by Kate Wendley
The next image was that of Nala lying on the floor of a cave as she looked up to see Seth, Ethan, and what had to be Sonya, letting drips of their own blood fall onto and coat her wounds. After that the scene switched to Seth scooping grave dirt onto Nala. And even though her eyes were closed, she could feel that her life, her spirit, was being sent away from the land of the living and into Gaia’s arms in the land of death and rebirth. Each scoop of earth on her now empty shell of a body built the magic that would send her on.
Anthony’s heart beat in horror as he felt physical sensation slipping away from him, but then wonders beyond his imagination began to fill his head. He felt like his eyes were being opened to the oneness of the life and energies all around him as he emerged in that forest he’d seen the first time he was in Nala’s mind. It was dark and Nala was confused, but a guide was by her side as if it’d always been there. The spirit tried to urge Nala on to where she herself knew she needed to go next, but something was holding her to her private doorway in the tree of life.
Seth’s bonds of love.
Time passed without any particular feeling of it passing as she watched others come and go from the forest. She had no sensations or feelings while she was in Gaia’s realm, just a knowing that Mother Earth would do whatever she could to keep and restore balance in all things. For living creatures she did this through the use of spirit guides so her attention could stay focused on other things.
Nala had no idea how much time had gone by in the physical realm when she suddenly felt a tug on her bonds. The tugs became stronger and stronger until she was finally pulled back into the land of the living. She felt like a single individual, and her mind became focused once again on things her physical self knew, while her understanding she’d had of the entire rest of the world was too much to comprehend anymore.
The sensation of the memories dulled as Anthony saw Seth trying to coax Nala back as a ghost, and while it was interesting, he had no idea why the spirit wanted him to see it.
His attention was abruptly made to focus on the memory of before Nala had been buried, when Seth and the others let their blood drip on the hole in her chest where her heart had been, as well as on her severed head and neck. Anthony finally noticed a spark of something in everyone’s blood.
The spirit said, ‘That’s their life energy. They gave themselves to her.’
Next he saw Seth slitting his wrists and letting his blood drain onto Nala’s grave, night after night, for what had to be at least a couple months or more. As his blood soaked into the ground, he saw another spark of energy, earth energy he realized, and it mingled with Nala’s lingering life force as she kept being pulled back into herself through Seth’s magic and blood.
‘Is that how you tagged along when she was reborn? Earth energies combined with his own life spirit?’
‘Yes. There is energy everywhere.’
An image of Anthony sitting in the grass, absorbing energy from the earth after he’d nearly drained his own life spirit recently was suddenly clear in his mind. He jerked in shock and his heart harshly beat in his chest. He had no idea how he’d healed himself back then, and had no idea how he’d known to go sit out in the grass like that.
Next he saw the Vampire Mother. He watched her in fear as she held him motionless with her incredible power. A small spider formed on her fingernail, and she watched with enthusiasm as it crawled across his palm and burrowed under his skin.
‘She shared herself with you.’
He froze in horror remembering how he’d tried to hurt her. ‘She’s the Earth Mother? She’s Gaia?’
‘No, but from your memories of her, I believe she shared her instinctual knowledge of how to tap into Gaia’s power more directly. You may not understand what it is you feel, but your senses can now open wider. You can feel more, hear more… be more. You can use more of the earth’s energies now, and the more you use this energy that you previously could not see or hear or touch, the more you’ll be able to. This ability was opened up inside you by the woman you call the Vampire Mother, but in all things Gaia strives for balance. If you take from her, she’ll find a balance by taking from you as well. The more you take, the more she’ll take.’
Anthony didn’t like the sound of that.
‘So what do you want? Why did you call for me, and why are you bothering Nala after all this time?’
Instead of images flying through his mind this time, the sensation of what the spirit felt as Anthony talked to him earlier ran through him.
Curiosity, excitement, fear, and finally hope were all emotions the spirit had never directly experienced until they’d spoken, so it was no surprise when it said, ‘I want to live as a physical being. I want to be vampire, like the rest of you.’
**
Anthony stared at Nala after he’d opened his eyes and released his grip on her hands. He swore he could feel the spirit watching him through her, but he wasn’t sure if that was just his imagination. Either way, he’d just been shown a lot of things that he needed time to process, and he wasn’t afraid to admit he was in a bit of shock over some of what he just learned.
It wasn’t just that this creature wanted to live that was so unsettling, it was what he’d learned about the changes inside himself and what that might mean for him and Kaia. Could he still risk turning her when he wasn’t sure how to control some of his new abilities, or even what his new abilities were? What if he couldn’t control himself when the time came to take almost all of Kaia’s blood? What if he accidentally killed her?
Nala came back to herself and startled at Anthony staring at her. He felt mentally tired after talking to the spirit and wondered how it affected her when he got into her head like that. “Are you all right?”
Nala blinked her eyes as if to clear them. “I don’t hear the spirit or have any strange scenes in my head, so… yes.” She weakly smiled and he narrowed his eyes cautiously at her.
Anthony put a sound barrier around them again. “Out of curiosity, were you aware of any of what just happened? Or anything from the last time I was in your head?”
She tensed. “This time no. The first time, some.”
He looked thoughtfully at her. “I respect that you didn’t lie to me. I’ll continue to help you so long as you continue to keep my memories between us.”
He frowned in confusion when her face contorted and a strange voice came slowly out of her mouth. “She will not remember.”
Nala slumped tiredly into the cushions of the sofa after that and Seth was immediately at her side to care for her. Anthony took down his sound barrier and turned to Ethan, gesturing for him to join him in the hall outside.
“The spirit wants out of Nala. It wants to live as a vampire, like us.”
Ethan gave him a crazy look. “It can live? How?”
Anthony paused as he considered how much to tell Ethan of what he’d just learned. “Full moon is in a few nights and the spirit thinks that would be the best time to do this. Daniel, as he wants to be called, had specific instructions for Seth, Nala and myself. We also need lots and lots of blood to make it happen. That is if we think this is a good idea.”
Ethan scoffed. “If it knows how to use Nala’s body now, then we have to get it out of her. I don’t care what happens to it once it’s out.”
Anthony said, “It matters to me because I’m the one that’s going to have to deal with this thing once it’s born, or the repercussions of letting it die.”
Ethan snapped, “I’ll be the one dealing with it, not you.”
“Bullshit.”
Ethan frowned at him.
Anthony said, “No offense, but you’ve got your hands full with your own issues right now, and might I add you needed my help for that as well.”
“Thanks for throwing that in my face.”
“I’m not throwing it in your face. I’m simply stating a fact.”
Ethan looked around the hall as if to clear his head. “Are you sure we can’t just somehow let this thing out of
Nala and let it die? It would just become a spirit again, wouldn’t it?”
“I already thought of that, and he read my mind as soon as I did. He reminded me that even though vampires live a long time, we do sometimes die. Since he’s nothing but pure energy, he can wait it out until we come to his realm where he would have the upper hand. I don’t know about you, but I’d rather not have that hanging over me the next time someone has his hand wrapped around my heart.”
Ethan scowled. “You’re not going to let me live that down, are you?”
Anthony startled both Ethan and himself by laughing good naturedly at him. The look of shock and confusion on Ethan’s face only made him laugh harder, which made him he realize he needed to leave. All this business with the spirit was distracting him from what was most important in his life right now, and that was Kaia. He now knew he desperately needed to resolve whatever was going on between them before the rift grew any deeper.
Ethan looked warily at him. “Are you ok?”
Anthony finger combed his long hair back. “I’m fine. I just have a lot on my mind.” Like not wanting to accidentally kill the love of his life when he tried to turn her vampire. That was of course if she hadn’t already changed her mind about wanting to be with him for the rest of both their lives.
Ethan cautiously said, “You’ll get the blood we need?”
Anthony needed to get out of here. He fidgeted as he said, “Yes. I’ll take care of everything we need and I’ll send over instructions on what Seth and Nala will need to do as well.”
“Let me send Christopher over to help you. I don’t expect you to do everything yourself.”
Anthony didn’t know what Christopher would be able to do for him, but he didn’t want to slap away Ethan’s peace offering. “Of course. I’ll await his arrival.”
**
Anthony opened his apartment door to find Kaia reading a book in the living room. She set it down as she looked at him, and didn’t have to say a word. Anthony could see in her eyes that they needed to talk.
He sat down next to her. “You’re upset at me.”
“You’re still keeping things from me.”
The quiet disappointment in her voice ate at his guilty conscience. He wrapped his arms around her and pet her hair as she lay her head against his chest.
“Not on purpose, my sweet. I just don’t tell you things that I think might make you see me as inhuman. Things that might push you away from me.”
She sat back and tensely said, “Like your relationship with Echo?”
Her jealousy startled him, so he said as carefully as he could, “I’ve never had a romantic relationship with Echo. If you want the truth, and please don’t ever tell her this, but I’ve never been attracted to her because I always saw her as too much of a victim. She’s a wonderful woman, and I don’t deny she’s physically attractive, but my tastes run to stronger personalities. Like yours.”
She looked at him with a stubborn pout and he couldn’t help a smile. “I’ve never had someone get jealous over me before, and twice in two weeks is just unheard of.” Before she could respond to that, he said, “You don’t have to let me turn you vampire.”
Her entire body tensed. Her eyes went wide and her heart started harshly pounding. “You don’t want to anymore?”
He frowned at the hurt he felt from her. “I thought you might be getting cold feet, as they say. You’ve been stressed out since you agreed to be mine.”
Her eyes teared up. “What if I’m not strong enough? What if I don’t make it through?”
He said, “Do you mean, what if I let you die?”
A tear trace down her cheek. “I just don’t want to lose you, baby. For any reason.”
He fought a smile. “But you still want this? You still want to be vampire with me?”
She innocently nodded as tears now fell freely down her face. “You need to stop keeping things from me, though. If I’m going to be vampire, I want to understand what it means for me.”
He suddenly felt bad for all the times he’d talked around things, answering her questions without fully answering them. “You’re right. I’d like for you to be comfortable with what it means. Please, ask me anything you want to know.”
She stubbornly said, “No. I’m not going to ask anything. I want you to tell me what I should know. Tell me everything.”
He finally realized how foreign this must be for her to think about turning into a different creature. When his father had first found Anthony and asked him to be vampire with him, Anthony almost instantly agreed. And his father was completely open with him about everything to do with what it meant to be vampire. He was eager to share his world with Anthony so that they could be a father and son team, working side by side.
Anthony was just as eager to share his world with Kaia, but it was a different relationship. He couldn’t bear to think of her being in pain during her turning, or insane with the need to feed afterwards. And she might go out of her mind trying to deal with her new hyper senses her first night as a vampire, and possibly even longer than that.
He wanted to spare her all the hard parts because she was his and he should be able to protect her from the awful things in life. He was Master of Atlanta, after all. But he wouldn’t be able to help her with those things. Not much, anyway. He’d been avoiding talking about the reality of what she’d have to deal with to turn vampire, focusing instead on how wonderful things would be once she was fully in control of herself again.
Her turning would be work for both of them, though. She’d be the one to have to learn all about a new life, and he’d be the one to teach her and watch over her. But mostly he’d be keeping her from hurting herself or others until she could control her new form and supernatural powers.
The silence between them had grown too long and she was now frowning at him.
Anthony said, “You’re right. I haven’t thought a lot about what things will be like for you in the beginning as you learn control over your new form. I’ve been too preoccupied with how much I’m looking forward to having you here with me, forever, as I am. As a vampire.”
Her frown disappeared and she started to look reluctantly happy.
“I’m not putting this conversation off, my sweet, but I must tell you that I’m under some time pressure for the next few evenings. The spirit in Nala wants to come out of her and be born as a full blooded person, and he wants to be born on the night of full moon. That’s four nights away. I need to organize a massive blood donation from the shifters in order for this to happen.”
She sat back and studied him for a time before saying, “Honesty. There needs to always be honesty between us. You promise we’ll talk?”
Once again with her he felt like the one being schooled when it should be the other way around. And it was as exciting as it was scary.
“I’ll always be honest with you. I promise we’ll talk.”
Chapter 25
Ethan tried to console Nala once Anthony left. “Don’t worry Nala. Anthony’s powerful and he’s a man of his word. If anyone can make this work, he can.”
Seth and Nala gave each other worried looks before Seth finally said, “I don’t mean to be rude, Ethan, but Nala and I need to talk. Could we have some time alone?”
Ethan popped out of his chair and reached for Harmony. “Of course. Let me know if you need anything.”
**
Harmony was quiet on the way back to their own place.
“What’s on your mind, kitten?”
She shook her head and avoided looking at him for a time, so he gave her shoulder a squeeze as they slowly made their way home. When they were almost there, she finally said, “When are you going back to the doctor?”
He frowned. “I’m not sure. I haven’t given it any thought yet tonight. Nala’s sudden issue−”
She snapped, “−feels like a distraction.”
They both stopped walking and just stared at each other. Harmony was upset and he was sure it wouldn’t help f
or her to hear he didn’t really want to go back for more counseling. It wasn’t that he didn’t want to put these problems behind him, he did, but he wanted it on his terms. He didn’t like not being the one in control.
“Harmony…”
She grabbed his arm and stiffened as a strange pulse of power rippled through her.
“What was that?”
Her eyes went wide and he sensed a flurry of emotions. “My Maker’s beckoning me home.”
Ethan’s heart dropped. “But it’s only December. You said he always beckons you in June.”
She shrugged in apathetic confusion and he was instantly insane with jealousy. “Let me break his bond to you. I’ll be your Master then.”
She promptly stepped back. “No. Not while you can’t decide if it’s me or Sonya you want in your life.”
He felt like she’d slapped him even though he couldn’t blame her for her hurt.
He clenched his teeth. “Where does he live? Where do you have to go?”
“Malibu.”
“Will you come back after your visit?”
He spit out that last word like venom and she got a fiery, irritated look in her eye. She took way too long to answer, too, which only made his temper rise even more. He already knew her Maker expected intimate things from her, but was this really the way she was going to leave things between them?
She looked away. “I don’t know.”
Ethan blew out a frustrated breath. It wasn’t her fault she’d been beckoned, he knew that, but he wished she felt more resolved to work things out between them.
“I don’t want you to go, but I won’t force you to stay.”
She locked eyes with him and he prayed she’d say she wanted to stay, but her silence was answer enough.
She finally said, “I need some air. I’m going for a drive.”
“Now?”
“I need to think, Ethan. Please.”
He felt like he’d been punched in the gut, but maybe the doctor was right. Maybe he was just trying to see Harmony as another Sonya when she clearly wasn’t. He stubbornly thought Sonya wouldn’t have let someone else come between them. Sonya would’ve…