She struggled against his grip, spewing every expletive she’d ever heard at him while he remained quiet, waiting for her to calm. When she finally gave up the struggle, it was as if all the walls she had built up over the months, all the hurt, the confusion, the anger, the love, everything she had ever felt came crashing down and she collapsed into the comfort of Ethan’s strong arms, sobbing uncontrollably and without shame.
Ethan released her wrists and pulled her closer, gently stroking her hair while she cried.
“Shhh, shhh, I know, Amor. I know.”
After crying for a long time, Alexa started to calm. Still sniffling she whispered against Ethan’s chest, “You left me. How could you leave me, Ethan?”
He gently placed his fingers under her chin to lift her face up as he spoke. Looking into his eyes, she saw so much pain and regret. And love.
“I only left to protect you, Amor. I thought if I stayed away, you would be safe.”
“You could have told me the truth. I would have accepted anything you had to say.”
Just then Chloe cooed across the room. Alexa looked over to see her sitting happily on Dr. Kline’s lap, playing with some blocks on his desk. Shame washed over her. She had let her feelings for Ethan and his sudden reappearance overshadow her concerns about Chloe.
Ethan’s grip tightened, causing Alexa to look back at him as she attempted to move towards Chloe. She stopped, trying to swallow the knot growing in her throat as she watched tears streaming down Ethan’s beautiful face. His gazed was fixed on Chloe.
“Oh God, Ethan.” Her own tears began to flow again. Doing what felt right, Alexa took Ethan’s hand in her own and started pulling him towards Chloe, to meet his daughter for the very first time.
As they neared, Chloe looked up, smiling broadly, the greenish grey eyes that she had inherited from Ethan fixed on him curiously. A flicker of recognition flashed in those eyes and she smiled broadly, opening her arms to him in a request to be picked up.
Ethan looked over to Alexa, uncertain of what to do. “It’s okay, she wants you to pick her up,” she said reassuringly. Somehow, seeing this, Chloe meeting her father for the first time, eclipsed everything else.
He picked Chloe up, pulling her into his arms, an expression of complete wonder lighting his beautiful eyes. Alexa glanced over to Dr. Kline who had remained silent since they arrived in his office, surprised to see a tear rolling down his chiseled cheek. She was more confused than ever and could feel the questions bubbling up inside her, but she pushed them back, not wanting to take anything away from this moment for Chloe or Ethan.
Chloe was clearly examining Ethan, tilting her head from side to side as she looked at him, being a little silly as if she was trying to ease some of the tension in the room. Her eyes turned to Alexa as she put her tiny hand on Ethan’s face and proudly said, “Dadda.”
Alexa gasped and looked to Ethan whose expression was one of utter delight.
“That’s her first word,” Alexa said, pulling Ethan’s attention to her for a moment.
“I can’t believe it, how could she know?” Ethan inquired, not really expecting an answer as he sat down on the floor with Chloe never taking his eyes off of her.
That was a good thing because Alexa wasn’t about to offer one just yet. She knew Chloe had seen him in her mind. Despite all of her effort to block her thoughts of him from Chloe, enough had leaked through for her to recognize him. And now, apparently she could talk.
✧
Alexa remained silent for several minutes, waiting and watching as Ethan and Chloe sat on the floor quietly staring as if they were trying to soak up every bit of each other.
When she couldn’t stand it any longer, the questions that had been swirling in her mind from the moment she heard his voice started pouring out. “Ethan, what are you doing here? Why did you lie to me? Why did you leave?”
Ethan gestured towards the doctor. “He called me. I am here for you, Amor. And Chloe.” He smiled down at his daughter who was still staring at him adoringly, before looking up at Alexa, his expression confused. “When did I lie to you?”
She pointed at Chloe. “Um, let’s see, where should I start. Maybe when you made me believe that I could trust you, that you loved me! Or how about when you told me you couldn’t get me pregnant! We were together one night, and poof! Here she is, so how do you explain that? And wait, Dr. Kline, or I mean, Elijah, how could you possibly know who Ethan was or how to get ahold of him? I never put his name on anything.”
“Perhaps we should start with something else and come back to that. We have a lot to share with you tonight, Alexa. Most of it will be very difficult for you to understand or even believe, but you must trust that we only want to help and protect both you and Chloe. Do you trust us?”
Alexa again began to feel at ease as Dr. Kline spoke. What was up with that? She nodded slowly indicating her trust just wanting some answers.
“Perfect, let’s begin with Chloe,” Elijah continued. “First, let me reassure you that she is perfectly healthy, better than healthy even. She is very special, Alexa. One of a kind in fact. The difficulties that led you to my office in the first place are the result of changes that Chloe is going through. She is growing, rapidly, both physically and mentally. Based on what I found in her blood, she is maturing at three to four times the rate of an average human child.”
The words falling upon her ears should have sounded crazy, unbelievable, but Alexa knew it was true. She had witnessed it over the last day with Chloe’s sudden recovery and miraculous walking.
Alexa turned to Ethan and Chloe, her gaze landing upon her daughter. She looked so happy and normal there in her daddy’s arms. Shifting her focus to Ethan, in his eyes she saw so much love and understanding. He was Chloe’s father, despite everything in the past. Alexa knew she needed to trust him, with everything.
“At home tonight, before we came here, I cut myself. I was bleeding and, and….”
“Chloe bit you.”
Alexa’s eyes shot to Elijah in astonishment. “Yes, how could you have guessed that?”
“That is part of who she is now, part of why she is special. But there is more correct?”
Alexa once again looked to Ethan, hoping for some sort of guidance, some indication of what she was supposed to do here. Her telepathy was her most closely guarded secret. She had concealed that part of herself for so long and the thought of revealing it caused a light sheen of sweat to cover her forehead.
Ethan stood up with Chloe and took a step towards her, placing his hand on her shoulder. “Amor, I love you and I love Chloe. I will never let anything happen to either of you as long as I live. You can trust us, you must trust us.”
She clenched her hands into fists at her side and looked down at the floor. Sighing, she opened her eyes and looked up at Chloe who gave her a big smile of encouragement.
“I think she can read minds. I think she is a telepath.” Alexa searched Ethan’s face for some sign of shock or disbelief, but none appeared. Instead he looked at Chloe and leaned to place a kiss on her cheek causing her to giggle with delight.
Turning to Elijah, she continued deciding to just get it all out before she lost her nerve. “Up until two weeks ago, I could hear her thoughts. We would talk to each other, telepathically. Then it just stopped, I couldn’t hear her anymore and everything else started to change.”
“Well, that is interesting. Telepathy is a very unique and powerful ability, though not unheard of amongst our kind. I can only assume based on the fact that you are still confused that you cannot read my mind or Ethan’s?”
“Yes, you’re right. Ethan was the first person I ever met that I couldn’t hear, even when I really tried to listen in.” She chanced a glance at Ethan to see him with a slight, sexy smirk on his face that sent a little rush through her body. How could he still affect her like that with everything else that was going on?
Turning back to Elijah she said, “Chloe was the second, and you were the third.
Your minds are all the same in the way they feel to me. I guess it makes sense for Chloe to be like Ethan, but what is the connection with you?”
“Well, in this case we are all related, but to be honest, I do not believe that is why you cannot hear our minds.”
“Wait a minute, are you two brothers, or cousins or something?” She looked between the two men, acknowledging what should have been obvious to her before. They did look a lot alike. That was why she had thought Dr. Kline seemed so familiar when they first met.
“Actually, no. Alexa, Ethan is my son.”
She started to laugh. “Yeah, ok, is that supposed to be funny? You have different last names, and you can’t be more than five or ten years older than him, if that.” Before he answered she already knew how it was possible.
“As a matter of fact I am nearly five-hundred years older than him, though without the aid of a little well-placed hair dye, we would probably appear to be even closer in age than you have guessed,” Elijah responded glancing at his son, “and despite my protests, Ethan changed his last name many years ago. I suppose he hoped it would protect the family in some small way.”
“Are you telling me you’re all immortal?” Alexa asked feeling somewhat disoriented, her legs beneath her starting to feel like jello. Even though she already knew what Chloe was, what Ethan was, and now what Dr. Kline must be too, it was still unbelievable to hear it confirmed.
“Not exactly immortal, we can be killed, but we have the potential to live a very, very long time.”
Her thoughts immediately shot to all the stories and myths that she had read when she was younger, all of the movies that she had loved, obsessed over even, believing them to be make believe, but always wishing that world was real. And in that moment, no longer able to deny the truth. She finally let herself think the word before saying it aloud.
“You’re vampires.”
CHAPTER 10 - Secrets Revealed
It was dark. Alexa considered opening her eyes, then remembered that she had been with Ethan and she wasn’t quite ready to let go of him to wake up and go back to life without him.
What a crazy, beautiful dream that was. She thought as she turned to snuggle into her bed hoping to go back to her dream. Instead of her soft comforter, she found she was nestled in a pair of strong, muscular arms. Her eyes snapped open to take in Ethan’s beautiful face looking down at her with concern and fear in his eyes. It hadn’t been a dream.
Taking in her surroundings she realized she was still in Dr. Kline’s office, on the sofa in the back. Chloe was sitting across the room on the floor with the Elijah, playing contentedly with some colorful blocks.
She sat up and turned her focus back to Ethan, her heart doing flip-flops at having him so near, having him back in her life, no longer only in her dreams. Seeing the uncertainty in his expression, she reached up and touched his cheek, pulling him towards her and pressing a soft kiss against his full lips. She wanted him to know that she accepted him, every part of him.
She probably should have been afraid. She probably should grab Chloe and run. They were vampires, after all. She almost wanted to laugh at how ridiculous it sounded in her own mind, that vampires were real, yet she couldn’t deny it after what she had seen from Chloe that night. Knowing what she did about her own preternatural abilities, she didn’t want to deny it. Strangely enough, knowing this about Ethan, about Chloe, it all made her feel, at home, normal.
Her thoughts drifted back to the night Ethan had grabbed the man at the bar, how fast and strong he seemed. And the next morning how quickly he had carried her up the stairs. And the bite that still made her neck tingle whenever she thought about it.
All of it made so much more sense now and she had to admit that on some level she had always known something was different about him. Maybe that is what drew her to him in the first place. She knew all about being different, about not being accepted for who you really are. Looking at Ethan she realized she was a little afraid. Not that she or Chloe were in danger, but that she would lose him, again.
She pulled back slightly to look at Ethan again. “Did I pass out?” Her voice sounded rough and scratchy to her own ears. Ethan reached over to the end table and retrieved a glass of water which he moved to her lips. She gulped it down gratefully.
“Yes, just for a few moments. I understand if you are afraid, but Alexa, Amor, please do not fear me.” He gently stroked her hair as he continued. “I would never hurt you and I will never lie to you. When I told you that I could not get you pregnant that night, I believed that to be true. If you had been almost anyone else in this world, it would have been true, but you are very special, just like our daughter.”
His eyes turned to Chloe, who was in his father’s arms and he smiled. His expression was full of pride and adoration for his baby girl.
“So it’s true then, you are a vampire?” Though she knew the answer, Alexa needed to hear him acknowledge it out loud.
“Yes, Amor, that is the common term. The definition that humans associate with it is, somewhat inaccurate. Our people…”
“I’m not afraid of you, Ethan. Not at all,” she blurted, interrupting him. She needed to tell him, before he revealed anything else, he had to know that she did not fear him. She loved him, though she wasn’t quite ready to voice that particular sentiment again.
Ethan smiled fully for the first time in what seemed like forever, revealing the deep dimples that Alexa couldn’t resist. At least it was the first time since that morning he walked out of her apartment. These many months had been absolute torture for him, more than she could ever know.
Overwhelmed with what could only be descried as gratitude, he placed a chaste kiss on her forehead, breathing in the sweet scent of her hair before looking into her eyes and continuing.
“Our people, vampires, began with what we now know was a genetic mutation many, many centuries ago. We are still partly human, but the gene enhances many things in our kind. The myths you have probably heard are fairly accurate about a great deal of our abilities. We are much stronger and faster than humans and have acute hearing and sense of smell. We heal rapidly and live far longer than any normal human whom has ever existed. To my knowledge, in the last one thousand years none of our kind has died naturally.”
Ethan searched her eyes, trying to gauge her reaction.
Alexa had to fight to repress the smile that threatened to spread across her face. Ethan was nervous, she could sense it with her ability, and the speech he had just given sounded rehearsed, like he had been practicing what to say to her over and over again.
She schooled her features and nodded, encouraging him to continue.
“Like humans, we vampires are all very different and have individual abilities and talents. There are those who are blessed physically, while others are great artists or scientists. And there are some who possess preternatural abilities, though those talents are somewhat rare. ”
Alexa considered all of that for a moment before asking, “What about you,” she said looking to both Ethan and his father, “do you two have any special abilities?”
Ethan sighed and looked away. “Yes, my father has power over emotions, he can soothe or incite the feelings of other’s in most circumstances.” Well, that explained why Alexa felt so at ease around Elijah. “And I can influence the minds of both human and vampire kind by suggesting or altering thoughts, so long as they are not shielding themselves, which is something most of our kind are taught to do at a young age.” Ethan continued as he chanced a glance back at Alexa, searching for the question he anticipated in her eyes, but he found none. Still, he had to be sure she knew. “I have never tried to influence your thoughts in that way, Amor, you must know that.” Alexa smiled reassuringly. “But, I did use a talent that is common to all of our kind on you once.”
Her smile faded. “What does that mean exactly?”
He stood and started to pace. “I am so very sorry, Amor, I should never have crossed that line without your permission. T
hat night, when you gave yourself to me, I lost control. You were laying there beneath me, so beautiful, so vulnerable, so open and I could no longer suppress my craving. I took your blood.” He watched her carefully as he spoke, expecting her anger which never came.
Instead she asked, “What is it like, craving blood?”
He felt relief in his heart. “I have never attempted to explain it before.” He pondered for a moment. “I supposed it starts off with a nagging feeling, more intense than hunger. It is a need that builds slowly at first, and becomes more intense the longer we go without drinking blood. Feeding from the vein is very pleasurable; it can be very, sexual, very sensual. Many couples feed on one another for this reason.” His eyes darkened with need and he began stroking the side of Alexa’s neck which was now tingling, causing her panties to dampen.
Ethan’s nostrils flared as he smelled her arousal and closed his eyes, breathing it in deeply, savoring the scent as it slid down his throat and set his blood on fire.
“Are you craving blood now?” She asked, sensing his desire and secretly wishing they were alone so that he could ravage her neck and her body again right then.
“I am craving you.” He replied huskily, leaning close so that his breath tickled her ear.
“I remember how it felt when you bit me,” she whispered as her cheeks flushed from the memory.
“You remember that?” He asked pulling back slightly to look at her sounding genuinely surprised. “You are more powerful than we anticipated.”
“Why wouldn’t I remember? “ She asked feeling confused. “To be honest, I had convinced myself it was just a dream, but I never really believed that, and when Chloe bit me tonight, it confirmed what I already knew in my heart. It was all real.”
Choices of Fate (Fate Series) Page 10