Emmanuel kissed my hair. It was still damp. "They are dead and their souls saved. I've done all I can for them."
I sat up, restless. Emmanuel tilted his face to watch me, wrapping a long arm around my bare waist. “What does that even mean?”
His mouth hitched to the side. “It is my destiny. And theirs. All is written, Darling.” He snuggled into my waist and bit my hip. Well that’s nice and cryptic.
“Written where?” I asked, trying to ignore his warm lips on my stomach.
“In the stars.”
I pulled away from him, and he let me gain a little distance. "What are we doing here then?” I asked.
Emmanuel shifted, propping himself up on an elbow. "We can stay here, relax, enjoy ourselves. Then we can go to any world in the universe. I'd love to show you the peaks of Ionion. The wild seas of Dalmation."
"But what about the world we left behind?"
"I can't go back there." He reached out and toyed with a lock of my hair. "If I returned, it would be the end of that world. As it was for this one."
"What do you mean? This place seems nice."
Emmanuel smiled in the dark room, his eyes glimmering. "Darling, my return would be the first step of the apocalypse."
"Not the zombies?" I asked, incredulous.
He shook his head. "That is just a major shift. By now the vampires have saved enough humans to keep the species going. There are lots of worlds like that. But my return would mean the rapture for all vampires and then who would protect the humans?"
“Rapture?”
Emmanuel sighed and turned onto his back, looking up at the ceiling. “Yes, Darling, the rapture.” He put his hands behind his head, and my eyes stuttered over the way his biceps and shoulders bunched with the movement. God, he was sexy. Wait. What did he say about the rapture of vampires?
“Don't worry, you're with me now. You're safe. We are going to be together forever.” He was smiling at me, his eyes shining. “You'll never need to worry again." He rolled toward me and dragged me down next to him, kissing my neck. “I’m tired,” he said into my hair. “We can talk more in the morning.” His breathing slowed, and he was quickly asleep.
It was not so easy for me. Together forever? Never worry again? Was he crazy? Or was this, in fact, my destiny? I needed to get Megan alone tomorrow and talk to her about this. I needed my best friend's advice. Badly.
A damp stone floor chilled my bare feet. The scent of mildew and rot mingled in the air. The only light came from a barred window in the ceiling. Chains tinkled as something shifted in the blackness.
Another dream.
This is what being happy gets me…nightmares. Great.
Sighing, I blinked, my eyes adjusting so I could see a huddled figure in the corner of the small cell.
Eyes met mine—blue green and glowing with energy. “Darling, help me.”
The man from my dreams. I rushed toward him, but instead of meeting his warm flesh, I found my self stepping into freezing water. I gasped at the cold.
Ice sparkled in the air. Clouds blotted out the sky in this suddenly vast landscape. Mountains dominated the horizon, circling the water. My teeth chattered, water swirling around my waist.
Something slimy curled around my ankle and I screamed, leaping and splashing away. That feminine laughter came again.
Hands forced me forward into the water and followed me into the depths, holding me under.
I thrashed but only sank deeper, the weight of my attacker pushing me into the muddy bottom. I couldn’t hold my breath anymore.
Freezing water entered my mouth and burned my lungs. But I still didn’t wake up.
I kicked hard off the muddy bottom, forcing my attacker back, and threw myself toward the surface. Breaking through I coughed up water, my chest aching with the effort.
A figure stood in front of me. My gaze traveled up from her leather clad hips, to her narrow waist, past breasts pressed together by the leather halter top she wore, and up to meet eyes that shone the same color as mine.
Panting, each breath a struggle, I met a gaze that I’d only ever seen in a mirror. But this wasn’t me. The features were sharper, the face thinner, the mouth smugger. Half her head was shaved close, long dark hair pinned back on the other side.
“Who are you?” I wheezed.
The woman laughed, letting her head fall back, and her breath plume white into the frigid air.
She went as opaque as her breath and disappeared, leaving me alone in the lake, ripples of water fading away from me.
My foot was yanked out from under me. I splashed back into the water, my eyes open, bubbles exploding from me in surprise. I kicked, looking down my body.
A zombie, its bony fingers shedding flesh as it grappled with me, opened its mouth. My scream was caught in a bubble as teeth sank into my foot. There was movement all around me. Zombie arms reaching out of the bottom of the lake like seaweed straining for the surface. Hands latched onto my hair, tangled in my clothing, and dragged me down into the mud, slowing my movements, making it impossible to fight them.
There were too many.
I was too cold.
Waking with a jolt, I shot up in bed. Emmanuel rolled over, throwing an arm around my waist. I bit back a scream. He wasn’t a zombie. The dream wasn’t real…
Sucking in a deep breath I let it out slowly. That woman’s eyes…my eyes. What the what?
I must have fallen asleep again because I woke as Emmanuel slipped out of bed. He put on his pants, covering up that beautiful body. Should I just relax into this? Let him take care of me for however long I might live, centuries? The thought was so huge I barely knew how to look at it.
He turned and smiled at me, his chest still bare. Sunlight came in through the windows, bright and yellow. The sun of late afternoon. "Go back to sleep," he said.
"I'll get up," I protested, and went to push the covers away.
He sat down on the bed and put his hand over mine, stopping me. "Stay in bed," he said. "I'll bring you tea in a bit. Rest. It gives me great pleasure to have you sleeping here. Please."
I laughed. "When you put it like that…"
He leaned forward and kissed me softly. Hunger sparked, and I pulled him closer, deepening the kiss. He growled. "I must go," he said.
"Why?" I asked, my voice sounding more like a whine than I'd expected or wanted.
He laughed. "Still hungry?" I felt myself blush and looked down. "Oh, Darling." He took hold of my chin and tilted my face up. “Never be ashamed of your desire for me. Do you understand how happy it makes me?"
"I—I'm sorry," I said.
"That’s what I mean. There is no need to apologize. I love what you are: your hunger, your bravery, your openness. I love everything about you." I stopped breathing as his eyes held mine. "You are mine," he said.
"I am mine," I protested, my voice weak with the effort of disagreeing with him.
He shook his head, a knowing smile curling his lips. He gave me one more quick kiss then grabbed a clean shirt out of a drawer and let himself out. The door clicked into place behind him, and I laid back in the bed and stared up at the ceiling. Did he just tell me he loved me? I let out a hysterical huff of a laugh. That wasn’t even the biggest thing I needed to think about at the moment.
I hadn’t been alone with my thoughts in what felt like eons. I wasn't even sure how many days had passed. Did it matter? Was time something I should concern myself with, the way I used to? The urge to play music came over me again.
Music, and the violin in particular, had always soothed me, helped to clear my mind and forge ahead. The sun was still up, but once it was dark, I was determined to find an instrument and make some music with Megan. Vampires couldn’t make music, they’d said, but she wasn’t a regular vampire. I’d made Dimitri’s heart beat. Surely I could push the song back into Megan’s voice.
I had vast powers.
Up until that moment, I'd been frightened and fascinated, but lying in that bed, I got it. There was power in me t
hat did not exist in any other being in all the worlds.
How could I spend my life traveling with Emmanuel, just enjoying myself, not helping anyone? I needed to explore what I could do, especially now that I'd fed from Emmanuel a number of times.
Energy coursed through me. It was almost becoming normal, this feeling of strength. Whereas before I'd always felt a deep, insatiable hunger and sense of dread, an inherent weakness. Now I felt the opposite. I felt powerful beyond belief.
If I could just get these damn dreams to stop haunting me…
I climbed out of the bed and found my jeans and T-shirt where I'd left them crumpled next to the copper bathtub. ‘Mine’ was a funny way of looking at the clothing. After all, I'd taken them from an abandoned apartment. I’m an incredibly powerful interdimensional being who’s hooking up with a freaking god and yet…I don’t own any clothing.
Taking the stolen threads with me, I went back into the bedroom and opened one of the drawers in the dresser. I'd seen Emmanuel take out a clean shirt and wanted one. Inside I found many neatly folded shirts, all hand woven. Unfolding one, I held it up against my bare chest. The fabric felt wonderful, even if the size was too large.
Slipping the shirt over my head, I put the jeans back on and opened the bedroom door. Following the sounds of voices, I went downstairs and found my way to the kitchen.
It ran the length of the house from front to back. Two women were laughing while attending several pots on the stove. Rich scents of spices filled the air. One woman turned and startled, laying her hand over her chest as she staggered back, and then laughed. "Oh, you scared me," she said. "Standing there like a ghost."
"I'm sorry," I said. "I didn't mean to frighten you."
The other woman turned then. "Don't worry about that," she said. "Margie jumps at just about anything."
"I do not," Margie denied and smacked her friend's arm.
"I'm Darling," I said, moving into the kitchen and offering my hand. Margie wiped hers on the apron tied around her waist and stepped forward.
Her black hair was twisted up into a simple knot at the base of her neck. Margie’s green-blue eyes twinkled at me. "Margie," she said, taking my hand. Hers was warm and callused. "And this is Evergreen," she said with a nod to her friend.
Evergreen was taller and thinner with shorter hair and darker skin. Her eyes were warm and welcoming as she extended her hand. We shook and I smiled, feeling shy. I'd just woken up in their house and wandered downstairs.
"What would you like for breakfast?" Evergreen asked, turning back to the stove. "We've got eggs and bacon in the pantry, and there is tea. I could also make pancakes, whatever you like."
"Oh," I said. "I wouldn't want to intrude. It looks like you're working on a bunch of stuff."
Margie laughed. "Honey, we are here to serve you."
“Excuse me?"
Evergreen turned back to me. "We work for Emmanuel.”
My cheeks warmed. "I didn't realize."
Margie laughed, relaxing me. "What can I get you?"
"Tea, please."
"And to eat?" Evergreen asked as Margie turned to a kettle on the stove.
"Just some toast, please.”
Evergreen frowned. "You're not gonna keep that lush figure eating like a bird, child."
I blushed again. It wasn't any kind of exterior nourishment that led to my figure. "Come on," Margie encouraged. "How about a couple of eggs and some bacon? Who can say no to bacon?"
"That sounds nice," I said, not wanting to disappoint them.
"Perfect, you can wait in the dining room," Evergreen said.
I looked over at the worn kitchen table by the front windows. "Can I stay here?" I asked.
They looked at each other and smiled. "Of course," Evergreen said as Margie handed me my tea. "Milk and honey?" Evergreen asked, walking toward the fridge.
"Yes, please."
Settled at the kitchen table, I stared out the window, watching people pass in the bright afternoon sunlight while Evergreen and Margie prepared my breakfast, talking to each other and laughing. It was very cozy. I wondered where Emmanuel was, and turned to the women in the kitchen to ask, when I heard the front door open and recognized his presence as it filled the entry hall.
"In here," I called to him.
He came around the bend and smiled at the sight of me sitting at the kitchen table wearing his shirt over my jeans. "You're up," he said. "I would have brought you breakfast in bed." He was carrying a small bouquet of wild flowers and held them out to me as he approached the table. "For you, beautiful," he said as he kissed my forehead.
"Thank you." I took the delicate blooms and held them to my nose. The scent of honey floated off of them. Or was that him?
"Can we throw on some bacon for you, my Lord?" Evergreen asked.
"Sure," he said, sliding into a chair next to me and placing his hand on my knee, leaning over and kissing my neck as I held the flowers to my face. Desire stirred. “Are you hungry, Darling?" he asked, his voice low and suggestive.
“Always,” I answered, catching his eye over the flowers. His hand inched up my thigh. "I want to see Megan later,” I warned. “Have some girl time."
"Later," he said with a sexy smile.
Chapter Four
Megan woke after the sun sank below the horizon. It set to the west, as it did in every world, Emmanuel assured me. I tried to recognize something in the sunsets I remembered from my childhood, but it was different—liquid orange piercing through the trees instead of the soft peach and gentle fading rays of my memory.
Emmanuel offered to loan me a horse, but I insisted that Megan and I could walk into the woods on foot just fine. "Why don't you stay in and have a drink?" he suggested.
"I want to go for a walk," I said. "I need real alone time with her, and I need activity. It helps me think."
He frowned. "Are you going to feed her?"
"If she needs it."
"But she won't feed you.” It wasn't a question so much as a command. I nodded, not wanting to argue with him about who fed me. Obviously, he considered our relationship exclusive, but I didn't ever agree to that except through silent acceptance, and now was not the moment to explain that I was unsure of such an eternal commitment.
Emmanuel was incredibly powerful, and while I trusted him, that didn't mean I wanted to make him mad. Not until I more fully understood his motives. Perhaps we really were destined to be together. Maybe he did just want to bathe in each other’s glow for eternity, but it seemed he wanted to do it on his terms—and his alone. Negotiating a place for myself in this relationship was something I needed to do before we went on for much longer, but I didn't know how to do it. Because, really, I didn't know what it was that I wanted. My first real boyfriend is a hugely powerful God-like person…not your average who-cleans-the-kitchen kind of problem.
Megan was excited about the idea of a walk. Dimitri offered to escort us, but I declined. I needed alone time with Megan. Dimitri nodded and turned away. I wanted to reach out and touch him, assure my brave vampire that he still meant so much to me.
If not for Dimitri, I'd be dead, and now he was sleeping in a basement, waiting for me to need him in some way. It was wrong.
Dimitri seemed to think it was fate. Perhaps it felt more right to him than what we'd been. The gray I'd seen in his eyes, the life flooding back into him, was fading without my touch. I had not heard his heartbeat since arriving in this world. I missed it.
As Megan and I left the compound and the light faded away, she took my hand, leading me through the dark. "What's going on?" she asked.
"Megan," I said, my voice catching on a ball of tears.
She stopped and pulled me to her. I wrapped my arms around her waist and began to cry. "Shhh," she said softly, "it's okay, tell me what's going on.” When I didn't answer, she asked, "Did Emmanuel hurt you?"
I looked up at her, shaking my head. "No, he's been nothing but totally sweet. He brought me flowers today. Flowers he picked hims
elf."
Megan pushed hair away from my face and smiled down at me. "Then why are you crying?"
"I don't know," I said, my tears turning into a laugh. "It's just all so much."
"Yes, I can see that. You found out everything all at once. I was a vampire for months before the zombies began to rise, and my parents were obsessed with it, talking about it all the time, so that by the time it happened I was numb to the strangeness."
"But that's not everything, Megan. It's also me, and what I am."
"And what are you?" Megan asked.
I turned back to the woods and took her hand, walking forward, needing the exercise, the fresh air. "I don't know exactly. There are lots of names, I guess."
"What do you mean? For what?"
"I went to this Warlock Society." I glanced at her. "You know there are warlocks, right?"
She nodded. "Yeah, remember two days ago when we were escaping from them?”
"Right." I hiccuped a laugh. "Did you know there were multiple dimensions? Before we came here?"
She shook her head. "I have faith in Emmanuel. I’m sure that he has brought us to the right place."
"You do?"
Megan's eyebrows rose. "Don't you?"
"I guess," I said. "It's just so much new information. To think that there are an uncountable amount of dimensions and we can travel between them."
"Amazing," Megan agreed as we came to a small clearing. I sat down on a fallen tree. Megan joined me. "You were going to tell me about a Warlock Society you went to?"
I nodded, taking in a deep breath. “I met this doctor. After you left. They called me for another bone marrow transplant." Megan nodded. I’d originally gotten tested to see if I was a match for her. Spoiler alert: I wasn’t. "It turned out the doctor who was working with me was actually a warlock, and he was interested in me. Because I'm rare, Megan. Very rare."
"I always knew you were special.” I recognized the proud smile on her face from a thousand shows. She always introduced me as the talent of our duo, even though it was clear to everyone that she was the one with the voice, the looks, and the charisma.
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