After an hour or so of listening to Avery’s moans and running through worst-case scenarios in his head, they arrived just before dawn in the snow-covered driveway of his house. Talon grimaced to see his door wide-open, suspecting something shady had gone down here while he was captured. His suspicions seemed correct as he carried Avery into his destroyed living room, the cold air wreaking of blood and gunpowder. He brought her upstairs and laid her on the bed. He got her out of her bloody clothes and put one of his shirts on her. As he covered her up with the blanket, he noticed her skin changed from a burning sweat to a cold one. It was only a matter of time now. He wiped the sweat from her face with a cloth and crawled into the bed next to her, holding her close and hoping she would still be with him by sundown and not hate him.
Avery slowly came awake but jumped up quickly, assessing her surroundings. It was dark, but she could see things as if it was only dim in the room. This was Talon’s bedroom. How did I get here? Is this part of purgatory? Her breathing fastened with her heartbeat and panic consumed her. Talon got up slowly from the bed and eased toward her, his arms reaching out.
“Avery, it’s okay. You’re safe.”
She backed into the bathroom door and tried to turn the knob to escape; it bent in her grasp, leaving sharp edges to poke her.
“Ah!” she shrieked, seeing what she did to the knob and then back at her hand, watching the pricks of blood seal up. “What the….”
Avery jumped as arms wrapped around her. She tried to push him away, but he held her fast.
“It’s okay. You’re safe now.”
The longer he held her, the more she could focus on her other senses: the smell of sweat and blood mixed with silk and wood, the clock ticking somewhere in the house that aggravated her eardrums, and Talon’s warmth giving her goosebumps.
“You’re real?” she asked.
“Yes, I’m real.”
But she had died. That could only mean one thing. “Am I…?”
“A vampire. Yes.”
Anger, like she hadn’t felt before, surged within her, and she pushed him back onto the bed, “How could you!”
“I didn’t! It was a freak thing, but Avery I swear I didn’t do it. Believe me,” Talon beseeched as he told her his theory.
Avery looked into his pleading eyes, and the anger she manifested had disappeared as quickly as it had arrived. “I believe you, but this….” Avery inspected her unscathed body. “This is too much to take. I was at peace. Then I was pulled away, back into pain….”
“It was The Change,” Talon explained. “That burning and darkness is all a part of The Change.”
Avery looked around the room, “I see things more clearly, smell things I didn’t even know had a smell, and hear the smallest sounds. I crave….”
The words barely left her mouth as the burning in her throat persisted. She locked eyes with Talon, who nodded as if he knew what she had intended to say.
“Come with me,” he took her hand in his, guiding her down the stairs and into the kitchen. He pulled out a blood pack and put it in his favorite mug. A pinch in Avery’s mouth startled her when she saw the blood, smelled it. She reached up and felt two sharp fangs poking out of her mouth where there were none before. That’s going to take some getting used to.
Talon warmed the mug in the microwave while Avery watched his every move as she sat at the island counter. When the microwave beeped, she dreaded what was to come. She tipped the mug up to her mouth, and after the first taste, she guzzled the sweet metallic fluid as fast as she could.
She wiped her mouth, “Ew. I can’t believe I did that and I liked it.” Talon had made another cup and offered it to her; she drank this one more casually. “Did you kill him?” she muttered between sips.
“Who?”
“Gunner. Did you kill him?”
Talon shook his head, “He got away.”
“What!? We need to find him! Tonight!” Avery gripped her cup too tightly and the porcelain shattered in her hand, the leftover blood congealing on the countertop. “Oops…”
Talon grabbed a rag and trash can and started to clean the mess with a smirk on his face. “You’ll have to learn to control that. You’re a little bit stronger now, especially being sired by an elder.”
Avery watched in embarrassment as he cleaned her mess as if she were a child. “I need to find him. He can’t be left out there to….”
“You need to rest tonight. You just changed, and that in itself is physically and emotionally exhausting. You will still need to learn what you are capable of before going after him. Your body works differently now.”
“Am I not physically stronger than before? Isn’t that enough?” Avery persisted.
“Physically, yes I am sure you could do it. But your brain also works differently now. Sensations and feelings…you will need to learn to use your higher senses and to control your emotions to stay level-headed in a fight with a provoking speedster like Gunner. As you may have noticed already, you feel emotions greater than before; anger, wrath, jealousy….”
“Great, I’ll be crazy,” Avery chimed in.
“But also love, loyalty, and well…sexual feelings,” Talon continued.
Avery’s mouth gaped, “What? How can that be any better than it was?”
“Oh it can be and it will. Trust me.”
Sensations changed too.... Her mood changed immediately, and she sidled up next to him with her breasts push up against his arm. Her nipples were instantly hardened as the electric feeling between their bodies brought her blood to heat.
“Since we’re staying in tonight, I propose we test this theory.”
It was obvious that Talon tried to resist but was having a hard time as he bit his lower lip.
“As much as I would love to right now, and trust me I would, I think a little training is in order first,” Talon smirked.
“Training?” Avery sighed. Buzzkill.
“Yes. You need to get used to your new strength and agility before you destroy my whole house.”
Avery recalled what she had done to his bathroom doorknob and smiled sheepishly, “True.”
Talon continued, “Plus, there are still other vampires out there to hunt down even if we have destroyed the biggest clan in town.”
“Like Gunner.”
“And others like him. There will always be more.”
“So,” Avery perked up on a lighter note. “I can assume you’ve committed yourself to protecting this town with me then.”
Talon pulled her into his arms, “Just being by your side is enough for me.”
Avery smiled up at the man she loved, “Let’s be together in everything then, okay?”
“Agreed.”
Talon bent down, and Avery went in for a sweet kiss, but the fire in her body surged as she pulled his face closer, making the kiss more passionate. Talon growled in her mouth, and she felt a tingle in her loins as his erection pushed against her abdomen. A small laugh escaped her mouth as she dashed for the stairs, almost running into them and stumbling forward with her new speed, and then disappeared up them. Talon, unable to resist, followed behind.
EPILOGUE
Avery and Talon stepped off the elevator and entered the second floor of the east wing of the hospital, hand in hand. Avery held a bouquet of daisies in her other hand, the smell of which annoyed Talon’s senses.
“Two-hundred twenty-one,” Avery spoke cheerfully as they stopped in front of a door. She turned to Talon with a grin, “Coming in?”
“I’ll stay out here. Besides, he doesn’t like me very much.”
“You mean you don’t like him.”
“Same thing,” Talon muttered.
Avery had discovered a couple days since she had been changed that not only had the red-haired girl survived, but the detective had as well. He was here in the hospital, and she felt compelled to visit him and let him know she was alright. Talon couldn’t care less. But he’d gone along because it meant so much to her.
; Avery got up on her toes and kissed him on the lips before entering the room. Just being separated by a door, he could feel the radiance of her presence leave him. It left him needing her, but he forced patience upon himself. Unless of course the detective says something inappropriate to her, and he would be listening, then he’d be in there in a flash to break his face.
Talon focused beyond all the scuttle around him to listen in on their conversation. The muffle became clearer until he picked up the detective’s voice.
“Holy shit Langdon, are you okay? Did they hurt you? You look…pale.”
“I’m okay. I’m glad to see you’re going to be okay too.”
“What happened to you?” he inquired.
Quiet followed before the detective asked, “You’re one now, aren’t you?”
“Yeah.”
The detective raised his voice, “Did he do it?”
“No, well yes, but not intentionally. It’s hard to explain.”
“Yeah, well…I obviously believe you now: about vampires and such. I had a couple of guys in here yesterday bringing me up to date. They said they were with The Order, whatever that is. Said I should join them. I think it’s just to shut me up.”
“You should join them. They don’t just cover up incidences, they seek out the special crimes suspected to be committed by the paranormal and seek out justice for the victims, eradication for the perp. I also hear the pay is amazing,” Avery giggled.
Oh, why did she have to giggle? He’s going to see it as flirting! Don’t you know how gorgeous you are? Talon balled his fists and grit his teeth.
The detective replied in an unsure tone, “Yeah well, I still believe in a fair trial, so….”
“Well, maybe that’s why you should join. Try to bring an archaic system up to date.”
More small talk ensued after that. Talon paced the hall, waiting for the detective’s endless questions to cease. He heard them laughing together, and it was too much to take. Talon was about to barge into the room when a faint scent caught his attention. He froze and looked down the busy hall, searching for signs of anyone he might recognize. His gut wrenched. Was it all in his head? The smell, floral and earthy, was familiar and yet long forgotten.
A young woman watched him from down the corridor and walked away as he started looking toward her direction. She blended right into the crowd of nurses, doctors, and family members, sure that he wouldn’t recognize her by the back of her head.
“After all these years, I’ve finally found you Talon.”
The series continues!
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Check out ‘Love and Bloodlust: Chaos in The Order’ on Amazon!
And other titles by Melinda Clark:
Thorns and Darkness
Demon Tamer
Love and Bloodlust: The Sacred Objects Page 22