Page 112 of We Were Eternal Once

I meet her in the limestone tunnel, beneath the world of Paris. She is already there, her hands clasped before her. Her heart races, she smells of sweat and dirt. Her eyes are red-rimmed.

“Have you changed your mind?” I ask.

“No,” she says, her voice firm. “This is what I want.”

“First I will drain you,” I say, circling her. “Nearly to death. My bite will be…confusing. It will evoke feelings akin to a lover. You must ignore it, for I have only one love, and it is not you.”

“You’re not who I fancy,” she says.

“Have you a lover?” I ask.

“No,” she says with a laugh. “I’ve never had the freedom. But if I did, it would not be you. Take no offense.”

“I don’t,” I say, and it is true. My love for Zora is not as my love is for you. It comes from somewhere else, from a part of my soul that longs for a companion. An equal. Someone to share my life with but not my grave.

“Then, when you are nearly dead, I will feed you my blood. You will die, and when you wake I will feed you a human, and the transformation will be complete.”

“Does it hurt?” Zora asks, her voice quiet.

“No,” I say, though I cannot remember. I remember only ecstasy, though it is lost behind a fog I cannot lift.

“So…shall we start?” Zora asks.

“First,” I say. “Empty your pockets.”

Zora grins and removes several items from her pockets—stolen jewelry, some bread, a silver cross with the tip sharpened to a point. “Just in case you mean to kill me.”

“You will be dead, in a way,” I say. “Your heart will not beat, you will not need air or food.”

“Just blood?”

“Just blood.”

“Human blood?”

“I’ve known some that took of animals, but they were weak.”

Zora nods and rolls up her sleeve, offering her wrist to me. I take it delicately in my hands, looking up to her. “Are you ready?”

“No. Yes. No.” She laughs and shakes her head. “Just get on with it.”

I bite into her flesh and taste her blood. The rush is unlike anything I’d ever felt before. It is no mere human blood, it is exquisite. Every draw is intoxicating. My veins buzz with it, my stomach clenches, wanting more.

More.

More.

Zora moans, her head rolling back. A few more draws and she sways, falling to her knees. It takes all my control to release her wrist and stop from drinking her dry. I help her onto her back on the floor. Her tan skin is pale, her lips parted.

“You cannot ever be in the sun again,” I say, my mouth near her ear, near her neck.

“You must sleep in a grave at night. When you are asleep you are vulnerable, anyone can kill you. Once you grow stronger, I will teach you to compel humans, to make them do as you please so you can hunt easily. We will travel the world, you and I and my maker. She is old, ancient, one of the originals of our kind. Our blood is strong.

“Do you still wish this? Do you still wish to live eternal, knowing you may never see the sun again? That you must never see your family or friends? That you will watch them all die while you live on, forever in youth?”

“Yes,” she whispers, her eyes locking with mine. “I want this.”

I bite into her neck, taking the last of the blood. Her heart slows, beat by beat.