Dance Until Dawn

by Berni Stevens

  I pinned her to the ground with my body, and plunged the stake into her chest as hard as I could, and hoped desperately I would get the heart. I felt past caring about my guilty conscience, this was survival, pure and simple, exactly what Will had been teaching me for so many months. I would not let him down.

  Katarina gave a loud, piercing shriek and as her head slammed back against the floor, I caught a brief glimpse of her surprised expression before she exploded into dust.

  So I definitely got the heart then?

  I stood and looked at what little remained of my handiwork, but couldn’t find a shred of pity for her.

  I became suddenly aware of Will’s presence, and turned as he softly said my name.

  With a cry of joy, I ran to him and literally jumped up into his arms, wrapping my legs around his waist and my arms around his neck.

  He winced slightly, and I remembered he must be badly hurt. He lowered me to the floor until I stood within the safety of his arms. I looked up into familiar green eyes, and felt my own fill with tears.

  He looked at me with his familiar mocking expression. ‘I thought I told you to stay in the car?’

  Chapter Thirty

  Graduation

  I looked at Will, and many emotions flooded through me at once. His handsome face was unmarked, as gorgeous as ever. I felt relieved beyond belief to discover Katarina had lied. I moved closer so I could touch him, and put my hand gently against his bare chest. ‘How badly are you hurt?’

  He ignored the question. ‘My brave, resourceful Elinor.’ He leant down to kiss away the tears on my cheeks.

  Well, that didn’t work, it just made the tears fall harder, and he laughed, pulling me close. ‘It is over. We won.’

  ‘I killed people. Two people.’

  ‘Well, good. I am positive they deserved it.’

  ‘You said I mustn’t kill.’

  He stroked my hair back from my face, ‘I said you must not kill humans, and I do not believe you have.’ He raised a dark brow in question.

  I shook my head.

  ‘Then we have no problems.’ He turned to look behind him. ‘Hey Luke? Any sign of my damn shirt?’

  The wounds on his back became visible for the first time as he turned, and I gasped in horror. An angry criss-crossed pattern of welts and livid burn marks marred his pale skin. With trembling fingers, I touched them gently, and he drew in a sharp breath.

  ‘Will, what did they do to you?’

  ‘The wounds will be gone in a few days,’ he said. ‘Although the burns caused by holy water will take longer to heal, and they will scar.’

  ‘We should have got here sooner.’

  He looked serious. ‘That would have been impossible my love.’ Then he flashed me a wicked grin. ‘However, I think we may need to find a creative position tonight.’

  ‘Holy Water—that must have been what I felt,’ I said, half to myself.

  He gripped my arms suddenly. ‘You felt the pain?’ When I nodded, he swore. ‘Elinor, I am so sorry. I had no idea this would happen so soon.’

  ‘So everyone keeps saying,’ I said. ‘Too early for this—too early for that. Blah, blah, bloody blah.’

  He shot me a humorous look from under raised eyebrows. ‘How I have missed you.’

  Luke came back at that moment, carrying what was left of Will’s shirt. He handed it to Will, who looked at it ruefully.

  ‘Have to do, I suppose,’ he said, struggling to put it on.

  I helped him get the torn t-shirt over his shoulders, and his arms into the tattered sleeves.

  I gave him an appraising look. Let’s face it, he could look good in anything, and he looked exceptionally good in nothing. ‘Very out there,’ I said. ‘Perhaps you could sell the idea to Vivienne Westwood.’

  He burrowed a hand through my hair in order to pull me close again, and looked over at Luke.

  ‘A lift home would be good round about now?’

  Luke smiled. ‘You got it.’

  Home. Home with Will. I couldn’t think of anything better.

  We all trooped upstairs, and I clung to Will as though I hadn’t seen him for weeks.

  Jake and Honyauti still stood in the hall, practically where I’d left them. Jake gave me a quick smile, which could have meant anything – or nothing.

  I smiled back tentatively.

  Will raised an eyebrow, and looked back at me. ‘Anything I should know?’

  I shook my head, not exactly sure what he meant.

  He continued to look at me for a moment longer, then turned back to the others.

  ‘Where’s Aimee-Li?’ asked Luke, and I stiffened at Will’s side.

  Will glanced at me again, and then answered. ‘She was a traitor.’

  ‘How did you know?’ I asked. ‘Why didn’t you tell us?’

  ‘It did not become apparent until I was brought here,’ he replied. ‘I heard Khiara and Josephine talking about her.’

  Luke and Jake looked astonished.

  ‘She attacked me with a machete, and was about to pierce my heart with a silver sword,’ said Honyauti. ‘But your … Elinor saved me. She is brave for a new one. She will make a fine warrior.’

  A compliment, indeed, and also the first time he’d ever said my name. I really felt as though I’d graduated.

  ‘Well done,’ said a cold voice to my left.

  We all turned to look at Khiara, and Will slipped an arm protectively around my waist.

  ‘Your fledgling must have surprised you,’ she said, giving me an appraising glance.

  ‘Always.’

  ‘I leave for Italy tonight,’ she continued.

  ‘Chi mangia solo crepa solo.’ Will’s deep voice made the Italian words sound so beautiful, but as usual I had no idea what they actually meant. He turned back to me. ‘He who eats alone, dies alone.’

  It clearly had a deeper meaning for Khiara, as a shadow of pain flickered across her beautiful face. ‘This is only over momentarily.’

  ‘Get a fat lady to sing,’ I suggested, and everyone stared at me.

  Will gave a short laugh. ‘What?’

  ‘“It’s not over until the fat lady sings,”’ I quoted.

  Will shook his head in amusement, and then turned back to Khiara, his smile disappearing instantly. ‘If you ever feel the urge to visit London again, ask permission first.’ His voice was cold and uncompromising.

  Khiara’s beautiful eyes flashed dangerously, but she knew she was beaten.

  She inclined her head slightly. ‘So it is to be war between us?’

  ‘Not at all,’ replied Will. ‘But I will not tolerate you just turning up, and hurting my people. Ever again.’

  ‘It is only I who have lost people.’

  ‘One of which you killed yourself, and another you had tortured. Another two appear to have been dispensed by Elinor.’ He smiled slightly as he met my eyes.

  As Khiara looked at him again, there was a sense of loss about her, and her eyes held more than a hint of sadness.

  ‘Be happy cara,’ she said softly, and she turned and disappeared through one of the doorways.

  We sat together in the drawing room – alone at last.

  Will had bathed and dressed in different un-torn clothes, and I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

  ‘I think she really does love you.’ I still couldn’t forget the last look in Khiara’s eyes.

  ‘Love is about making someone happy, not about being more powerful, or more important.’ Will turned his glinting, green gaze to me.

  He took hold of my hands. ‘Love is not being complete unless that person is with you. It is the happiness that fills you each time they enter a room.’

  He kissed the backs of my hands with his soft lips – h
is eyes never leaving mine.

  ‘Charmer,’ I laughed. Did all vampires possess the ability to charm anything that breathed, or didn’t breathe? I felt sure it was just him. Wonderfully, gloriously him.

  He smiled, and let go of my hands to push a strand of hair out of my eyes. ‘Every word is the truth. You make me complete.’

  ‘One night without you felt like eternity.’ I moved closer to revel in the sight and feel of him again.

  He cupped my face in his hands. ‘So, you are now best friends with Honyauti, I understand.’

  ‘Jealous?’ I teased with a wicked grin.

  His eyes took on a dangerous glint. ‘Do I need to be?’ His voice held just a hint of displeasure.

  ‘Of course not,’ I said. ‘How can you even ask me that?’

  ‘He is a good-looking man,’ he replied. ‘Very macho. Then, of course there is Jake, who has definitely developed an interest in you since you dispatched Aimee-Li.’

  ‘Will—’

  He laughed, and twined his fingers in my hair. ‘Elinor, I can always tell if you are lying, you know that.’

  ‘Well maybe I’d forgotten just how bloody clever you are.’

  ‘Fancy turning in early?’ he suggested, his voice now deep and seductive.

  ‘What about your injuries?’

  ‘Trust me, I can manage,’ he said, as his hand traced down my body to cup my breast. He leaned in to kiss me whilst his thumb gently aroused my nipple. ‘I will always manage.’

  11 July

  It is now several weeks since Khiara and her followers returned to Italy.

  Elinor has suffered many traumatic nightmares, many of which were courtesy of Khiara herself. Happily, she now seems to be over the worst.

  I have found it more difficult than words can say, to come to terms with the fact that Elinor felt much of the torture inflicted on me. But I am certain Khiara would have known this might happen.

  Even if I had not loathed Khiara before, her little parlour trick would definitely have ensured my hatred for eternity.

  My own injuries have all but healed, leaving, of course, the scars caused by holy water.

  All my vampires, without exception, now see Elinor in a completely different light. She certainly seems to have gained strength exceedingly quickly for a fledgling, and I assume the Prophecy is not only true, but has been fulfilled.

  I have spent much time during the last few weeks being part counsellor and part teacher. My favourite role, however, is that of full-time lover.

  I can barely remember now when Elinor was not in my life. Her presence is a constant joy to me and she is definitely helping me to be a better man.

  Even after three hundred years as a re-birthed demon, it seems it is never too late for improvement.

  Epilogue

  Late October has given us back the long, dark nights. I never thought there would be a time when I’d look forward to the long winter nights. But times change.

  Longer nights mean more time with Will, more time awake and more time for … well, just more time.

  It had been a difficult learning curve for me, dying, being reborn, the various changes, my new nocturnal existence and especially the realisation of my deep love for Will.

  Very difficult.

  Will has been a constant source of strength, a kind of guiding light, in a way. Even I couldn’t call him a guardian angel, but he feels close to one, all the same.

  I know now I would never have found a love such as his, even if I had lived for many human years. Some things really are worth dying for.

  Khiara and what was left of her entourage returned to Italy, and I was ecstatic to see the back of them.

  Honyauti went back to his desert home. I don’t think we’ll ever become email friends exactly, but I knew he wouldn’t pose a threat to me anymore.

  Any lingering feelings of guilt I may have harboured about killing Aimee-Li and Katarina have been firmly dispelled by Will.

  It seemed I’d won my vampiric spurs, so to speak, and earned the respect of the other vampires. The fact that I, a mere fledgling, killed a master vampire in Aimee-Li, thus saving Honyauti, another master vampire, had elevated my status beyond belief. The London vampires have completely accepted me as Will’s consort, and sometime soon I am to be officially presented to them as such. No pressure there, then.

  To say I have impressed Will is an understatement, and I shall always be grateful to Luke for not telling him about my extremely squeamish moment in the cellar.

  I still cannot feed directly from humans, and the idea of actually biting humans remains abhorrent to me. The thought of accidentally killing someone through feeding fills me with terror, too. Will knows all this, and it’s one of the reasons he keeps a watchful eye on me – well, that, and the fact he’s a three-hundred-year-old control freak.

  Everything will become easier in time, and time is something I have a lot of.

  I still miss the sun – lying on a beach and soaking up its warm rays. Most of all, I miss the daylight. Sadly, no one is able to do anything about any of these things, not even Will.

  Being without a reflection is just plain annoying, but Will always says I look beautiful, and, for the moment, that’s good enough for me.

  About the Author

  Berni Stevens lives in a four-hundred-year-old cottage in Hertfordshire, England, with her husband, son and black cat. She trained in graphic design and has worked as a book cover designer for more than twenty years.

  Books and art remain her passion, and her love of the paranormal began when she first read Bram Stoker’s Dracula, aged fourteen. She is now on both the committee and the book panel of the Dracula Society, a society for fans of gothic literature and film.

  Berni has had several short stories published. Dance until Dawn is her debut novel with Choc Lit and the first in a series of three.

  Follow Berni –

  www.twitter.com/circleoflebanon

  www.bernistevens.blogspot.co.uk

  www.facebook.com/berni.stevens.5

  www.goodreads.com/author/show/4587596.Berni_Stevens

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