by Ruby Raine
"What's wrong, William?"
He turned, his feet crunching on the frosty ground. He smiled at her bright eyes and watched her cheeks flush from the cool air.
"I am—overwhelmed." His emerald green eyes blazed bright in the grayness of the day as he pinned his gaze on her. "My life since I was turned into a vampire has been—lonely. Not always so, and these years on the Isle, mostly of my own design. It was my choice to stay and watch over the Howard bloodline."
"Even after Angelina." Melinda smiled warmly, she had no issue talking about William's past and didn't want him to be uncomfortable about it either. He nodded.
"It has been wearing on me. The fact that you all end and only I go on." His features crinkled in pain for a moment. "Melinda, it wasn't just the idea of losing you that made me want to end my life with yours."
She shuddered at his revelation. She's thought on this subject before, but it was one they hadn't discussed and yet here he was opening up to her in a major way.
"I've never been able to imagine how you survive it," Melinda said. "But you don't have to now. You don't have to lose anyone, ever again."
"And that overwhelms me. I admit, the idea of this future excites me in a way I've not felt in—I'm not sure I've ever felt this way."
"What way?"
"Hopeful. Eager to see what the future holds rather than the dread that comes with the inevitable end of the humans I love."
Melinda wiped a stray tear from her eye. It both broke her heart and mended it all at the same time to hear him say this.
William grabbed her hands in his. "You helped me see this future, Melinda. Not this new gift you've been offered. You helped me accept the truth and admit that I want a future. That I want to live. Which is why, if you take this gracious offer from Rae, I do not wish to continue the search for a cure. I do not wish to become human."
"But it's what you want more than anything. One human life. A child. The chance to live the life Mina stole from you."
"What I want is a lifetime with you, Melinda. And with this gift, we'd have indefinite lifetimes and more children to watch over than either of us can count. They might not be of our own blood, but it would be enough for me. A grander gift than I have ever imagined in all my years."
She let the words process. He was telling her he'd give up the idea of being human if she took this gift. That them being together, potentially forever, in whatever way, was more than enough to give up the other dream for.
"Do you want me to take this gift, William? I don't want it to be my choice only. We're a team. We make our choices together."
He placed his hands on her cheeks gently.
"Yes. I want you to do it—if, it is what you truly want. The thought of more than one lifetime with you and watching over future Guardians, humans, and witches, with you, is worth more to me than one lifetime as a human. Because I wouldn't be doing it alone any longer. And more than anything else in all my years, this is my greatest desire—to not live, alone."
Melinda let out a shaky breath, but she was already moving toward the vampire who met her at human speed, half way. His forever chilled lips met her forever warm lips in a real first kiss that swore all he spoke was true and that he promised this would never change.
They'd kissed in their dreams, in a haze of a blood detox, a few innocent pecks, but this connection in real life was all that mattered. It sealed them together in a permanent bond that nothing could break. William freely allowed his mind to meld with hers, she sensed him there and welcomed him, wanting him to settle there forever.
The chill of the air ignited into heat.
Melinda let her mind show William what she wanted. But she still hadn't talked to him about them, being together intimately, and how she didn't want it to be in her childhood bedroom. But it was all there in her mind for him to witness for himself, no matter how silly a thing it was to worry about.
"And please don't tell me we can't, because you're afraid of hurting me or—" William cut her off with a sweeping kiss.
"No more excuses," he promised. His lips formed into a mischievous grin against her own and she pulled back with the sense he was up to something. "Close your eyes," he warned, right before she was whisked into his arms and vampire sped out of the yard.
She squeezed her eyes closed and a blink later she was catching her breath while the rest of her body caught up from the speed. Her feet were touching the floor, but her stomach was back under the apple tree.
"Never going to get used to that," she claimed. But her eyes opened, and it took a good long minute of twirling in place to realize where she was. "The attic?" Only, it wasn't the attic she remembered at all. It had been cleaned up and renovated into the most beautiful and inviting living space.
"I might have had Josh and his crew do a little work up here for me while they were fixing the mansion."
"A little? This is—unbelievable, William."
It was the most beautiful sight. Open. Lit up with hundreds of twinkly lights. A comfortable bench to lounge on in front of the large window that overlooked the town. A plush sectional sofa and television. They'd partitioned out a bathroom and bedroom. It was like an apartment in the attic—they'd even added a mini kitchen. There wasn't much cooking to be done in such a small kitchen, but Melinda imagined waking to brew her own coffee and heat up blood for William as they snuggled up together after.
"If it's not too bold of me," William slid in behind her, his breath tingling the skin on her neck. "I was thinking you could move you’re your belongings up here. Me as well. And we can share this space."
Melinda's heart was threatening to beat so hard it might leave her chest and fly across the room. He wanted this to be theirs, together. This was so much more than she expected—at least, so fast. But he was showing her just how committed to their future he was and that was—so damned romantic it was off the charts!
How many times she'd dreamt of this moment? Fantasized about it in great detail.
They'd shared each other in a dream, months before.
They'd shared each other in a much darker sense, during William's detox.
But this was real. The two of them alone, together, lost in each other's eyes and both as nervous as silly teens hoping for a first kiss.
Tonight, they were two willing participants in the real world, staring down an unknown future together. Melinda didn't want to think about the future, only this moment, but she struggled to give in and surrender. She'd fought so hard for it. She'd made William believe he deserved love and he'd committed himself to their future. It was surreal to be standing in front of the vampire with all of that struggle behind them.
His lips found hers in a devoted caress that carried her away to another place—she was completely unaware of their movement toward the bed, utterly lost to the kiss. Clothes came off, skin met skin, and still, she was barely present to those actions as he pressed into her warm body.
His tongue traced along her jaw, down her throat teasing the succulent flesh that tempted him so enticingly. Melinda gasped, her skin on fire. His icy embrace did nothing to cool her. The heat pooled to her core. Every touch, lick, caress, ragged breath, drew the fire deeper and promised a tortured satisfaction.
Sparks ignited, rippling through every nerve. William groaned, reclaiming her lips, his gentle attack ended, replaced by a wild abandon. The smell of her broke through his control. Her curves and soft skin set his icy form aflame.
His cool fingers slid up her inner thigh, his eyelids closed to half-mast with the look of unbridled need threatening to break free as Melinda's heart shot out that flutter that belonged purely to William.
Mine. Here in this moment she belonged to him. Only him. But while the monster inside of him claimed her too, the man needed to rule the monster and claim her for himself.
Melinda took her hands and caressed his face.
"Don't hold back. I know you won't hurt me."
But she wasn't able to fully understand that he needed to hold
back. She'd seen him at his most frightening and real, but one would need to live as a vampire to understand the frailties of being human. He was not afraid of hurting her, but he did need to keep the monster from escaping too far.
Their gazes met.
Ice steeled at her entrance.
She shuddered at the intensity in his gaze.
“I want all of you, as you are, William. Now and always.” Her eyes stared at his fangs. She remembered what she'd done in their first dream together and she needed to do it now for real. She lifted her head and flicked her tongue out at his fangs, tracing the sharp points and watched the vampire's eyes roll upward as the provocative act threw William over the edge.
She trusted him implicitly.
“Please,” she begged him. Her head fell back onto the bed. His emerald greens stared adoringly into her baby blues.
William pushed into her with a strained groan, gently stretching her. She gasped and arched up into him as he filled her in every manner possible. Her body was stretched and filled like had buried himself inside of her so deep he'd never really be gone. His mind ravaged hers with flashing thoughts of adoration and love and lust. But it was their souls that sought each other as she clung to him, desperate to feel him deep inside of her.
His mouth ravaged that spot on her neck that drove her mad and pulsed with blood. In their dream world, he'd sunk his teeth in there. But in the real world, it was a brutal truth that he'd have to keep enough control because he could not drink from her.
Melinda ignored the pang in her chest that William would not be able to be his true self, but he growled at that sentiment in arduous disagreement.
"I love you." His voice was strained. "A life with you is all I need. It is enough."
And the way he saw it, she was the one giving up too much. But she refused his attempt at guilt as equally as he'd denied hers.
"One life together, however long that life is," she promised.
Melinda gasped when he thrust even deeper inside of her, each thrust igniting a dangerous craving to consume the beautiful soul writhing underneath him, to mark her, brand her, claim her fully. She grasped his shoulders in fear she might somehow float away as a distant euphoria began to build deep inside of her.
William's control snapped, the monster sneaking forward. His arms sifted up the bed to find Melinda's and pin them over her head while his mouth did wicked things to her body and his hard length of steel drilled her toward a frantic oblivion.
She gasped and moaned, her throaty sighs begging him not to stop. But it was her eyes that slammed the truth into him, yet again. That she both accepted and loved the monster inside of him too.
"No," she argued raggedly. "There is no you or it. We all have good and bad inside of us. I love all of you, as you love all of me, however we come. You are mine, William Wakefield." Those words stroked his dead heart like a match igniting him to life. They were equally possessive of each other.
Her body bloomed underneath him, in a wave of ecstasy that captured and drew him right in with her. Never again would he deny himself. Never again would he consider his life as unworthy. Never again would he walk the streets of this long life alone.
Their lips met in a weighted and breathy embrace.
William recalled their first dream together after she'd been rescued from the Feyk and had almost died. He hadn't wanted to leave the illusion. Neither had she, they'd wanted to remain there forever.
"No more illusion," he said, bewildered.
"I like the real thing," she returned with a smile pressing against his lips. "You're everything I've ever wanted."
"You're everything I've ever needed."
But it was a dream no more.
CHAPTER 10
HALLOWEEN ON THE ISLE is truly something to behold. The most popular holiday celebrated on the Isle. The town really does it up and the tourists go nuts over it. This year, however, no Howards or Deanes were joining in the fun, being far too tense about a possible attack and keeping the locals and tourists safe instead. They'd mapped out and divvied up the Isle, and each of them was to pair off and keep watch tonight, just in case.
Just in case demons decided to attack innocent, unaware humans.
And if the demons had managed to get magical immunity? Unfortunately, it didn't matter, they needed to do their job regardless of the possible threats.
The countdown to the big change was fast approaching too. It was set for tomorrow night—the transformation to becoming Garudian. Rae had everything ready, only, she needed Mathew to assist her, and he'd been back and forth between the Isle and the Guardians researching his twin brother, Markus.
This morning, however, was as usual, all about coffee.
"Love birds leave the attic yet?" chirped Lizzy as she arrived in the kitchen. Charlie scrunched his features not wanting that picture in his mind. "Oh, please, like they don't have to deal with us too." She had a point. Still...
Annie was sipping on blood staring at a too quiet Courtney. She'd been like this for days now, ever since Stricker had finally given up his intel and they'd found out demons had killed her coven.
"Morning!" called out Lucas, arriving in the kitchen after letting himself in. He had a box from the Wicked Muddy Café in his hands.
"Gimme! Gimme! Gimme!" Lizzy's eyes popped wide. "Starving this morning. Sugar me, Babe."
Charlie happily obliged and dug into the box until he'd found her favorite and proceeded to hand feed his beautiful mate a creamy blueberry bismark.
"And we are the ones you're worried about." They looked up to see William smirking as Annie handed him a mug of blood.
"Vampire hearing..." Lizzy mumbled giving him a playful eyeroll.
"Riley and Rae joining us this morning?" asked Melinda as she followed behind William with a blush on her cheeks.
"No. Rae is teaching Riley some things, magic stuff. Prepping for the big change, I'd wager."
William poured Melinda a cup of coffee and handed it to her already made up with cream and sugar, just like she liked it. She grinned and thanked him with a kiss.
"My God. You've tamed the vampire and turned him human." Lizzy winked at the vampire. She still had the ability to egg him on and get his dander riled. But he merely lifted an eyebrow and agreed happily this morning. He was in a great mood seeing as he and Melinda had finished moving into their new attic retreat and had spent as many hours as possible there together.
"The big change," Charlie repeated after a minute. "Guess we'll all need to prepare for that soon."
"Very soon. One night from now, soon." Lizzy agreed with a gleam in her eyes. She pushed away the last bite of bismark, though, her skin going a bit pale. "Full. Can't eat another bite."
"You?" Charlie charged. "You can usually eat two, at least."
She shook her head. "Not today. Guess I've reached my sugar limit." She sucked in. "I need bacon."
"Thought you were too full to—" Charlie was cut off by Melinda.
"Me too, me too, me too! Start the frying pan, Lizzy, and I'll grab the slab."
And minutes later the kitchen was a raucous of pots and pans as a real full breakfast ensued. They called Emily and Michael and heard Emily shouting something along the lines, of, "Must have bacon," before the phone disconnected and minutes later they were at the door.
"Whatever my soon-to-be momma wants, she gets," Michael said with a laugh as he hung their coats and Emily vamoosed to the kitchen. "We're still trying to find everything in ours after unpacking, so this is—nice." And it was. And odd too, to feel like he was visiting his own home.
As everyone ate, Annie and William noticed Courtney pulling further into herself and Annie decided she'd get to the bottom of it and dragged the vampire out of the house under the guise of not liking the smell of bacon and thinking it was time to do some security checks. Courtney went through the motions with Annie but was not her snide, cynical self even a little.
"Penny for your thoughts?" Annie coaxed her.
"
No thoughts going on up here," Courtney lied as they arrived back at the gates of the mansion. She frowned right after as she remembered who she was saying it too. "Just because I have thoughts doesn't mean I want to share." But Annie's smirk only widened, which made Courtney scowl and cave. "Fine. I don't know what I'm supposed to do now."
"How do you mean?"
"Stricker's pretty much a dead Feyk walking now that all his dirty little secrets are out. My coven was killed by demons. I can't kill demons. So, my life basically comes down to, what do I do now? I guess I thought my revenge would take a lot longer. Like, years or something. And I can't even be a reporter anymore. So, what the hell am I other than a vampire minus a vendetta and a job."
Annie gave her a sympathetic simper. "A question for the ages. It's something every vampire has to figure out, eventually. Does it help? Knowing what really happened to your coven? To Bree?"
"Yes. And no. Having closure helps, sure. But it doesn't change anything. It's not like knowing what happened is going to bring them all back. Watching Stricker take his last breath might damn well make me feel like a million bucks, but it's not going to bring my coven back to me."
"True. It won't."
"I'm not sure what my purpose is now. What’s the point of my existence without this need to get revenge for my coven?"
"What was your purpose before you lost your coven?" asked Annie.
"We were good witches. I was a good witch. I wasn't Howard talented, in my abilities or plagued with constant supernatural trouble... but my coven, we helped people when we could. I liked that. And I enjoyed being a reporter too. But being a vampire and a reporter doesn't really mix. At least, not yet. I'm not ready."
"I think that's wise for you to admit. But, Courtney," Annie stepped up to look her straight in the eye. "You're always going to be a good witch, in here." She patted her heart. "Even if you're not one anymore, your desire to do good isn't going to die because you did. You still have a purpose. You might not have an exact path to follow yet, but you'll find it."
And for once, Courtney didn't snap a cynical comeback or storm away on edge from Annie being so close or offering up advice. She simply nodded, taking those words to heart and was grateful for them.
