Total pages in book: 125
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 122030 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 610(@200wpm)___ 488(@250wpm)___ 407(@300wpm)
I get out of the Hummer and clap my hands. “Thank you all. Please go back to whatever it is you do. Echo and I will handle things from here.”
They nod, sound off a chorus of, “Yes, my lords,” and start walking back up the driveway in the direction of the lodge.
I turn back to Ryet and walk over to him, kneeling down in the snow, getting my suit pants all wet. But I don’t care. I would do anything for this man.
Anything.
I am leaning into his ear as I whisper his name. “Ryet.”
He turns his head, angling his mouth towards me. Seeking a drink. It’s not something he ever does, so this is a thrill in and of itself.
I cannot feed him. Not yet. Even though I want to. I want to take him in my arms and let him suck all the blood out of me right now.
But Josep and I have failed too many times before. There is a protocol that must be followed exactly. The chance of messing this up now is miniscule, but it is still there. And giving Ryet my blood, tainted with Josep’s, which is tainted with the Darkness, would certainly be a kink in the chain.
He must take Syrsee first. He must drain her dry. Only then can he have the gift inside me.
I pick him up in my arms and feel the heat burning him up from the inside out. Then I carry him to the Hummer and get in, keeping him in my lap. “Let’s go.”
Echo pulls out, does a u-turn, and then drives us back. I close my eyes, enjoying this moment to its fullest. He is mine now. And he will be mine forever.
We will be equals soon. And then… oh, I can’t wait for what happens then.
When we get to the lodge I get out with Ryet in my arms. Limp. Head hanging back, arms draping down. And there are a few gasps from the halfbreeds who are hanging about.
I don’t tell them to leave. It’s a big moment for them as well. They will never be like me. They will never be vampires. But they are good slaves and this is something they will remember for the rest of their short lives.
They do not follow me into the lodge. Even Echo hangs back, probably waiting for permission to join in on what comes next.
But I don’t give her that permission. As much as I like her, this is a moment for three people only.
Ryet stirs in my arms as I climb the stairs towards the room where my little Black witch awaits.
“Shhh,” I tell him, right into his ear. “It’s almost over now, Ryet.”
“I…” He moans this word out. “I… I can see her, Paul. I can see her.”
“Good,” I whisper back. “Good. Say goodbye to your Jane, Ryet. Say goodbye to all of them now. This will be the last time you will ever have this pain.”
CHAPTER THIRTY - TWO - SYRSEE
Just tell me what to do.
They crossed the veil. And they never came back.
Lucia’s words echo in my head and then I involuntarily shiver.
They never came out of the dreamwalk.
And wasn’t I just thinking about this? Did I just give this fear some kind of… reality when I articulated it in my head?
I did.
So I just scoff. “Of course they didn’t.” Then I scoff again.
Lucia places a hand on my spirit shoulder and I brush it off because I don’t like her. She shoots me a look that says, Really? then gets past it. “Now listen. We don’t have a lot of time. Ryet is here—”
“He is?”
“Can you please not interrupt? I’m trying to tell you the plan.” She closes her eyes for a moment, then opens them again. “He’s down the driveway. There was some sort of crash. But Paul is there, so forget about Ryet in the present for just a moment, please. Because what you need to be concerned about is Ryet’s future.”
“What about it?”
“He’s Paul’s firstborn. At least, he will be. Once he’s drained you and the transformation can proceed.”
“Paul’s really turning him into a vampire?” I recall the words Ryet spat at me back at the spa. You have turned me into him, Syrsee. That’s what you’ve done.
“Oh, he really is. And Ryet doesn’t want this, Syrsee. You’ve been with him. You know this. Right?”
I can’t deny it. Though I have a bad feeling about where this is going, I can’t deny it. “No. He doesn’t.”
“He doesn’t. He wants to die, Syrsee. He wants to get on with it.”
“Get on with it?”
“He wants to go to Hell, darling. He wants to die.”
Everything inside me—every little bit of hope that I was holding onto that somehow I would be able to keep Ryet, that we really could run away, and get jobs somewhere in some little city, and just banter and fuck—well, this is the moment when that hope dies.