by J. J. McAvoy
However, apparently, Theseus wasn’t done. “Melora said that one-hundred-percent silk was almost as good as being naked, and you shot a spark of fire at her, growled, and told her to leave you alone.”
Oh my God.
“Ulrik, who was waiting outside the door, heard and nearly want into a rage. Luckily, Melora is the more sensible of the two and stopped him and me from fighting. He wanted to take a limb, and I, of course, wouldn’t have that. Conversely, you did not seem to care that I was seeking to protect your life as you tossed all of us out of my room with a flick of your wrist. You told us, and I quote again, ‘Shut the hell up, please. I’m trying to sleep.’ I had to wait until you were deeply asleep before dressing you—only because I feared you would panic when you woke.”
“Please. Please,” I whispered. The sheets were now over my head as I tried to hide from shame. “Please, Theseus, tell me that none of that is true, and you just have a twisted sense of humor.”
“Very well. It is not true,” he said from beside me, and when I moved the sheets to look at him, he smiled and nodded. “It is true.”
“Why? How?” I groaned. “That’s crazy. I sound insane. Why would I do any of that?”
“When you did not wake up after the first day, Hinrik, Arsiein, and Atarah went to meet a few witches across Ankeiros whom our family has understandings with. From what they have gathered, you were drunk.”
“Drunk?” I questioned in disbelief. “Like humans? But vampires don’t get drunk. And even if we did, I didn’t drink anything.”
“Magic drunk, Druella.”
“Magic drunk?” I repeated slowly. “What is that?”
“From what we have learned over the last two days, it is when a Wiccan uses so much powerful magic at one time that afterward, the effects leave them as if they were drunk. And you must have used a lot of magic in freeing that ghost. When he calmed down, Ulrik couldn’t stop talking about how your lights were better than the aurora borealis.”
“I’m glad he enjoyed the show,” I said with a hint of sarcasm. “I’m more worried about the magic drunk thing.”
“All the witches we have spoken to have heard of it, but none have experienced it themselves. It is not common, apparently.”
“Yes, because commonality runs from me like the plague,” I complained, putting my hands on my face. “Why am I like this?”
“If it makes you feel better, the first decades of a young vampire’s life are often the most chaotic and troublesome. You are not alone in this,” he stated, and when I looked up to him, he was looking down at me.
“Really? Were you talking to ghosts and casting spellings spells at random?”
“No, I was getting into far more trouble, sacking cities and getting chased by witches and vampires,” he said seriously, but a smile spread across his face. “Tell me more about you.”
“More of me?”
He nodded. “So far, I have learned that you love art, history, romance, especially romance novels, and you are an American.”
“Yes, I know; what a tragedy.” I laughed, rolling my eyes.
He really didn’t seem to like anywhere but Greece anyway. He grinned too but went on. “You were born on August twenty-first, therefore a Leo-Virgo cusp.”
“A what?” I’d always just thought I was a Leo.
“A Leo-Virgo-cusp child,” he repeated as if I understood. But guessing from my facial expression, he went on. “Those born between the days of August nineteenth to August twenty-fifth are called Leo-Virgo cusp. Born on this cusp, you are influenced by the sun, the ruling planet of Leo and Mercury, the ruling planet of Virgo.”
“Wait, you really believe in this stuff, like the planets are in retrograde and what not?” That was not what I expected from a vampire, let alone one as old as Theseus.
“Why would one not believe?” he questioned with the same amount of skepticism. “If the moon and the sun have effects on the oceans and lands, why not the beings who inhabit them?”
“Yeah, but to think that you can define a person’s personality down to where the stars, moon, and sun were when they are born seems a bit…”
“Magical?” He beamed, knowing I really didn’t have room to doubt magic.
“Okay, I see your point.” But I still didn’t want to let it go. “Are you exactly like your zodiac sign? Did they even do signs back then?”
“Yes, the zodiac goes back over two thousand years, and I am a Cancer.”
My eyes narrowed, and I extended my hand to him, and he looked at it confused. “Your phone. I want to google something.”
“Google?” he questioned; nevertheless, reached over to his bedside table and handed me the phone.
Sitting up, I searched with my legs folded on under me. “Okay, so it says,” I scrolled so I could keep reading. “Cancer and Leo make a very interesting couple due to the fact that they are the only signs in the zodiac ruled by the lights in the sky, both of which are not planets—the sun and the moon.”
“I am the moon, and you are the sun.” He nodded, and that came off a lot more romantic to me for some reason, but I didn’t dwell on it.
“According to this, for intimacy compatibility, we are at thirty percent. Trust we are at fifty percent, communication and intellect, ten percent. They say even if we share the same interests, we will often have strangely different views on the same thing. And so, we will often drift apart as the conversation progresses. Overall we are at twenty-five percent as a couple.” I didn’t actually enjoy reading that, frowning as I glanced back at up at him. “Are you sure you want to believe in this still?”
“Whether it is twenty-five percent or one percent, we shall still be together, for it does not say impossible,” he said, gently taking his phone back to set it aside. He kissed the back of my hand and my knuckles and then my palm again before whispering, “The fact that it has taken me over a thousand years to meet you is proof alone that we were never meant to be easy, but we were always meant to be, Druella. So, you shall not scare or dishearten me with such things.”
“I…I wasn’t trying to scare you,” I whispered, distracted by the warmth I felt at his touch and kisses.
“So, you sought to scare yourself then?” he posed, his arms wrapping around my waist to bring me closer.
“No.” I swallowed, feeling myself getting sucked into him and unable to fight it. I couldn’t even manage to get my voice to come out right. “I- I was just trying to win the conversation, I guess.”
“Forgive me,” he whispered with his lips directly over mine. “I cannot allow you to do so on this.”
I quickly glanced at his lips and then back to his eyes. “I’m trying to think of something witty to say, but you’re distracting me.”
“Maybe it is not words you need.”
“Then what—”
He kissed me before I could finish my sentence, and I didn’t mind at all. My arms wrapped around his neck. Slowly, I fell back onto the bed as he got on top of me.
The weight of his hard body on mine.
The warmth I felt from him, from myself.
When his kisses moved from my lips to my jaw and down my neck, I couldn’t help but shiver. I felt as if we were floating on clouds.
“You are the sun of my life,” he whispered, kissing my ear. “The lion of my heart.” His lips once more found the space between my neck and shoulder. “The fire coursing through my veins.”
When he lifted his head, his face now above me, I felt like I’d melted into a pile of goo. His hands slid up my thighs, and I could only arch toward him.
“If you only knew how badly I wanted you.” He smiled, his voice no more than a whisper. When his hands began to pull away, I held him tighter.
“If you want me…” I smiled and gripped his arms. I flipped us over, pinning him under me. “Take me.”
His eyebrow r
aised, clearly more amused. “Are you sure that is what you want? Or would you like to do the taking?”
Instead of answering, I kissed him, and he smiled against my lips, his arms wrapping around me, holding me closer. But when I leaned into him, he flipped me over.
“If you want me…” A wicked grin took over his lips as he pinned me down. “Mate me.”
Chapter 30
“What am I supposed to say to that?” I asked, glaring up at him.
“Yes, of course, is the preferred answer,” he replied, still amused. “What reason do you have for hesitating now after coming so far? Or do you merely wish to use me for my body?”
I couldn’t help it and laughed outright. “Can I not? All those other vampire women in America were able to.”
“As you may know, I do not recall such persons.” He bent down and kissed my lips. When I moved to kiss back, he moved, shaking his head. “No, I shall not give into your wicked temptations.”
“You sound like a Puritan now,” I teased as he sat up, pulling me up with him.
He chuckled but said nothing more. He reached up, placing his hands on my face. Calming down, and much more serious, he asked me, “What is it about mating that scares you?”
“I’m not scared,” I replied quickly as I sat between his legs. I tried to find something in his room to distract me.
“Then your hesitation is caused by what?” he asked softly, gently moving my chin over, so I would look at him. “I do not mind waiting for you, whether you wish to run or crawl or standstill, so long you are beside me, I am content, Druella. But I do wish to know what is on your mind. What is it you wish for? What is it you fear?”
“Does your mom know that?” I muttered.
“I have no interest in finding out about my lover from my mother.” He chuckled. “That is a bit awkward.”
I grinned and felt this fluttering in my chest, which was weird because there was nothing in there that was supposed to be alive anymore. Nevertheless, he always had me laughing or smiling. Sighing, I leaned into his arms to rest my head on his chest.
“I don’t know,” I whispered. “I like you. You make me laugh more in a day than I remember laughing in a month—”
“You admit you like me,” he repeated joyfully. I rolled my eyes, trying to get out of his arms, but he held me closer. “I wonder how deeply you are going to be in love with me once you are free from your spellbind.”
“How deeply are you in love with me now? You haven’t even known me that long. You have spent so long waiting for someone, waiting for me. What if I’m not what you expect or even want?”
“Impossible,” he whispered.
“You don’t know that. Forever is a long time.”
“Yes, I am aware.” He laughed with his hands in my hair. He didn’t get it.
“What if…What if you get annoyed with me after I don’t know the first decade? What if I’m not the same? What if your memories come back or my magic comes out and all of a sudden we’re…I don’t know—at each other throats, or we hate each other…What if—”
“The sun falls out of the sky and the earth burns to ash,” he teased, and I tried to pull away again, but he held me tighter. “I jest. Forgive me.”
Sighing, I sat back and rested into his arms, my back to his chest. “I don’t feel black-hearted, Theseus. I feel confused, lost, and overwhelmed.”
“My mother said before you fell asleep two days ago, she saw a flicker of me in your heart,” he whispered, and my head nearly whipped back.
“Really?”
He nodded. “Yes, so expect her to be less harsh from here onward.”
“How much less?” I pressed.
“She might say good morning every once in a while.” He snickered. “My mother is not the easiest to get close to. It’s why my father calls her Draka.”
“What does that mean?” I’d heard Sigbjørn call her that with such tenderness.
“Dragon.”
We shared a look before both of us laughed.
“Your mom must love that.”
“She hated it at first, but the more she complained, the more the name fit and proved him right.” Theseus chuckled, and I liked how his back vibrated against mine.
“So, does that mean the spellbind on me is breaking?” I questioned, thinking about it. “I did feel something after I helped the ghost.”
“How did you feel?”
“Light.” I didn’t know how to describe it exactly. “It was like something heavy was taken off me.”
“Do you still feel bound, though?”
I closed my eyes, looking inside of myself, and the moment I did, I heard the same voice.
“Free us.”
“I’m still in the jacket,” I whispered. “But it’s lesser now. I don’t know how to explain it, but I think your father’s right. By setting something else free, I helped myself in a way.”
“Damn.”
“What?”
“If it’s working, that means you’ll do it again, won’t you?”
I frowned at that. “You don’t want me to?”
“I do not want to see you assaulted in the same manner as last and be powerless to do anything but watch.” His arms tightened around him. “I did not know what was happening to you.”
“For a few minutes, I didn’t understand what was happening to me, either.”
“Were you scared?”
“I’m a vampire.”
“We can be scared like any other.”
“Like you were scared when your mother said she did not see you in my heart?” I meant it to tease him a bit, but it also reminded me of the look he had on his face when she’d said it.
“I was concerned,” he admitted, kissing the side of my head. “But now, I see I shall just have to wear you down bit by bit. Seeing as you are throwing yourself at me already—”
“Hey!” I broke out of his arms and turned to glare at him.
He stared back at me, amused. “You are permitted to tease me, and I am not allowed to return the favor?”
“Exactly,” I said seriously.
“I cannot oblige,” he replied with the same seriousness.
We glowered back at each other until I felt an ache in the back of my throat. Glancing around the room, I saw his empty cup, wishing I hadn’t drunk it all in such a rush.
“You are thirsty.” He didn’t ask; instead, he was already lifting his phone, which I noted, he seemed very accustomed to using now.
“Who are you calling?”
“Pelopia,” he answered. “Would you prefer her to send a human?”
What? “Send a human? Like a living person delivered to the door?” I needed to clarify because he had said with such ease that I was a bit lost.
“Yes,” he stated, and from the way he was looking at me, he didn’t seem to understand how weird his comment was. Or was I the weird one? “Would you prefer to hunt them in the forest?”
Okay, I was definitely not the weird one. “You all have humans on standby that you can just drink from or hunt?”
“Well, it is their job,” he again said in a way that made me look completely crazy. But then again, I remembered Rhea drinking from a woman earlier like she was her own personal blood fountain.
“I shall just send a bottle.” I heard Pelopia’s dull voice on the other end of the phone.
“No,” I said quickly. I wanted to fit in, and if this were how they did things, then I would learn to do them, too. “You can send the human.”
“Are you sure?” Theseus pressed, and I just nodded because I wasn’t sure I trusted my voice. He hung up the phone and looked me over. “Have you ever drank straight from a human before, young one?”
“Of course, and don’t call me young one,” I said, quickly shifting to get out of bed. I wanted to take a showe
r.
“It’s hard not to call you young one when you act like a young one,” he said, rising out of bed as well, his abs exposed for me to see.
I turned back. “How so?”
“You haven’t gotten pleasure out of it, have you?” he asked softly. “All the times you have drunk directly from a human, you see the horror in their minds. It leaves a sour taste in your mouth. So that’s why you drank off the animals. You wished to avoid that.”
“Is that wrong?” I asked, defensively.
“No, it just proves your lack of knowledge,” he said gently. “Drinking is something your maker is supposed to teach you.”
My jaw set.
“Don’t be cross. I shall teach you. Is that your excuse for staying beside me? Wishing to steal my knowledge?” He grinned at me.
“What is there to drinking? You bite and suck in blood. Done,” I said back.
He shook his head. “Have you ever wondered why the humans have written off our kind as seducers? The allure of the vampire?”
“To sell books?”
“Because it is one truth they have discovered,” he whispered as if he were telling me a secret. “Many vampires seduce their prey to avoid that bitterness in their minds. Instead of fear, you taste their pleasure.”
My eyebrow raised. “So, you’re going to teach me to seduce a human?”
“Never.” His lips formed a hard line. “I am far too jealous a man for that.”
It wasn’t funny, but I grinned a little. “So, what’s my other option?”
“Bedside manner.”
“Like with doctors?”
He nodded. “They will get scared; it is their nature. To avoid that, tell them what it is you are about to do and where. Once you find a human you like, they will soon become accustomed to your preferences, and you will no longer need to do so. There are other methods, as well.”
“Other methods?”
“In time, you shall see. It is best you start here.” He turned to the door just as there was a knock.