Marked

by A.N. Meade

both more prepared. It was more enjoyable with them both relaxed like this. Their thoughts intertwined. He could sense who she was, and she sensed who he was. After a little while she was full, and his ribcage slowly fell as her bite released him. Two drops of blood pooled at the wound, and she kissed his side softly before she bandaged him. As they were leaving the room, Aimee stopped suddenly in front of Enric and turned around to look at him. “I will miss you, too Enric.”

  Marc was standing by the window when Aimee came downstairs. Snow was falling flake by flake lightly to the ground as he watched. There was a gentle wind blowing, but the night was still and quiet.

  “What are you looking at?” Aimee had lost track of time, she hadn’t wanted to rush this last feeding, and she was sure Marc had probably felt the same way. Even to go on a planned holiday can be hard when you have to leave friends behind. The house had become Aimee’s sanctuary, and as much as it was difficult to think of leaving the safety of its grounds, she knew that for Marc things were amplified.

  He held out his arm to her when she approached him. She took his hand, and they looked out the window together. He had been watching something, and she wanted to try and see it for herself. “The night sky is beautiful isn’t it?”

  “Yes. It’s a lot like the night that we met again.” The furrow in his brow softened at the thought. Thoughts of her had overridden any of his previous reflections. “Did you get everything packed?”

  “I think so.” Aimee had filled the new luggage that Natasha had picked out for her full of all the “necessities” that her new friend could imagine she would need in Paris. Most of the things were clothes, makeup, and jewelry, the value of which could easily outmatch the cost of a home in a small town. She felt more ready to leave after her conversation with Enric, but Marc’s broodiness was somewhat unsettling.

  “Good, we’ll leave in a few hours then. We’ve got a bit of a drive to reach the airport. Then, we have to check in to our hotel, and of course the flight itself will be long.”

  Marc’s eye contact was poor and it was so unlike him. She could tell that there was something much more behind this superficial conversation. “What‘s bothering you?”

  “What do you mean?” he looked at her now, trying to avoid the question.

  “I can tell that something is troubling you.” Aimee reached out and grasped Marc’s hand.

  “I don’t think it’s anything to be worried about, not just yet.” He tried to ease her concerns as best he could. He didn’t want to scare her, or to cause her to give up on going because of something that would most likely turn out to be nothing at all.

  “You don’t think it’s anything to be worried about, but you aren’t sure?” Aimee was could not resist the urge to pry deeper into the issue. She wanted to know that Marc was doing this because he wanted to go too, and if there was something that needed to be taken care of she was feeling strong enough to be able to help him do it.

  “I’ll know soon.” Marc knew, of course, what she was trying to do. He also knew that her sense of confidence would be as quickly crushed as it was raised. He was not going to tell her more, no matter how hard she pressed for details.

  “Can I help?” Her eyes pleaded with him to find some sense of purpose toward bettering the situation that she knew nothing about.

  “You already have.” He meant every word, and she could see that it was true standing there looking back into his gaze. “Things had gotten so dark for me over these last few decades. I wasn’t sure when I would find you again. All I knew was that I would find you, because I would never stop looking. Then, when I finally did, you were newly married. My heart broke. When things fell apart for you in your mortal life, they began to come together for us. I can feel again because of you. As selfish as it sounds, having you with me has brought me back to where I was before things went so wrong. You mean everything to me. I can’t live without you.”

  They had spoken about so many things since that night by the lake. They had talked of philosophy, and dreams. They had spoken of the hardships that they had faced. They had discussed friendships and the supernatural. They had even gone over and over again how things would be after her change. The one thing that had not delved deeply into was the topic of the two of them, and their relationship, and where things would stand when all of this was done. He knew how he felt, but her thoughts were still so hard for him to read at times. Waiting for her to speak seemed like an eternity.

  “You don’t have to.” She tightened her grip on his hand, and then continued. “I felt so hopeless that night. It means a lot to me to know that there was something else, something more to my life. All the things that alienated me when I was younger, all those things were part of who I really am, just like you’re a part of me. I can see that, I can feel it.”

  “I love you, Aimee.” He had held back so long in saying it. He didn’t want her to feel like he was suffocating her. She had spent so much of her life being controlled. He would not push her. He would be patient, no matter how difficult it was at times.

  “I know you do, Marc.” She could acknowledge his feelings for her, but expressing her own was nearly impossible. Even trying to feel or understand her emotions was something foreign. She was trying though, and Marc could appreciate that.

  He drew his face toward hers, slowly and with some hesitation. He didn’t want to rush her, and after all those dark years it was hard to let himself be so open. Only their lips touched, but their kiss could not have been more passionate. It was warm and radiated through them both. It was familiar and comforting, but also hot and electric. All those years ago, he had promised that he would never leave her. In some way, he had made things right between them. He realized that her spirit had gone through just as much heartache as his had. They both had scars from traveling through life apart for so long. It may not have been perfect, being what they were, but they were together. For now, that was all that mattered. He held her there in his arms as they stood in front of the window for nearly half an hour. It seemed like forever since they had held each other like that. It had been lifetimes ago.

  While they watched the snow softly falling, they saw two wolves enter the field from the edge of the woods. They moved swiftly, in perfect sync with one another. As they reached the edge of the forest, on the other side of the field and turned, it was like they were looking directly at Marc and Aimee.

  He smiled in recognition of the sign. “They’re a good omen.”

  “Really?” Aimee had never known much about omens really. Her grandparents watched for signs, but most of that pertained to gardening and the moon phases.

  “Yes. He’s always been alone. I’ve watched him for years. It seems that now he has found his soul mate as well.”

  Aimee put her had on the glass and leaned in for a better view, but they had already disappeared into the trees. Marc guided her away gently by the hand, “Come, it’s time to go.”

  The flight was pleasant enough. Aside from Edward’s cooking, she had never eaten anything that well prepared. It made her glad that Marc had splurged for first class seating. Though take off was somewhat scary, she enjoyed sitting there close to Marc, holding his hand and talking. They talked about so many things, mostly unimportant things like making up stories about the people that they had seen in the airport, or a few of the people who were with them on the plane ride.

  Aimee pointed to a woman a few rows ahead of them. “I wonder what she used to do for a living?”

  Marc could see that she was pointing discreetly to a woman in a daring print dress. He thought about his answer for just a few seconds, “I’m sure that when she was young she was a stage performer. She carries herself well, with square shoulders and her chin high. She likes to be noticed. She is well put together. See how each curl is sprayed securely in place, and how carefully her make-up is done?”

  “She’s like a doll.” Each of his observations was accurate, and the attention to detail that he had from one quick glance was impressive. It was f
un to pretend and be silly for a while. When they bored with that game, he pulled out a book from his carry on case. It was a smaller book, black, with a beautiful picture on the cover, “King Vikram and the Vampire, by Captain Sir Richard F. Burton.” She flipped through it careful not to damage the binding. It seemed to be a collection of short stories.

  She found one whose title caught her attention, and after reading it she handed the book back to Marc, pointing out the story she had chosen. Marc took the book from her, curious to see which page had caught her attention. He smiled when he read the first few lines, and then looked up at Aimee. “What interests you about this one?”

  Marc always chose interesting books. He had the best collection of stories from around the world. Aimee loved to read them. More than reading them, she loved that he appreciated the artistry of it. He had mostly older editions with hard leather bound covers. Their settings were exotic, and their plots were edgy. This book was no exception. Those were the things that caught her interest about this particular story. “I like what he says about love, and about giving all of himself. It’s too bad that he’s asked the prince to abandon that view.”

  “Is it wrong to protect your heart?” Marc knew what questions to ask to provoke Aimee to