by Tara Brown
“What are you?” I ask.
“Dracula.”
My brain works slowly. “Like the book?”
“Like the book.” He holds a hand out for me. “Now are you going to let me taste that blood of yours?”
My hand is already moving toward his before he finishes the sentence. He takes my hand in his and bites my wrist.
The feeling of him sucking is intense.
He drags me to him, snuggling his body against mine. “That’s it, Lorelei. Let me have you,” he speaks softly as his fangs bite into my neck. He draws the blood and then whispers, “Did Whit make you wish anything before you changed?”
I nod into his embrace and warmth.
“What?”
My eyes open with force. I mumble, “He asked me to love him forever.”
He laughs. “What a cheeky bastard,” and suddenly I'm unaware of exactly what's going on. He's there one minute and gone the next. His whisper hovers on the wind, “I'll come for you.”
I look around at the mist coating the graves, the dark bushes, and overhanging trees.
I'm confused. My eyes dart to my wrist—it did happen. It was real. My trembling hand brushes away the blood dampness on my throat as I stand on my wobbly legs. His effects on me are bizarre.
“Lorelei!”
I turn as an icy whisper blows across my face. “You keep away from that one. You get far away.”
I see the twitchy ghostly image of Ramón and smile. “Who is he?”
Ramón hovers over the ground in his ghost form. “Father of the vampires. He is one of the cursed. You need to stay away from him and them Roses. Grandmamma was wrong to call them, cherie. They're bad news. They always got an agenda.”
I swallow and glance around the garden nervously. “What about Whit?”
Ramón shakes his head. “He tricky. Girl, go with your guts. What does it tell you? The magic gonna speak to you now, but you gots to listen.”
I close my eyes and feel for it. “He's lying to me about something. I can feel it in his words. Something ain't all there.” I open my eyes and Ramón is gone.
The dirt shifts as a hand shoots from it. I leap down and drag her from the hole. She opens her eyes and brushes her face off. “You buried me in a damned hole? What's the matter with you?”
I laugh. “You needed to change, fully. You gotta be strong. You don’t have any magic to protect you.”
She frowns and spins around. “Uhm, are we in a graveyard?” She looks lost.
“Yeah. Just gotta wait for Em to wake up and we can leave.” I point to the mound of dirt she was lying next to. She grimaces. “You put her in a hole too?” Her voice breaks as she backs away.
I grab her wrist and slide my fingernail along it. “Look. I'm not crazy.”
She sees the black blood and screams.
I pull her in. “It's the way you wanted things, trust me. You won't ever age or change. You get to be young and beautiful forever.”
She pulls back, black tears streak her cheeks. “What?”
I drop my fangs. I have control because I remember. She screams again, but hers drop too. She touches them with her fingertips and screams louder. I cover her mouth but she bites me by accident. She gets a taste of my blood and shoves me down. She leaps at me in a ravenous snarl. I shove her off and shake my head.
“This is gonna be real fun,” I mutter and hold her at bay.
Whit appears in the woods with Maria who is clearly less than pleased. He grabs the Angie monster and holds her face to his. “Get the hunger under control. Stop acting like a madwoman.”
She goes limp in his arms and becomes a sobbing mess.
“What did you do?” She curls into a ball on the ground, hugging herself. “I'm so hungry and thirsty.”
I look at Whit and the memory of the way I felt creeps back in. I forgot how shocking and horrid it was to change.
I drop to my knees and lift her stained face. Her fangs hang from her wet plump lips. I smile sweetly. “I went through it all once. I got sent back in time, don't ask.” I hold a hand up. “Just trust me, don't ask. I saw you—you were married and had grandkids and seemed happy until you saw me. You was old and tired and sad. You was so mad at me for leaving you behind and letting you age. I still looked like this and you were seventy years old. You cried and I felt sick for you. Your dreams were gone. You spent your whole life as a wife and momma. When I got the chance to make you like me, I took it. I want you to be with me.”
The look in her eyes devastates me and I second-guess the choice I made. She swallows and speaks to Whit. “You a vampire too?”
He nods once.
She looks at Maria and nods. “Your momma is one too? I guess that makes sense.”
I laugh. “That’s my auntie Maria. My momma stole her body.”
Angie widens her green eyes.
“You don’t wanna know that one either.”
She looks at the mound of dirt. “You killed your sister too? Made her like this?”
I grip her arms, on the verge of bawling. “Yes.”
“There ain't no going back, is there?”
I shake my head. She slumps and hugs her legs in tighter. Her black dress is a destroyed mess. She looks like a sixties nightmare.
“Where do we go?” she whispers.
I look at Whit. “Scotland?”
He nods again. “We have to,” he says to the women around him and shakes his head.
Em's hand pops out of the dirt and Whit sighs and grabs it.
Chapter 21
I run my hands along the wall of my bedroom. The feel of it makes me sick. I have still somehow lost everything: the daylight, my humanity, my trust in Whit. It's still crumbled away, and now I've infected Angie and Emily with the unhappiness I was plagued by.
I walk out onto the deck and look at the flagpole with the half-mast flag hanging from it.
“You all right?” he asks softly.
I turn and shake my head. His dark eyes see me, they always do.
I bite my lip and watch his face. Even in the dark, he's still the most beautiful man I've ever seen. I can't fight the love I have for him, even though the distrust remains, hanging in the air between us.
“You made the right choice,” he whispers and steps to me. His warm hands wrap around mine.
I gaze down where we are touching and shake my head. “You and I let so many things happen to the people I loved and I hated you for it.”
He lowers his face to mine and kisses my cheek. “Shhhh. We didn’t make those same mistakes this time.”
I feel the black water run down my cheek. I look at him and let him wipe away my tears. My lip trembles. “I did, I made those same mistakes. I did it. I took away their rights and changed their worlds.”
He kisses again but I push him off. It's a conflict for my body. I want to hold him to me.
“I made the same choice for them that you made for me. I understand why you did it. I just wanted to say that. I'm not mad anymore. I get why you would make that choice for me.”
He stands up. “I just want you safe. I want you away from it all.”
I look out into the night and remember Marcus. I swallow and turn my attention back to Whit. “My blood is still—well, like it was before. It still makes you feel things.”
His jaw tightens for a second before he speaks, “I know. Claiming the magic makes you a witch. Granted, you're nearly undead, but your blood is the same as it always was.”
I swallow hard and rub my wrist where the bites were. I loved the feeling of Marcus drawing my blood, but it's like cheating on Whit.
Instantly, I remember the question Marcus asked me and frown up into his dark eyes. “Why did you ask if you asked me to wish anything before, in the other time?”
His face freezes in thought or panic. His lips play with a grin. “Why?”
I raise an eyebrow. “Someone mentioned it and I think it's weird you did it.”
He gulps I think. I swear I see him gulp. H
e looks out into the night and mutters, “Bloody Marcus needs to mind his own business.” He runs a hand through his hair and it distracts me. I know then that the effects he had on me before are worse now.
“You made me wish it for a reason, didn’t you?”
He gives me a serious look. “I'm trying to protect you.”
I step back. “What?”
Straightaway, his face changes to humble. “My love, I want you safe. This guarantees no other vampires can force your love.”
“What have you done?” I whisper.
“You have to know it was for your protection.”
“It always is. Why did you make me wish that?” Heat creeps up my face as I recall the image of him forcing the wish from my lips.
“Witches who haven’t gotten their power yet can make wishes and they come true. Ramón and his grandmamma were protecting you and stunting your magic. Grandmamma Holt was keeping it from your mother. They had protection spells, stopping her magic on you. I think they assumed she was going to go for you. Emily was too young for her. More than likely, she didn’t want to start out so young again. She probably wanted to be old enough to make choices and be an adult—”
I hold a hand up and cut him off. “What does this have to do with the wish?”
He sighs. “The wish is sealed. You will love me forever. You claimed your magic and made a wish. It's done.”
“Oh lord. What have you done?” I step away from him and rip my arms from his grip.
He looms over me. “You loved me anyway, this just makes it so no one can use glamour or compulsion and take your blood.”
I laugh bitterly. “Well, tonight Marcus came to me and took my blood. So there.”
He grabs my arms and drags me to him. “YOU ARE MINE, LORELEI!” He drags me through the doors to my room and throws me in. He turns and the rage on his face frightens me to near death. “You will not see him again. Do you understand me?”
I agree, against my will. He forces me into the agreement. I feel his power over my blood.
He covers his face and shakes his head.
I climb off the bed and bolt. I jump the stairs and fly across the garden, trying to ignore his screams and the smell of the smoke lingering in the damp air.
I race through to the woods, pushing my legs and lungs. I can hear him behind me and push myself harder.
He doesn’t give up like before.
“STOP!” he screams.
My legs stop instantly. I crumple to the ground. He has the control over me. I feel the flames inside my veins as he rounds the corner to the small clearing I'm slumped in.
He pants and points. “Stop. Just let me show you I love you. I did it all out of love.”
I fight his commands, but it creates a fire in my hands. I scream as my hands shoot from my body toward him. The fire bolts hit the tree next to him. He leaps out of the way, but my hands fire like a tommy gun.
The fire spreads in a circle around us.
He laughs and walks toward me.
I hold my hands up. “Stay back.”
He points at the fire. “That’s a special kind of fire, lass. That'll burn right down into the earth. You need to put it out. We can both die from that.”
I shake my head and point my finger at him. He doesn’t stop stepping toward me. He grabs my hands, roughly pulling me into his embrace. I break and sob.
“It's too much,” he whispers into my head. “You've been through too much. Just relax. Imagine the fire being put out, sucked into the earth.”
I close my eyes and imagine the flames being pulled down into the damp earth. The crackle and heat dies down.
He hauls me back and kisses my forehead. “You need to calm down. I swear to ya, I didn’t do it to force you to love me. I just know what happens to a girl like you with people like me.”
I stare up into his face. “I want you to do the same then. I want you to make me have the same control over you.”
He groans, “Ya have it. Lorelei, I've got nothing but you in my heart. I swear it. I've saved you and Maria and your sister. There is no Blackwater witch blood left for the taking. That was the most powerful blood in the whole world, minus the first witch's. Ramón and his grandmamma are both dead. I'm going to be strung up by my toes by my family. I came here for a reason and I've defied them. I have to go home with witches who have turned and no one is going to know about your blood but me.”
“And Marcus,” I mutter.
He grips me tighter. “I'll deal with him.”
I search his eyes for the truth. “I don’t trust you. You've lied too many times. I just don’t believe you.”
“You have to let me earn your trust. I deserve another chance. I swear to ya.”
“Don't swear. There isn’t anything you could swear to me in the world that would change the fact you've lied about everything. If I hadn’t come from the future, I would be running for my life right now, terrified of you.”
His plump lips are calling to me, they want me to forgive him. I feel mine pucker and lift. I shake my head and pull back. “You have to stop this. You have to take this away. I don’t want to love you like this. I want the control. I want to love you like a normal person.”
“At my house. I'll take it off when I have you safe in Scotland.”
I wiggle out of his arms. “Deal. But you don’t touch me till it's off.”
“Fine.” He winces and nods.
“Let's get my sister and Angie and Tessa.”
Chapter 22
The plane lands as the sun is on the horizon. I shudder and feel my nerves setting in. Angie and Em are still not speaking to me. They huddle into each other and shut me out. I hate myself for it but wish they could see. Thinking about the tragedy it took to get me to understand Whit's motives, I change my mind and pray they never get it. I never want to go through any of that again.
We are the sullenest group of people ever, except Tessa. She has nattered the entire trip.
“I just don’t understand how your momma is gonna cope being there in that huge house alone.” She shakes her head and climbs off the plane.
I follow her and nod. “She'll have a tough time but I think she'll be okay in a while. She just needs to adjust.”
She looks back at me. “I just don’t understand how them burglars came and drained all his blood like that. Who steals blood from a man? That whole thing didn’t make no sense.”
I try not to let her hear me stifle a laugh.
I glance at Em and Angie. They are both still disturbed. They don’t get how I can be so well adjusted. They don’t get that my daddy has been dead for forty-eight years. They don’t get that I gave up the chance to have him back so I could save them. They don’t get any of it.
We walk to a gate. Whit speaks to a man and we all walk through. We walk through the London Airport and out to the awaiting cars. We will be driven to Scotland over the course of the next couple of days.
I climb into my car with Whit and Tessa. I glance through the window at my sister and best friend getting into the other car.
Em meets my gaze. She doesn’t hold it but stares just long enough for me to see her heartbreak.
I look at Whit and wonder how it felt for me to hate him for forty-eight years. I wonder if I'll be able to stand it. He looks back at me. “Stay at the hotels and then hit the road tonight?”
I nod once.
He smiles. “You'll love it, trust me.”
My face flushes. I still don’t trust him. He realizes what he's said and laughs. “Or not. It's your choice.”
I shake my head and sigh.
Tessa natters on, “You from here, Mr. Whitlock? You sound English maybe.” She doesn’t know she's asked it seventeen times since meeting him.
He smiles at her and laughs. “No. I'm Scottish. We're heading to my house now.”
She smiles and nods. “Well, ain't that lovely. Lorelei, your man here is taking you to meet the family. Your daddy would have approved, I think.”
I laugh and stare down at my shoes. “Maybe.”
The driver pulls away and I try to focus on things other than him.
We arrive in Scotland the next day. He's forced Tessa to sleep every time we get into the car. He hasn’t tried to touch me since I spoke the words, which is nice.
He points. “That’s it.” I see the lights of the castle as we round a corner of the road.
I gulp. “It really is a castle.”
“I wasn’t lying.” He stops laughing and gives me a serious stare. “I don’t lie.”
“Right.” I look back at the castle. My nose is nearly pressed against the cold glass in shock. This makes the governor's mansion look piddly. I wonder what kind of staircase there is inside. I can't wait for Em to see it. My chest burns with emptiness and pain when I think about the fact we can't share that.
We pull up to a gate that opens as we drive through. It's all surrounded by lush hillsides and rolling green hills. It's stunning. I love it right away, even in the dim light of the dawn. We race to get there.
A man, who appears indifferent, opens the door. He doesn’t seem to have facial expressions and he doesn’t look at me at all.
I climb out and mutter, “Thanks.”
Em and Angie are climbing out also. I smile but they both give me the haunted looks they've given me every chance they have gotten.
I turn and walk for the huge front steps. They're concrete and massive. I wonder a million things about it, but I'm exhausted and I just want him to take the spell off me, or rather let me break it.
A young woman and several men, who look similar to Whit, come rushing down the stairs. They speak fast and say the ochs and the lalala words.
He points at me and says something resembling English but I don’t get it. They beam and smile. One of the huge guys shoves him and walks to me. He offers a huge bear paw of a hand. “Inger, at your service.” He takes my hand in his and kisses it. He smells my skin and looks up at me, shocked. I pull my hand back and fight the blush crossing my cheeks. He looks at my sister and Angie and grins.