“So what do you suppose this weird little fairy meant?” Matteo thought he knew, but he wanted Jenda to say it. He didn’t want to blow his top before it was necessary.
“I have to go to the astral planes. I have to ask the spirits to come to me. They will tell me where Soborgne is and where we can find the Tree of Life. Just as Celeste’s grandmother spoke to them, and when you found me. I can do this, Matteo, I have to.” She knew he would say no. She knew they would fight, and he would drag her in front of Celeste. She didn’t care. She would do it without him. She hated to see him hurt, but she wouldn’t let him tell her what to do.
Matteo said nothing for a moment before he draped his arm across her shoulders and pulled her closer. “We will discuss it tomorrow, my dear. Right now, you need to rest. I have never seen the living dead look as dead as you do now. Though you are still beautiful, you look weary and drawn.”
In his mind, he knew that she would do it no matter what they told her not to do. She was determined to do this all her own way. He had never told her the whole truth about how he found her in the astral plane. It wasn’t as if he’d lied. He just didn’t include it in his tale. She and Celeste had already discussed the possibility of what had happened and deduced the correct answer.
He hadn’t been trying to go the astral world. Her presence drew him there on its own. He was thinking of her, and when he felt the pull, he let the currents take him away. Walking the astral planes was not something he was able to do on a consistent basis before.
The mental shift from one world into another was strange, but physically transporting from Belle’s complex to Jenda’s bedroom was frightening. He did not want her to risk her life by accidentally drawing something far more dangerous to her. Vampires and witches were not the only real monsters.
Jenda’s powers were stronger than anyone one of them could judge. She had little control over them. It seemed that they burst out of her by accident. He wished he could make her see this. She needed to concentrate on building her strengths and her control. She didn’t need to go out on some insane mission to save someone who was already lost.
For the sake of both of their sanities, Matteo said nothing. He held it all in. After sunset, that door would be open and everything ugly would come rolling out. He would have to tell Jenda about the decisions the Coven and Clan had made, he would have to tell her about Soborgne’s phone call, and he was prepared to fight her about the danger in which she was placing everyone.
He did not want the vampire princess or the Daughter of Light. He simply wanted Jenda. He needed the girl that he was madly and fiercely in love with, and whom he would trade everything to walk beside for the rest of all eternity. Their time together was so brief, and extremely constricted by their need to survive. He did not want to start on the next journey without having the opportunity to know her, at least for a single day, as nothing more than the woman he loved.
They walked in silence for a while. When they reached the stairway, Jenda looked a little embarrassed to ask, “Can we stop off to see Agi? I need to make sure she is okay, and maybe get a little something to tide me over. I feel as if I haven’t eaten in days.”
“Of course, my love, but not too much. I don’t think it’s wise to get your blood flowing right now. If you are wired up, I will never get you to cuddle me to sleep.” His grin was positively mischievous, and Jenda’s mind drew her back to the steaming hot kisses from earlier.
“Oh, don’t you dare go all paternal on me and start issuing warnings about belly aches.” She rolled her eyes and laughed as they headed to the donor room.
Jenda and Matteo found Agi at the small desk in the front of the room. She jumped out of her seat and ran towards them. “I’m sorry, Jenda. He wouldn’t let me come. He insisted that he come get you. The man is incorrigible.”
Agi’s face burned a bright red just as soon as the words were out of her mouth. Matteo only laughed, and Jenda agreed wholeheartedly. “It’s fine, Agi. He isn’t being a brute. Thanks again for all you have done for me. I don’t deserve a friend like you.”
Agi blushed more, and Jenda remembered all the times that Soborgne had teased her about her tendency to flush bright red when they were still human.
“So, what did you find out?” Agi bounced up and down and pulled Jenda’s mind back from the past.
Before Jenda could open her mouth and begin to tell Agi the entire story, Matteo spoke up. “Not tonight, Agi. Jenda is exhausted, and I insist on her having a snack and then going to bed. She can come find you before we meet with Celeste tomorrow. Right now, she has to get some rest.”
Jenda mumbled, “So much for not being a brute.” Both girls burst into peals of laughter as Agi arranged for the donor.
The feeding ended quickly, and Jenda hugged Agi before saying good night. She and Matteo chatted about what a wonderful mother Agi would be as they went back to their suite. Jenda didn’t realize how much Matteo liked children until he talked about the other servants’ babies.
“I always find them miraculous. I guess, never having younger siblings, I didn’t realize what amazing things babies are. I think I occasionally scare the mothers when I show interest in the children, but it is awe inspiring how quickly they grow and learn.”
Jenda’s heart went out to him. “Do you regret it, not being able to have children?”
“Yes, sometimes. I think of what life as a mortal man would have been. To have a wife and babies, to work hard every day as my father did, and to be able to pass on my knowledge of the world to them would have been wonderful. When a vampire creates another vampire, it is similar but not the same. The fledgling is dependent on their creator so briefly, and it is more of a training situation. To be a father would have been to bond, to love, to fight, and to forgive. I would have liked to have been a father like my own.”
“You make it sound so beautiful. I never knew my real parents. Belle was the one to tell me that my father was a pimp and my mother was a prostitute. Knowing that she was addicted to drugs and horribly screwed up, it is hard to imagine ever loving her. When she came to the apartment where we lived in Chicago, I can’t remember wanting to be near her. I never told my adoptive mother and father, Janine and Neil, that I remembered. I was so young maybe they thought I forgot. I don’t know how I knew it was her, but I did.” Jenda could feel the tears welling up in her eyes and she tried to hold them back.
She wanted to cry for her real parents who were so hopeless by design, she wanted to cry for Janine and Neil because they had loved her and lost her, and she wanted to cry for herself because she would never have the chance to raise a family or make mistakes of her own.
Matteo was shocked when Jenda told him, “I’m thankful for Belle’s interference, in a way. Without her, I would never have been adopted by my parents. They were a blessing. They gave me so much love and care. I don’t even want to consider what life would have been like if I were left with my biological parents.” They entered the suite just as the first sob came from deep within Jenda.
Matteo felt the self-loathing wash over him. He went to her and wrapped her up in his strong arms. “I’m so sorry, baby. Jenda, please forgive me for being so stupid, blind, and selfish. I took something away from you that you never even had the chance to want.”
His words gave her strength. Still crying, but slightly less noisily, she told him, “We don’t get to have babies, or grow old together, and I don’t get to see my parents, but I don’t hate you for what you did. Someone used us, and we both played our parts exactly as they planned. It could have been anyone else who helped Belle, but they wanted it to be you.
“God, the demons, the angels, the spirits of Cain and Lilith—I don’t know who, but I know they gave me you. It is a trade-off. They took my humanity, all the things I was supposed to have, and in exchange, I got you. We can watch other people’s children grow. We can be vamp parents to all the babies Agi will have. The thing is, when humans live and love, they lose. You and I have forever. I d
idn’t die that night. I was reborn so that we could spend eternity together.”
Matteo looked as if he might start to cry as well. “What about Drew? What about getting to experience love and life? You can still do that, even though you are a vampire. You can still go out, live, and connect with others.” He wasn’t being jealous. He sincerely only wanted what would make her happy. He did not want her to want him because he was the only option. He wanted her to want him because she loved him.
“I am experiencing love and life, right now, with you. I do not want Drew, or anyone else. Why would I? I have the greatest vampire who ever lived right here in my arms. You are a man and a monster, and I love you both.” Jenda stopped crying completely and her eyes blazed with the passion that she felt for him.
Matteo knew it was time to do what he had longed to do since they day he first saw her. He lifted her up and carried her to the bed. Sitting her gently down on its edge, he told her to sit still for just a moment. After retrieving something from the nightstand on his side, he came back and knelt in front of her.
“Jenda Bell Myer, I love you with all my heart, and I make to you the pledge that vampires around the world have made to their life mates since the beginning of our kind. If you accept this pledge, I will never leave your side.”
He produced a little black box and opened it up, displaying its contents as he spoke. “I give to you my heart so that you may do with it as you will. I give to you my soul because no other deserves it as you do. I give to you my body to strengthen you and bring you bliss, if that is what you wish. Most of all, I give to you my blood, for it burns for you always.”
Jenda was speechless for a moment. Her eyes darted between Matteo’s beaming face and the ring that he held out to her. A solid black diamond in the shape of a heart set in a simple white gold band laid nestled in the box. Her breath caught in her throat and she whispered his name. She stood from the bed and pulled him up to stand in front of her. Just as Lilith had repeated the words to Cain, Jenda looked into her true love’s eyes and spoke the words that would bond them forever.
They stared lovingly into each other’s eyes for a moment before he kissed her. Soon she was lost in the kisses and vows of love so thoroughly that nothing, not even Soborgne, mattered. Somewhere off in the distance she thought she heard someone weeping, and a strange image of an angel flashed through her mind. Jenda didn’t care.
She pushed the thoughts aside and relished the embrace of her love. As surely as a human couple would have, Matteo and Jenda became a bonded pair in the eyes of Clan and Coven and Heaven and Hell. They tumbled onto the bed. Their kisses were maddening and desperate. They sought to touch and taste everything about one another.
Most of their clothing landed in untidy heaps in the floor. Cold skin to cold skin, their unyielding flesh seemed to meld together. Rising up above her, Matteo leaned onto his elbows and searched her face for the truth as he asked in a voice made husky by want and need, “Are you sure?”
Jenda’s only answer was, “I love you.”
His response was lost in the tangle of lips as she pressed her mouth to his, seeking to explore all the new sensations that were pulsing through her body. As a human girl, she had never felt as alive as she did in that moment. Love and passion drove them both to a frenzied peak.
23
Jenda was happily snuggled into Matteo’s arms as she lay exhausted and spent. She loved the feel of his hand gently rubbing up and down her bare arm. She was glad she had waited for the man she loved. This was possibly the greatest moment of her life. Strange to think, now she was technically a married woman. A huge smile spread across her face even as her heart broke a little. Janine would have made her wear a gown and have a church wedding. Neil would have walked her down the aisle. So many changes taking place in such little time.
Matteo kissed the top of her head gently as she nuzzled closer to him. “What are you thinking about, Mrs. Angelleti?”
She replied, as any newlywed woman would have, “How wonderful it is to be Mrs. Angelleti, Mr. Angelleti.”
They fell asleep in a blissful cocoon of happiness and love. Nothing of this world could have burst its way in. Unfortunately for Jenda, she was dealing with things that were not of this world. Almost as soon as her eyes closed on her perfect day, the image of Puck came back to her. In the new dream, there was no conversation. He didn’t speak at all. He simply sat on top of a lily bloom, playing his flute and looking mournfully out across the forest.
The dream ended and Jenda woke up feeling as if she were forgetting something so important that her life depended on it. Sneaking out of the bed without waking Matteo, she dressed quickly. Glancing at the clock, she saw it was nearly noon. She didn’t have any plans, really. She felt the need to move. Maybe she would go for a walk. Despite her ability to be out in the sun, she rarely did so.
She exited the suite and set out to find something to occupy her time until she could talk to Celeste and the others on the council. She didn’t get far. Pausing in front of Soborgne’s door, she thought of what her courageous friend would do.
Sobo wouldn’t have waited. She would tell Jenda, “Ya know, Ducky, I’m gonna do it anyway. If you’re gonna get in trouble, you might as well give it your all.” Then she would have laughed that easy laugh she had.
Before she could chicken out, Jenda slipped into Soborgne’s room. All of her stuff awaited her return, abandoned and discarded. The room felt strangely empty without Soborgne, even though it had been hers for only a short time. Jenda sat down on the bed and looked around her. Taking a deep breath, she admitted to the decision her mind had already made.
Jenda lay back onto the pillows and closed her eyes. She hadn’t built her world in a long time, but it was still so familiar. She pictured herself standing at the bottom of a huge grassy knoll. She imagined the thirteen stairs carved out of the solid earth of the hill. She climbed the stairs upward to where it seemed she would be able to touch the sky when she reached her destination. Her mind rejoiced. She was home again.
At the top of the stairs, she surveyed the landscape. The hill stretched out in front of her was becoming more of a plateau now that she had reached its peak. The expanse of lush green grass made her want to run barefoot across it. The wonderful canvas she had created was a joy to work with.
Jenda walked to the very center of the land and knelt down. She reached her hand into the earth. The soil became instantly pliable and loose at her touch. She scooped out a handful of dirt that smelled of nature and life and laid it to the side. Holding her hands out in front of her, she willed a tiny seed to appear in her palm. Lovingly, she placed the seed into the dark earth and covered it up.
Standing again, Jenda looked up into the pale blue and cloudless sky. She found it easier to be in her own world, where things were usually right. Jenda watched for a minute as the first tiny sprig of life came forth from where she had planted the seed. When it became a mature tree, she would add her memories of last night to its branches. The colors would be red for love and passion, pearl for glory and faith, and blue for the sadness she felt for her friend and her lost family. Of course, there would be purple for Soborgne.
Jenda lifted her face and called out to no one particular. “Hello. I have come to speak with….” She hesitated, not sure whom she had come to speak with. Her mind filled with uncertainty. Seeing no other option, she continued as best as she could, “I have come to speak with the spirits. I am the Daughter of Light, sent in search of the Daughter of Darkness.”
Jenda waited and nothing happened. She didn’t know what she expected. Her mind filled with images of old movies she had watched with Soborgne. Yet, no glittering guardian angels or old spooks with eyeless faces appeared. She listened for moans or bells, but the only sound was her own breath.
She turned back around to see the tree was growing rapidly, just as she wanted. Already almost as tall as her, it was getting its first glistening crystal buds. Muttering to herself that she would purposely d
ream up Puck again just to throttle him if this didn’t work, Jenda glanced behind her.
The scream would have raised the dead if the dead had not already risen. Jenda nearly fell on top of the growing tree in her anxiousness to escape the woman who stood in front of her. She stuttered as she skittered backwards. “N-n-no, you…you’re dead. We killed you.” These were the only words she could muster in the presence of the vampire Belle.
Eternity
Requiem of Humanity—Book Three
Catherine Stovall
1
Her scream would have raised the dead if the dead had not already risen. Jenda nearly fell on top of the growing tree in her anxiousness to escape the woman standing in front of her. She stuttered as she skittered backwards, blinded by fear.
“N-n-no, you’re dead. We killed you.” Jenda sputtered a protest of denial in the presence of the vampire Belle.
The warm butterscotch laugh filled the air around them as Belle came closer. She smiled menacingly at Jenda, obviously enjoying the girl’s frightened shock. “Is that any way to greet your auntie? Come now Jenda, after all I have done for you, this is how you behave.”
For every step Belle took in her direction, Jenda took a step back. Her whole body was shaking violently and her mind was screaming for her to turn and run, but Belle’s steel-blue eyes held her. The vampire spirit stared into her with such coldness that Jenda could feel the chill in her soul. Spirit or not, Belle appeared to be just as solid in this world as Jenda.
Shaking her head violently, Jenda’s voice finally broke free of the stuttering chokehold. “You are dead. We killed you. Matteo, Soborgne, and I watched you burn. You cannot be here. It’s not possible.”
“Oh, but isn’t it possible? You asked for this. You called me here, my pet,” Belle purred.
Belle stopped advancing and Jenda ceased stumbling backwards to place a comfortable distance between them. Belle stood staring at Jenda with her eyes wide and a smirk on her red painted lips. She was waiting for an invitation to divulge just why she was here. Jenda knew how much Belle loved to talk, especially about herself.
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