“Yes, sir,” Ethan said. He swiftly lifted her hand and pressed his lips to her knuckles as he was then dragged, stumbling backwards as he tried to match the speed of the vampire pulling him.
She waited for Cedric and Ethan to drive away in their separate cars, and then watched as Max vanished into the greenery. She realized he was taking a long shift, watching Ethan all day and her all night. She couldn’t help but wonder when the changing of the guards would be, and figured that it would most likely be when she was soundly sleeping.
Epilogue
Beyond the End
Over the next few weeks Danielle and Ethan continued to date during the day and night. Well, Friday nights. They went on double dates with Will and Brianna. They watched Will play rugby, and danced in the club again. Ethan became immersed in this new world that had surrounded him, but had always been just out of his reach. He was having a great deal of fun going out to eat frequently. They’d explored places serving everything from Mexican, to French cuisine, to Thai, and even American. He was willing and eager to try pretty much anything and everything, and was lucky that London, being such a huge city, happened to have many choices available besides the traditional English fare, although, he was more than enthusiastic about trying those too.
While sitting in an Indian restaurant with Max and Nadia, Ethan hummed while he chewed. Danielle thought it was kind of cute and endearing when he did, and suspected he didn’t even know he was doing it. “Clair, my family cook, introduced me to curry,” he said before filling his mouth again.
“Indian food?”
“My dear, curry has been popular here since before we ever discovered India.”
“Really?” Danielle asked.
“That’s true,” Max said. “I remember it being made way back when.”
Ethan swallowed a mouthful of the spiced dish and then moaned in bliss again. Apparently his fervent sounds motivated Nadia to taste her uneaten curry. But it was clear from her expression that she was disappointed with the curse-stifled flavor, and abandoned her fork in the bowl, propping her chin on her fists to likely sulk about it while Ethan made more happy noises.
Danielle snickered. “It’s become entertaining to watch you enjoy this. Were you this passionate about life before turning into a—? Well, you know…”
“I took simple things for granted, like anyone else. In my day, we didn’t have the foods we have now. These wonderful take-away selections weren’t available until fish and chips came along, but that was in the eighteen-sixties and I was already on a liquid diet by then, so I missed out. Besides that, imagine no internet, or cell phones, or even telephones, or tooth extraction anesthesia, or safety pins, or bicycles with pedals and cranks.” He grinned to himself. “Or fast cars. You would have hated riding in a hack. A painful ride, I tell you. Brutalized my backside every time.”
“You’re starting to sound like my grandfather again, except older.”
“It’s likely I have trousers older than your grandfather.”
“Have you seriously kept clothes for that long?”
“All right, maybe not trousers, but a few things like my sword, certainly.”
As Ethan and Danielle finished eating, Nadia received a call. She dug the phone from her purse and answered, listened quietly as her eyes enlarged to the size of salad plates, and then she giggled fervently.
When she hung up, Max asked, “What was that about?”
“Beon is building the room!”’
“What room?”
“The cement room!”
Danielle shuddered, knowing what room she was talking about now. That cold, spider-infested chamber of fear she’d been trapped in for one long night....
Max cleared his throat. “You two ready to leave? We’re nearing your curfew, younglings.”
It seemed Max liked to call them either younglings or little mortals, and Danielle wasn’t sure if she liked the endearments or not. While she enjoyed hanging out with them, she was growing tired of being guarded so strictly around the clock. Nothing had happened for weeks, and it seemed Celeste and Lucas had no idea she was still breathing air as they hadn’t been seen for just as long. “Can’t we stay out a little longer?” she asked feeling like she was whining to her father.
“Sorry, Miss Darcey, but I must keep the darling mortals safe, and it’s past your bedtime.”
Darling mortals, that’s a new one, she thought. “I normally stay up way later than this, I’ll have you know.”
Max guffawed, and the loud noise raised a few eyebrows from the other guests at the restaurant. “You’re welcome to stay up as late as you like in your bedroom.”
She rolled her eyes at that. “Let’s run away together,” she whispered to Ethan.
“That would be quite reckless, and don’t you even dare think I’d let you get away with it, young lady,” Max said.
Danielle narrowed her eyes at the knight, and Ethan set his hand on top of hers. “Careful, men beat their women in his day. Don’t tempt him to turn you over his knee, he just might do it.”
Her eyes widened, but relaxed when Nadia laughed and she recognized the mirth as it flickered to life in the knight’s gaze. “You wouldn’t really … I mean…”
“Try me,” Max growled with a note of danger in his tone.
However, she knew a gentle and kind center lay hidden beneath his stringent exterior. She stood abruptly, feigning rebellion. “We’re leaving! And we’re hanging out at my uncle’s place for tea and sweets—even if it is late.”
Max chuckled as he and Nadia followed them from the restaurant, proving she was right about his softer side.
She led Ethan to the sofa when they arrived at her house. None of her relatives were home at the moment, and the guards thankfully stayed outside.
Danielle may have fought their restrictions a little, but she never forgot the possible threats looming in the background of their fairytale. She hoped their fateful romance was drawing to a happy closure, but the end still seemed distant—though it was now in sight. Was it their destiny to have a happy ending? Could they endure to the end, or rather, could they survive for that long? They remained mortals trapped in a world belonging to immortals. How long could they live in such a world, or would this end tragically? She knew that not all fairytales had a happy ending and hated the uncertainty hanging over them.
Her brows knitted while she pondered these troubling things, as she and Ethan snuggled in front of the fire he’d just started.
Ethan reliably noticed her sinking mood, still being able to read her better than anyone else. “Danielle, what are you thinking about? What disquiets your thoughts?” He gently brushed a stray lock of hair from her face, tucked the curl away, and then began working circles on her back in an obvious effort to comfort her.
Danielle groaned audibly as she shifted closer into the cradle of his chest. “Ethan, will we ever have a happy ending?”
“No, Danielle, we will not.” She felt horrified for a moment because his answer was not at all what she’d expected and then he explained, “We will never have an ending. Happily ever after is more like it. Our story will last forever, for an eternity—our story is never-ending.”
Smiling at his words, Danielle looked up into his blue eyes, which reflected his beautiful soul into hers. “I love it when you say things like that.”
He chuckled softly, caressed her cheek with his fingers, and placed a tender kiss on her lips.
###
Other Titles by Cheri Schmidt
Fractured, book #2 in the Fateful Series
Fair Maiden, book #1 in the Fair Maiden Series
Please visit me at:
http://cherischmidt.blogspot.com
http://www.cherischmidt.net
https://twitter.com/#!/cheriaschmidt
I would love to hear from you!
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5<
br />
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 1 7
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
C hapter 20
Chapter 2 1
Chapter 2 2
Chapter 2 3
Chapter 2 4
Chapter 2 5
Chapter 2 6
Epilogue
Fateful Page 34