Fateful

by Cheri Schmidt

  “With a note that said for me to meet you at the library.”

  “A note?”

  Slightly startled to see his glowing eyes flash with fury as they narrowed, she nodded. “A fake note from you that Celeste left for me on my bed. She said she got in during the day when my guards were off duty.”

  Ethan cursed angrily, braced one hand against the wall, and the other fisted in his hair as he began shaking his head. “They’ll never find us.”

  “The Order?” When he nodded sharply, she asked, “Why not?”

  “Lucas and Celeste know they’ve been watching them.” He released his hair and dropped his hand.

  “But they know where he lives, where we are, don’t they?”

  “Yes, but they don’t know I’m missing. They think I’m in Moldova.”

  “Won’t they figure out I’m missing?”

  “Eventually, but if Celeste sneaks in again, which she could easily do when your relatives are away today, she could set it up so it looks like you’re there, by leaving the light on. Your family will likely figure it out before the Order does and by then...”

  “What are we going to do?” Her gaze shifted and found the damage he’d done to the walls. “You couldn’t escape,” she whispered, as panic began to rise. She realized he’d been trapped here while everyone thought he was in Moldova. He’d been in this horrible place for two and a half weeks! “You never made it to Benjamin, did you?”

  “No.”

  “But how?” She couldn’t fathom how they’d managed to trick her incredibly smart and strong Ethan.

  He motioned to the only piece of furniture in the room, the worn and dingy sofa. On it laid her missing sweater. On a shaky exhale, she murmured, “I’ve been looking for that…. So they made you think they had me.”

  He nodded. “Cunning little trick of theirs. I fell for it like a fool and when they’d shut the doors it was too late.”

  “Ethan, I’m so sorry. This is my fault.”

  “No! Danielle, you can’t blame yourself.” Ethan placed his hands gently on her cheeks and pushed the tears away with his thumbs. She lifted her hands to his, but he hissed sharply at her touch, like it hurt him. Danielle pulled his hands carefully from her face to find that his knuckles were battered with bloody cuts and bruises. He’d injured them while punching the walls, but he couldn’t heal without feeding. Ethan was starving to death.

  “Oh no,” she cried as she began kissing his bruises softly, having to wipe her tears away as they dripped onto his skin. She then released his hands and slung her arms around his chest. He returned the embrace, and it was a bleak but comforting moment in the gloom of this terrible tomb. Lucas’ words had come true so far, they did have a sweet reunion. Would the rest of it progress as he’d foretold?

  “Danielle, I’ve been so desperate without you, worrying about you,” he said. “I’ve spent my time breathing in your essence from your sweater, and trying to punch my way out of here, failing miserably.”

  Lifting her eyes to his, Danielle felt as bemused as usual. She’d sure missed that feeling. “I’ve been going crazy without you too because somehow I knew something was wrong.”

  “You knew before I left … I should have listened to you. But I don’t know how we could have avoided this one, unless I’d locked you up safely at my place.”

  “And then you would’ve had the detectives looking for both of us, you as my kidnapper and me as the missing person.” But what they could have or should have done didn’t matter any longer. “Can you think of any way to get out of this?”

  “We need to make it through the night without me killing you first. When night falls, our situation is going to change.” He slid one finger along her jaw as that unfaltering determination of his continued to burn in his eyes. He then closed them and pressed his trembling lips to hers. Needy for this sort of attention from him, she slanted her mouth over his and tugged him closer by pulling on his shoulders.

  Ethan pulled away, took her hand, and then led her to the sofa. He pushed it as close to the wall as possible, and then guided her to sit on it. “I need you to stay here, all right?”

  She nodded in agreement.

  He knelt down in front of her, perusing her face, as if he was committing every detail to memory. Ethan reached up to swipe away more tears then sighed, hugged her, gave her a gentle kiss on her still wet cheek, and then moved to the other side of the room as far away from her as he could possibly get. He then sank to the floor placing his chin on his knees, and closed his eyes. She realized what he was doing; he was trying to keep her safe from him.

  Just like in her dream, the underground room was very cold, and she realized why she hadn’t seen the sofa before. Her gaze shifted to the rug, understanding that’s where he’d held her down and from that position she wouldn’t have been able to see much else. Danielle shivered at two thoughts and pulled her feet up onto the sofa: first, that dream had to have been a prophetic one, and second, the chilled atmosphere was sinking through her clothes. She slipped her jacket off and wrapped it around her legs like a blanket, and tried to get comfortable as the reality of the situation crept through her thoughts. She knew that once the sun sank below the horizon, this whole circumstance would become dangerously different.

  Ethan was seated in front of her a little to her left, but she caught a glimpse of movement on her right. Her stomach flipped with a surge of nausea when she turned to see what had moved. There on the armrest of the sofa sat a huge spider with long hairy legs … to her, at least, it was gigantic. Of course this basement has spiders! she mused as another wave of sickness rolled through her guts. How had that thing gotten in here anyway? Thinking on it, her eyes noted the dingy armrest of the sofa where the arachnid stood and realized it was likely inside the sofa before it was brought in here.

  Great, she thought with sarcasm, now she was locked in a dungeon with a starving vampire and a nightmarish insect.

  But even without how much it tormented her to look at it, Danielle couldn’t take her eyes off it just in case it decided to move closer to her. Carefully she slid to the other end of the sofa, trying to distance herself from the furry beast.

  For a delusional moment she considered removing her shoe and dealing with it herself but the thought of feeling the oversized thing crunch under her shoe made bile rise in her throat, and she shuddered in response.

  Ethan must have noticed her internal battle as she kept her eyes fixed on the eight-legged monster, because he suddenly appeared in front of the sofa. Danielle never heard him coming, and jumped reflexively.

  She was relieved to see her loving and devoted Ethan still reflected there in his no longer blue gaze. He was still observant, still thoughtful, and still in love with her. Smiling as he whisked the frightening creature from the sofa and crushed it for her. He then swept the area for any more like it. When he finished with his search he stopped in front of her to caress her jaw, slid his thumb across her parted lips and then returned to his distanced post.

  “Thank you.”

  Ethan nodded without looking at her.

  He was still the gentle hero, and because of that she could see no possible way he would ever harm her. The demon Lucas described can’t exist within him.

  Chapter 23

  Humanity

  Hours passed as they stayed at opposite sides of the room while it gradually grew darker and darker. Danielle shifted around a lot more than Ethan, while he sat as still as a statue, and she wondered if he was even breathing.

  As the shaft of light from above shifted from pale-white to a muted orange, Danielle knew the sun was setting and the idea made her apprehension grow. She couldn’t escape the reality of her predicament—she was entombed in a cement-lined room with a parched vampire. As her gaze traveled the lines of stress on his brow, she couldn’t imagine what this was like for him, being locked up with her smelling as tasty as ever.

  After hearing a soft crackling noise, her eyes left Ethan and moved to a light bulb
as it flickered on by the door. Wondering…. Can Prince Charming resist the destructive curse in his weakest hours? Can he abstain from Cinderella’s tempting blood? Will the fairytale have a happy ending, or will it end tragically? Will Prince Charming remember who he is and be able to fight the monster lurking inside him, or will Cinderella go missing forever?

  Trying to be brave, she kept reminding herself to quell any feelings of fear from rising in her heart. Now that night had descended upon them, it would make things much worse for him if she didn’t, because he’d be able to sense it.

  Time ticked on at an excruciatingly slow pace. Ethan seemed to be resisting her amazingly well, and she couldn’t help but be proud of him. Danielle guessed that it had been night for several hours when he finally moved. He stood, but kept his back pressed against the wall, and she could see that he was shaking more fiercely than before. This concerned her, but she continued to fight off fear by reminding herself that she trusts him, and that he loves her.

  His silver eyes flashed to her, and she jumped like she’d been shocked. She then blinked and suddenly he was right in front of her. With lightning speed his fingers curled into the flesh of her arms and he yanked her to her feet, rather roughly. No fear! she told herself as she looked away trying not to be entranced by the magic.

  Ethan leaned down, placing his nose just beneath her ear and drew in a deep breath. No fear! No Fear! she shouted mentally, but it wasn’t looking good for her at that moment, especially when he started growling in a low menacing tone. Ethan lifted his head and she watched his lip curl away from his teeth, exposing fangs. With eyes rounding at the sight of the dangerous Ethan of her nightmare, she tried to back away. “Ethan! No!” she cried out when his grip tightened. She’d hoped desperately that she’d be able to reach his soul with her words, but apparently they went unheard.

  With one fluid motion, Ethan spun her around and shoved her to the floor. She landed hard on her backside. The force knocked the wind out of her lungs, but luckily she’d landed on the rug or she would have been injured. Frantic because this position was just like her dream, she leaned up onto her elbows and started to crawl away backward.

  Ethan pounced and landed in a crouched position over the top of her, his eyes glazed over with a ravenous hungry look. Don’t look into his eyes, she told herself. But her heart sank, because she’d realized this is what a vampire looks like before he takes your life. The beast was winning. The curse was conquering.

  “Ethan, please!” she sobbed.

  In answer to her plea, a deep growl vibrated low within his chest.

  “Ethan, look at me, really look at me!”

  Nothing stopped his advance as he moved forward onto his hands and knees, crawling over her as she made an attempt to slide away across the floor.

  The rumbling of the beast inside him finally bit past his lips. And that’s when fear took her. Of course Danielle knew he could smell it, but she couldn’t control it any longer. Being face-to-face with a thirsty monster was just terrifying, and she knew she was the perfect thing to sate his overwhelming desire for blood. Despair curled around her lungs and constricted.

  Ethan suddenly gathered her wrists into one hand and held them in his inescapable grip to her stomach. Without that support, her back slammed once again against the rug as he then pinned her down with the muscular weight of his body. Danielle couldn’t move as a grunt was forced from her mouth.

  Bending down, Ethan glided his nose along her jaw, breathing in deeply, taking in the sweet appetizing scent of her mortal blood. Lifting his head, he looked into her eyes. Please let me see his soul, she prayed, but all she could see in his starved and wild gaze was the overpowering lust for her blood. His soul could no longer be seen there. Filled with utter anguish, and woozy from looking into his eyes, Danielle sobbed as tears streamed down the sides of her face and into her hair. This was the part of her dream right before he killed her.

  Ethan blew his concentrated breath into her face, clearly wanting to sedate her for the kill. She fought the effect of it, trying to remain coherent, but she wasn’t getting far. That internal battle had begun. In one breath she wanted death, in the other, she wanted life to continue.

  Feeling his cool breath touch her skin, Ethan slid his lips down to the side of her neck, just above her shoulder, and in a brutal move he jerked her blouse out of the way. The delicate fabric ripped. When he parted his lips, she could feel his sharp fangs press against her skin.

  “Ethan!” she screamed, fighting past the potion in her veins. “Remember your humanity! Ethan! Please! Please...” Her body shook with deep wrenching sobs she couldn’t control, and her eyes swam with so many tears she could no longer see.

  Danielle gave up ... she’d lost him and knew she was going to die. “Goodbye, Ethan, I love you.” She fell limp under his weight, no longer struggling against him, not that it had mattered as weak with magic as she was. Deep down she knew that had been the first time she’d said those words to him, and regretted waiting so long. Closing her eyes, she waited for his fangs to pierce her skin and for him to drain the life from her.

  When she didn’t feel a pinch or any pain at all, she wondered, Do you not feel it when a vampire bites you? Oddly, however, his grasp on her wrists had loosened, and she was able to pull one hand free. Lifting it to her neck, she discovered there were no puncture wounds and opened her eyes.

  With his face hovering above hers Ethan was looking down at her. “Ethan?”

  “Danielle,” he whispered back. The gentleness had returned to his beautiful British voice even though he still sounded parched. With eyes widening, she realized his eyes were no longer wild. Was it even possible for him to beat off the monster in the last moment?

  “I’m so sorry.” The words trembled out of him. Was he crying? No, she corrected, he was sobbing.

  Before she’d figured out what was going on, Ethan quickly lifted his crushing weight from her and lay down on his back next to her. But immediately after that, he pulled her on top of him. Danielle tried to stand and get away, but he held her there firmly.

  As her tears cleared, she could see his expression better and took in a mixture of sadness and regret in his face. Fear was slowly releasing its grip on her soul at the mournful sight of him. But Ethan still had the look of a vampire and deep down, she was still frightened. “Please let go,” she begged, pushing at his chest.

  “No ... Danielle, my love ... bite me,” he whispered.

  “What?”

  “The prophecy, I understand it now.... You helped me to see.... The cursed one who gives himself for humanity! I give myself to you, Danielle. You must bite me!”

  “But I don’t have fangs and you’re indestructible!”

  “It’s never been tried before, just do it! Do it now! Please, at least try! It’s the only hope we have, Danielle … I’m begging you.”

  She paused for a moment, trying to comprehend what he was asking her to do. Could this really be the cure to the curse? Maybe. It seemed that her loyal, kind Ethan had come back to her. The horrible beast was gone or restrained by some incredible strength within him. For her he controlled the curse, and for him, she would do it. “Okay, Ethan, I’ll try.”

  Shifting her position, she hiked up her long skirt, so that she could straddle his body. She unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt, and pushed the material out of the way.

  He growled again before one word tore from his throat, “Hurry!”

  Resisting the urge to run, Danielle bent over the top of him so she could reach his neck. He brushed her hair to the other side of her head with a trembling hand so it draped onto the floor. She pressed parted lips to his skin and then bit down hard.

  Nothing happened. It seemed she couldn’t cut through the surface. Trying again she bit harder, grinding her teeth together, trying to get through his pliable yet tough skin. Still nothing. She kept trying, but was beginning to worry this wouldn’t work, when finally—she felt his skin break and then tasted his
blood. Pulling away, she looked and then gasped. Ethan was bleeding from two crescent shaped teeth marks.

  “Suck, Danielle,” he commanded softly, but urgently. Her eyes flashed to his, and she knew from his look that he meant what he said. At this point Danielle was willing to do whatever he told her to do. She leaned down to the wound, but Ethan gripped her arms and she paused. “Suck, but don’t swallow,” he instructed.

  So she sucked. Like a vampire she drew blood from the bite that she’d created.

  His blood filled her mouth. It was cold, and she couldn’t pinpoint the taste of it with a name. The flavor was nothing like anything she’d ever tasted before. She had tasted her own blood, and it wasn’t like that. It was a strangely desirable flavor, but she couldn’t enjoy it. Doing what she was doing made her feel sick.

  Feeling his hands on her shoulders, she stopped immediately. Fighting the urge to vomit, she leaned over the floor and spat the blood from her mouth.

  Ethan waited for her to finish, and then he tugged her back to him. He was smiling and he looked relieved. Danielle was confused.

  Running his thumb gently across her lower lip, he wiped away a drop of his blood. Danielle couldn’t help but shiver because she really felt rather queasy.

  Without warning his head snapped back, he arched his spine and groaned.

  “Ethan! What’s wrong?”

  He didn’t respond, but remained stiff while he clenched his teeth together, and his breathing became labored.

  “Are you in pain? Do I need to do something else? How can I help? Ethan!” She didn’t know what to do, and was beginning to panic, but he found the strength from somewhere to place his fingers on her lips to quiet her.

  So she waited while troubling thoughts ran through her head. Is death how he is released from the curse? Had she killed him instead of him killing her? Or was he being cured by some miracle? It was almost too much for her impatient nature to bear and the sting of tears returned.

  Finally, after several agonizing moments, his tense muscles relaxed and he looked like he was sleeping. Relieved to see his chest rise and fall with breath, Danielle was startled when he reached for her—carefully took hold of her head and gently led her to rest her ear over his heart. Danielle resisted momentarily until she realized he just wanted her to listen. She listened, but heard nothing, no heartbeat. All she could hear was his smooth breathing. But when he still wouldn’t let her up, she listened longer … then … she heard it, a distant thump. Then another, and another, but the time between them was too far apart.