Page 76 of Into The Light

“I’m so glad you didn’t. I’m human again, Emilia. I’m human.”

The weight of my words stilled her kisses and her eyes moved to mine, searching. Searching for the truth, searching to see into my soul, just searching. Her fingers moved to my face, a long slow stroke moved across my skin and I closed my eyes and savored the way it crackled beneath her touch.

“You’re warm,” she breathed.

“I’m alive. For you.”

We locked eyes, and she smiled. A tear welled up and slid down her cheek. I wiped it away with my thumb and pulled her lips back to mine. The soft touch sent shivers snaking down my spine, and I knew in that moment I had made the right decision.

I wanted a life at her side. Every single second of it. I didn’t want darkness to hold me captive from her again. The feeling of knowing it would end someday suddenly sank in, but it sweetened the taste of her kiss and intensified the feelings rushing through me. Knowing there was an end, an expiration date, only made each second our lips touched more special... more important. I knew now, really understood, why she wouldn’t want to give this up.

“How do you feel?” she asked, pulling back to study my face.

“Better than I’ve felt in six hundred years.” I smiled. “And do you know what I want now?”

“What?” she asked, smoothing a hand through my hair.

“I want to walk out into the sun with you.”

Her eyes grew wide. “Are you sure it won’t hurt you?”

“No.” I grinned wider. “But isn’t taking risks what being human is all about?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Some risks. But not the kind that cause you to burst into flames and disintegrate into a pile of ash.”

“Well, there’s only one way to find out.” I waggled my eyebrows and took her hand in mine leading her through the dark room to the stairs.

“Are you sure?” she asked, tugging me to a stop before I opened the basement door. “It’s noon, and it’s really sunny.”

“The good news is if it doesn’t work, I don’t instantly disintegrate. We’ll have about twenty seconds of me engulfed in flames and screaming in agony before it happens, so just push me back down the stairs and close the door.”

“Oh, that’s promising.” She huffed.

“I’ll be fine. I’m ready.” With a tight squeeze on her hand, I reassured her with my eyes.

Biting her lip she nodded. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

Holding her hand tight, I turned the knob. The door creaked open, and I squinted at the bright light slipping through the crack. It touched my skin, and I felt its warmth without pain. I pushed the door open and felt Emilia’s grip on my hand tighten. The sunlight filling the room washed over me and I froze, the air drawn from my lungs in an exquisite release. The warmth pulled me forward, and I moved through the sunny room to the front door. Emilia squeezed my hand while I pushed it open.

Together we stepped outside, and I closed my eyes and let my head fall back while the sun’s rays caressed my skin and enveloped me in their warmth. The sensations of the heat and the light were like coming to life again, a spring after a winter so long I had forgotten what it felt like to bask beneath their glow.

“It’s incredible,” I breathed as she stepped to my side.

“Is it what you remember?” she asked.

“It’s so much better.” I opened my eyes and squinted against the light. The warmth filling my face only deepened the grin spreading across it.

“Are you okay?” Mark called from behind us. I turned to see him standing with a fire extinguisher at the ready, the little black hose pointed at me while he clutched it tight in his hands.

“Really?” I asked, gesturing to the red cannister tucked beneath his arms.

“I was trying to be prepared. You never know,” he argued, and then set it down.

“And the axe? Really?”

“I didn’t know what to expect! If you were still a vampire, just trying to trick us, I wasn’t going to let you bleed her dry!”

“You do know if I was still a vampire that axe would have bounced off my neck and I would have eaten you both anyway.”