Page 102 of Into The Light

“You couldn’t have stopped me,” I said, squeezing her hand. “So, it looks like you’ll be eating sushi and drinking Jägermeister alone and still living as my blood bank. Is that okay? I know it’s not what we wanted.”

She bit her lip. “That’s not good enough for me anymore, Aiden.”

“What?” It felt like the air got sucked out of the room. “What do you mean? You’re leaving me?”

Her face softened, and she shook her head. A soft smile slid across her face. “No. I’m changing with you.”

“What?” The word fell out of my mouth.

“You go, I go.” She leaned down and kissed me. The gentle touch of her lips on mine sent a shudder down my spine. When she sat back up, I stared at her face, disbelief still holding my tongue.

“But it’s not what you want.” I finally found words. “You don’t want to be a vampire, Emilia. You want sunshine and food. A normal, human life. I can’t let you do this.”

“There is nothing I want more than you, Aiden. There is no light or sunshine without you at my side. I don’t want a short life... I want a long one. An eternity. I want this, Aiden. I want you.”

“Emilia,” I whispered, still stunned at the weight of her admission. “Are you sure?”

“Positive,” she answered, her voice strong and sure.

“We’re gonna make the best vampire friends!” Mark chimed, and tossed an arm around her. “I’m so freaking excited.”

I wanted to feel excited, to share in the joy. But sadness suffocated me, like a cloak of doom. Sadness for Emelia’s sacrifice. Sadness for the life I had wanted for us. Sadness that we’d only had a short time to dance together in the sun.

“I can’t let you do this, Emilia. I can’t.”

“It’s not your choice, Aiden,” she answered. “I’m doing this.”

“I can see why you gave it all up for her, Aiden,” Annella said. “You found a good one.”

“I didn’t just give it up for her,” I said, finally acknowledging the difficulty of this decision. “I wanted that life. All of it. And of course, I wanted it with her. This last week has been the greatest in my life. I don’t know how I’m going to go back. I don’t want to go back.”

Lothaire leaned down, and I saw the sadness in his eyes. “I’m so sorry, Aiden. I wish there was another way, but you’re dying, and this is the only way we can save you. It’s the best we can do. And at least you’ll have Emilia at your side... and us.”

I nodded, tossing a glance to her before taking a breath. “Okay, let’s do this.”

“Wait,” Thorne said, shaking his head. “What if there’s another way?”

All eyes turned to him.

“There is no other way, Thorne.” Lothaire turned to face him. “Leave it.”

“But there might be. He doesn’t want this. Can’t you guys see that? He doesn’t want this life anymore and if there is even a chance, we need to tell him.”

“What other way?” I asked, my eyes darting between the two men in a stare-off.

“The Picts,” Thorne said, turning his eyes back to me. “There are still Picts left in our homeland. They are the ones who put this curse on us in the first place. Maybe they can fix you.”

“Thorne!” Lothaire boomed, filling every empty space in the room. “We don’t have time to go on a wild goose chase! We already discussed this! He’s dying!”

Thorne took a breath. “It should be his decision... not ours. If Aiden wants to try, we should try.”

For the first time in days I felt a glimmer of hope sparking from the darkness enveloping me. “Are you sure? They’re still there?”

“No, we’re not sure,” Grizella said through gritted teeth and shot a glare at Thorne that could have dropped him to the ground.

“But the rumors are that they are there. Just hidden.” Thorne resisted her stare.

“It’s too risky, Aiden. You might not even make the journey,” Annella said, worry shaking her voice.