“Who, Lore? Who are you consoling?”
“Her,” he said, as though everyone should know. Then his mists swirled, his voice called out softly. “I’m coming, do not fret,” and he was gone.
Enthrall and Carolena shared a concerned look.
“Where is he going?” Felicity asked.
Carolena shook her head. “I don’t know. But he’s been harder and harder to find. He is certainly not himself lately.”
Enthrall looked at the spot Lore had been standing. “I’ll try to speak with Murder before we leave here today. I’m going to show Felicity around a bit before we go. And if Lily needs anything at all, I’ll see to it. Just let me know.” He ran his hands through his hair. “If anything changes with Lore, or if you think I need to come back before I do again, please send Murder for me. But I’ll be sure to check back more often. Until I’m back here permanently.”
“I will send for you if needed,” Carolena assured him. “Now, you two go celebrate. This is a great day for you.”
“It is,” Enthrall agreed, pulling Felicity in close and kissing her cheek. “Now that we know Lily is well, it has turned out to be a wonderful day.”
Carolena warmed when Felicity lifted up on tiptoe and kissed Enthrall’s chin. “What shall we do first?”
“All the things!” Enthrall said, laughing as they ghosted away from Carolena’s living room.
Carolena heard the splashing and the laughter coming from her bathroom. She went down the hall and leaned on the door frame watching Lily splash Carnage.
Carnage pretended to sputter and dramatically wiped his eyes, looking around as though he was surprised, which made Lily splash him all over again. He didn’t look up at Carolena standing in the doorway, but he asked, “Gonnne?”
“Yes, it’s just us. Everyone is gone.”
“Goood!”
Chapter 17
After a leisurely tour of Whispers, Enthrall and Felicity finally stepped off the path and into the clearing where Enthrall’s home was located. They only made it halfway across the clearing before a voice called out to them. “Really? You walk her all over the place, introduce her to everybody. But you can’t walk her across to my house?”
“I didn’t introduce her to everyone. We didn’t seek out anyone in particular, we were just enjoying our walk. If I happened to run into someone, I introduced them,” Enthrall explained, rolling his eyes for Felicity to see.
She giggled and waited with Enthrall for the very loud, very large male to catch up with them.
“You see, that just doesn’t make sense to me. I am very important. And I’m pretty on top of it. Yet, you don’t make any effort at all to bring her… Oh, oh wait. I get it. I see it now. It’s because I’m pretty, isn’t it? You're afraid if she sees me, she won’t think you’re so pretty anymore. Makes perfect sense,” Destroy said, nodding his understanding. “I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you were afraid your woman would lust after me once she met me.”
“Destroy…” Enthrall started, not sure if he wanted to laugh at the male, or throttle him.
Destroy, having caught up with them, tilted his head to the side, batting his eyes, clasping his hands together. “Yes, Enthrall?”
“Shut up.”
Destroy laughed, while Enthrall shook his head and rolled his eyes heavenward again.
“Felicity, this is Destroy. Destroy is my second. While I’m away he looks after Whispers and everyone in it.”
“Hello, Destroy,” Felicity said warmly.
“Miss Felicity, you just don’t know how happy I am to meet you,” Destroy said, all sarcasm aside.
“Really? And why is that?”
“Because my friend here has waited a long time for you,” Destroy explained, patting Enthrall on the shoulder affectionately.
“Are you hungry? Row made a late lunch. We were otherwise occupied for most of the morning, so lunch is late. Want to come eat with us? Please come eat with us. I never get to have any company, but Lore, and he only eats people.”
“He eats people?!” Felicity exclaimed, looking alarmed.
“Well, only bad ones. Don’t worry, he wouldn’t eat you.”
“He eats people?” Felicity mouthed to Enthrall.
Enthrall shook his head. “Only once in a while. And they usually deserve it. It’s okay.”
“Come on,” Destroy said, guiding Felicity with a hand behind her shoulder toward his home. “I told Row I saw you out here and she said to run catch you and get you to come eat. So, be our first guests, come eat with us. Man, it’s good!”
“You ate already?” Felicity asked, confused because he invited them to come eat a late lunch, but said it was good as though he’d already eaten it.
Destroy looked around and leaned in to whisper conspiratorially. “I grabbed a little bowl while Row was in the bathroom. Don’t tell her, okay? Okay!”
“Ribbons! Why is there a dirty bowl in the cupboard?” Rowan yelled from the kitchen window.
“Ummm, Enthrall asked if it was good, so I tasted a bit to be able to tell him truthfully!”
“And you put it back in the cupboard dirty?!” she yelled.
“I just got here! And I didn’t ask you to taste it!” Enthrall objected as they approached Destroy’s front porch.
“Shhh! Just go along with it!” Destroy hissed at Enthrall. “She doesn’t like it when people taste and pick at her food while she’s cooking. She’ll have my hide.” Destroy opened the front door and ushered Enthrall and Felicity inside, announcing their arrival as though Rowan wasn’t already aware. “Row, baby, Enthrall and Felicity are here.”
Rowan came out of the kitchen drying her hands on a dishtowel. “Enthrall! I was hoping you’d come for lunch.”
“Of course, thanks for the invitation. Rowan, this is Felicity, you remember her from Philadelphia?”
“Yes! I do. Welcome to our home, Felicity. I’m very happy to have you here, and even happier that you’re with Enthrall.”
“Thank you, Rowan.”
“How do you like it so far?”
“I love being here. It’s beautiful. And all the people are so nice to me. I could live here forever!”
Enthrall’s mannerisms changed immediately. He turned to Felicity, so intense it would have made most people nervous. “Could you, Lici? Could you live here forever?”
Felicity was taken off guard by Enthrall’s sudden intensity. “I think I could. I mean, it’s a huge change from the city, but that’s the point, isn’t it?”
“It is!” Rowan said, trying to save the woman from the intense scrutiny Enthrall was subjecting her to. “But, if you ever wanted to live here, I’m sure Enthrall could bring you back and forth as you needed.”
Enthrall seized on Rowan's words. “Yes, I can, absolutely.”
“It’s, well, it’s something to consider. It would be a huge change, but possibly, maybe one day.”
Rowan reached out and took Felicity’s hand. “Come on in the kitchen, I’ve made Catfish Sauce Piquant.”
“It smells wonderful! I’ve never smelled anything like it,” Felicity exclaimed.
“I’ll give you the recipe if you like it. It’s a lot of work, but so worth it. It’s one of Destroy’s favorites.”
“I met him out front. He seems like a lot of fun.”
“My husband is the biggest man-child in existence. He is many, many things — fun being one of the foremost of his personality traits. We are certainly never bored,” Rowan said, laughing. “Here, have a seat while I finish up just a few last minute touches, and have a glass of tea.”
They made small talk while Felicity sipped her tea, and Rowan finished the Sauce Piquant and served it up in steaming bowls over fluffy white rice.
“Listen,” Rowan said, as she placed the bowls at the places around the table, and set a pitcher of tea in the middle of the table along with a platter of crusty French bread for dipping in the Sauce Piquant, “don’t be too put off by Enthrall’s anxiousness to get you here per
manently. He’s been lonely for a long time, and I think he gets lost in the excitement he feels at finally having you at his side. I don’t think he realizes how intense he seems when he starts speaking to you about being here forever.”
“It’s okay. I understand. We’ve had some long talks, and I think I understand him pretty well. It’s just so new to me. This place and all these people are so…”
Rowan waited for Felicity to finish. When she didn’t, Rowan supplied the words she thought Felicity was reaching for. “Frightening, scary?” she said defensively.
Felicity didn’t even notice Rowan’s defensiveness as she smiled, thinking of the people she’d met here in Whispers. “No, not at all. They’re all so wonderful, friendly, inspiring. Just really lovely people. Every single one of them. No agenda at all, just this is who I am - and who are you? Because we welcome you. It’s so refreshing. But I have a whole other life. One that I worked really hard to get. It’s a huge transition, you know? Or it will be, assuming Enthrall even wants me here permanently.”
“Assuming? Assuming? Did you see the male practically salivate at the thought of you being here full time?” Rowan said, taking her seat across from Felicity.
Destroy took Enthrall on a tour of the house while Rowan took Felicity into the kitchen with her. “Enthrall, you have to tone it down some. I thought you were going to rush your woman home and lock her in the bathroom, so she could never leave.”
“What? I wouldn’t do that! I was just excited that she said she’d like to stay forever.”
“Yes, it was quite obvious. Give her some space, or you’ll scare her off.”
Enthrall stopped in the upstairs hallway and smirked at Destroy. “You are giving me advice on my woman?”
Destroy puffed his chest out. “Yes, well, I do have one now, you know. So, I’m kind of an expert.”
Enthrall laughed. “Really?”
“Yes, I could teach you a thing or two, if I do say so myself.”
Enthrall laughed, really laughed. His deep, genuine, heart-felt laughter ringing through the house. Destroy stopped to watch him laughing and ended up with a huge smile on his own face. Enthrall noticed him smiling. “What, you can’t figure out why I’d find that funny?” he asked, wiping tears away from his eyes, he’d laughed so hard.
Destroy shook his head, “No. Not at all. It’s just that I’ve never, in all the years I’ve known you, heard you laugh like that. Never seen you so happy, my friend. It’s a good look on you.”
Enthrall nodded. “It is. I’m almost afraid I’ll wake up and it’ll all be over, just a dream.”
“No, did you see the expression in her eyes when she looks at you? It’s not going to be over, ever. She is very obviously yours.”
“She said she’s mine. Said I’d never be alone again,” Enthrall confided.
Destroy held his hands out, palms up toward the ceiling. “See? Told you I was an expert, I could tell even before you told me.”
Then they heard Rowan’s voice. “This has got to be the best batch of Sauce Piquant I’ve made so far!” Rowan called from the kitchen.
“Wait! Don’t you start without us, woman!” Destroy called back. Then to Enthrall, “We better hurry up. That woman can put away some food. She won’t leave any for us!”
“If you’d like more than the bowl you snuck earlier, you better hurry up, Ribbons!” Rowan laughed.
Hours later Enthrall lay flat on his back on a blanket spread across the grass behind his home. Felicity lay beside him, her head resting on his shoulder as they looked up at the night sky. They’d spent much of the night just talking, getting to know one another. Felicity told of how she’d been raised by her uncle. He’d been president of a university in Philadelphia and saw to it that she’d had access to the best education he could provide. She told Enthrall of how he’d always supported her in her desire to be more than just a wife and in fact drilled it into her that she should learn to stand on her own, become self-reliant. She smiled when she told of him steamrolling those who sat on the board of the university and wanted to limit her participation in the classes that were primarily for the boys of her age. He soothed her when she spoke of losing him shortly after passing the bar exam and receiving her license to practice law.
Enthrall told her of how much he wanted a family. He confided to her that he wasn’t sure if he could have children or not, but that he wanted to try, and his heart warmed when she kissed his lips and told him that he’d be a wonderful father.
They spent hours just being together, talking. When their voices were tired from talking, and their souls completely at peace in one another's arms, Enthrall decided it was time. He was ready to make her his. He rolled her over on her back, and rose up over her, leaning on one arm. “Lici, I want to claim you. I want to make you mine forever.”
She smiled up at him, toying with a strand of his hair. “You already did.”
“No, I didn’t. Not fully. I want to formally claim you. I need to.”
“What does that mean?”
He lightly trailed his fingertips across her throat. “It means I mark you here. I take your blood into me, and you take mine into you. We become one.”
“But, I’ve already taken your blood into me.”
He shook his head. “Not dried. Not like that. It loses all its transformation properties once it’s dried.”
“Transformation?” she asked, sitting up, beginning to become aware that this claiming thing was more than just saying you’re mine and I’m yours.
Enthrall nodded. “Yes. Transformation. We share blood, it’ll change you. Make you like me.”
Her eyes flew open wide, surprise on her face.
He saw her response and rushed to assure her. “There’s no need to fear it. You would only ever feed from me. You would never take blood from another. And I’d mark you while we make love; you would feel no pain, my love. Then afterward, you’d be like me. We’d be together for eternity. No more aging, no more sickness. Bound together forever.”
“Feed from you?” she asked, incredulously, missing everything after that point.
“Yes. You will still eat food, but from time-to-time it is necessary to take blood to sustain ourselves. But you will never have to worry about that — you will only ever take mine.”
She didn’t know what to say and just watched him, dumbfounded. She’d never considered becoming what he was. She’d never considered that he needed to drink blood. She knew he was a Vampire, he’d shown her his true self. But she’d seen him eating food, and he walked in the daylight just as she did, so she’d never really thought about it.
Enthrall could see her hesitation and forged on quickly. “And as I said, aging would cease, and illness would never be a concern. We don’t get sick.”
“I’m not sick anymore,” she said quietly.
“No, you're not, but even a cold wouldn’t be a possibility in the future. Always strong, always healthy.”
She looked away from him, thinking of her illness. “Would you have let me fade away?” she asked quietly.
“No! I would not have. I wanted to make you like me. But I was waiting for you to fall in love with me. Then I was going to ask you to join me. To agree to become like me. In fact, I brought you here, so you could see my life, meet my friends. So that I could show you what our life would be like. And afterward I was going to explain about the change, about becoming like me. As I’m doing right now, and ask you to accept me, to be mine forever.”
“Why did you want to wait for me to fall in love with you?”
“Because I love you. I wanted you to love me as well.” He cast his eyes down for a moment. “At first I was sure you’d fear me. Then when you didn’t, I thought maybe you’d choose to become a Vampire if only to be healthy again. But I wanted you to love me, too, and frankly, I’d have done it for either reason. But either way, I couldn’t force it. I wanted you to choose to become what I am.” He took her hand in his. “I could never make that choice for you without
your consent, as was done to me. I didn’t want you to resent me, ever. I wanted you to have the option and to understand all that I am and all that would change before I took your hum…” he stopped talking, realizing what he was about to say didn’t sound very appealing.
But she’d heard him anyway. “Before you took my humanity.”
Enthrall looked down at her hand in his. “Yes.”
When she said nothing, he continued. “But Lily cured you. So, the need to save you is no longer there. But my need to be bound to you grows with each passing moment. I love you, Lici. I want you to be mine in every sense of the word, and I want you by my side forever. Just say yes, tell me you choose me and allow me to claim you.”
Enthrall leaned over her, kissing her lips, stroking her face. “I am yours, Lici. Allow me to make you mine. We’ll live our whole lives here. We’ll start a family. We’ll be so happy, Lici.”
She shook her head. “I… Enthrall… It’s…” she struggled to find the words. “Enthrall, my whole life is back in Philadelphia. I’ve just opened my own practice. People depend on me. Anna, Oksana, Gheorghe, they all expect me to be there to handle whatever they need. I worked hard all my life for this opportunity. I’m not ready to give it up yet.”
Enthrall pulled back a little, looked into her eyes. “Don’t you want a family, Lici? With me?”
“Of course I do. One day. But I’m just not sure I’m ready now. And,” she looked into his eyes, begging him to understand, “I’m not sure that me becoming like you is the right thing for me. Not yet, at least. It’s not a decision to be taken lightly.”
Enthrall lifted himself up off her and sat beside her, looking down at her. “It’s not a sacrifice. It’s a gift. It’s finding the one woman, or man, that you were made for and joining your existence to theirs. It’s not meant to be a loss. It’s a gain. It can make you stronger, happier, peaceful, complete. When done the right way, under the right circumstances.”
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