probably having a grand lunch right now. I had a bottle of red and a bottle of white wine, seeing as I have no idea which you prefer. A freshly baked bread loaf, and cheese that I picked up from the farmer’s market this morning.”
“I love any wine. And the food, your brother can have it.” Melinda breathed out a dreamy exhale. “I’m not sure I will ever want to eat again.”
“Is that the effect I have on you?” This thought amused him.
“I suppose it is.”
“Well I can't have that,” he told her, casting a smug smile. “I won't be responsible for you wasting away to nothing.”
“I'm hardly wasting away.” She rolled her eyes, insinuating there were a few extra pounds on her body she should lose.
“When are you going to figure out that you’re perfect? In fact,” he grinned, pulling her closer, “I demand that as soon as you go home today, you eat. Whatever, and as much as your heart desires. No matter how lovesick you are over me. I don't want
you to change a thing about yourself.” He teased, and yet exuded complete seriousness.
“Okay,” she answered only half-paying attention. Was she truly this lucky? That this perfect man not only came to live on the Isle, but had fallen in love with her?
Were they really in love? She had to remind herself that she barely knew him. And as much as she desired his body melded into hers, she could easily have spent the rest of the day laying exactly where she was. She had a thousand questions she wanted to ask him, from his favorite color to his birthday to what he wanted to do with his life. But found she was perfectly contented to stare dreamily into Riley’s molasses eyes, to trace the contours of his face with her fingers, soaking in every dimple, every line, every...
Lips found hers and she lost all thought.
Riley’s hand trailed across her chest, her waist, up over her hip, pulling her so their bodies touched. Fingers slid down her thigh, pushing up her summer dress.
Shivers of delight shot to her center. Yeah, this is why she’d worn it.
This wasn’t as private as the quarry though. They could not get undressed and... she let go of his lips with a timid exhale. Her eyes glued to his molasses gaze.
Warm fingers wedged between her thighs.
“I wanted to make you wait until tonight, Melinda. But I’m feeling greedy. I want to touch you.” He waited for her permission.
She opened for him, remembering to breathe.
Riley removed his hand from her inner thigh, lifted her leg and draped it over his hips. She tensed, biting her lip when his palm slid across the outside of her panties, the cotton soaked in the wet heat building underneath. The mere thought of his fingers touching her almost sent her over the edge.
“Melinda. Will you tell me if I’m doing right? Or I guess, doing it wrong.”
“Yes,” she whispered breathlessly. She loved that he wanted to know. And yet it still made her nervous. But why? Especially after what they’d already done in the quarry.
She didn’t think she’d even need to tell him. The pressure building wasn’t going to take long to release. It all felt right and he hadn’t even touched her yet.
