Page 101 of Into The Light

“It was worth it.” I forced a smile and looked up at Emilia.

“Well, let’s just hope we can change him back in time.” Grizella stepped forward to Lothaire’s other side.

Change back. Those words, the same ones Lothaire had said on the phone when I’d called from Bora Bora, sent more pain shooting through me than the physical pain ripping apart my body. I remembered the eel darting back into his hole... back into the dark. I didn’t want that. Now that I had lived this life surrounded by light and love I didn’t think I could go back. I closed my eyes to the thought, trying to come to terms with it, like I had since I’d first heard it yesterday on the phone.

“We will find a way to fix you, Aiden,” Annella said.

“You’d better!” A voice called from the door.

“Mark.” I sighed, a smile lifting my weary lips.

In the blink of an eye he appeared by my bed and wrapped his arms around Emilia. “I missed you so much.” He hugged her tight.

“Thank God, you’re here,” she said, returning the tight embrace.

“I came as soon as I heard.” He released his grip on her and turned his attention to me. “I told you it was a bad idea. Didn’t I? That’s right... I did.” He narrowed his eyes and pursed his lips.

“You did,” I agreed. “Now stop gloating. How are you? How is life as a vampire?”

His eyes lit up like they had alongside the runway that one time I let him drag me to Fashion Week.

“It’s. A. Mazing. Why you would want to give this up is beyond me. Beyond me.” He tossed his arms in the air, finishing with huff.

“I’m so glad you made the right choice for you,” I said, not wanting to argue.

“And Emilia, look!” He pointed to the skin between his brows. “No wrinkle! I vanquished that son of a bitch with Botox and now I’ve got perfect skin for eternity. Boom. And look.” He popped his fangs. “I’ve got fangs.”

“Incredible, Mark,” she said, but she lacked the excitement in her voice that usually came out when they spoke.

“I’m sorry, sweetie. You must be so stressed out.” He noticed it as well and pulled her back in for a hug. “Don’t worry, we’re gonna fix him. And then I’ll go back to hunting down Ryan Gosling. I was literally right there when you called. Just a doorway stood between us.”

She chuckled and shook her head. “You’ll get him next time.”

“You know it.” He winked. “Now, where are we in fixing this hot mess he got himself into? You know, the one I told him not to.” He shot me that accusatory glance I’d grown so accustomed to.

And had missed.

Lothaire straightened up. “We’ve contacted every clan and still have little to go on. Leeya wasn’t lying when she said she’d seen it before. Apparently one of her clansmen tried and several weeks after the transition back to human, he died. But we think we still have time to change him back to a vampire. He cannot survive as a human, so the only way is for him to drink the blood of a vampire, and we kill him. And then... we hope he returns to us a vampire.” His voice trailed off at the end.

“He can’t just drink human blood and turn back?” Annella asked.

“The change back is complete. He’s fully human now,” Grizella said. “The only choice we have is to try to change him back the same way we just changed you, Mark.”

“Ouch,” Mark said, and I knew he remembered well the pain from his transition.

“And hope like hell it works,” Thorne interjected, his voice anything but confident.

“And if it doesn’t work?” Emilia asked, eyes searching the vampires surrounding her.

Silence settled over the room like a heavy blanket on a winter’s night.

“Then he dies,” Lothaire said, his commanding voice so meek I wouldn’t have known it was him if I hadn’t seen his lips move.

Emilia and I locked eyes, words failing us. There were no guarantees I could make her. No way I could erase the pain that welled up in tears behind her eyes.

“I’m sorry, Emilia. Please know that I wanted a life in the light with you. I wanted our freedom and a human life. I wanted it all and I’m so sorry. I tried.”

“Don’t apologize, Aiden. I shouldn’t have let you change in the first place.”