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I spend a few more days at Solon’s house high above Shelter Cove as we get me settled, which means a lot of daily phone calls with my parents letting them know I’m okay. My dad has healed fast, probably because my mother smothered him in herbal poultices as soon as he got home. He was lucky.
I’m lucky too. I’m trying not to dwell on that too much.
I’m trying to live in the present.
It’s beautiful here.
Solon’s estate is large, many acres, spread across the undulating cliffs, part of it reaching all the way down to a private beach you can only reach by a creaky staircase. We go down there each evening to watch the sunset, sit on the beach as the strong waves pound the shore, his dog Odin running up and down through the sand. Solon throws him a stick constantly and the dog never tires out, happy to be with him again.
We’re here right now, sitting on a plaid blanket, a couple of bottles of red wine between us. Odin is finally tuckered out, lying in the sand, his tongue hanging out, watching his master with a loyal gaze.
The beach itself is only accessible via Solon’s property, giving us complete privacy, the short stretch bracketed by cliffs dropping down into the waves. Anyone else would be cold, the mist rolling in off the Pacific, but luckily we’re vampires.
I sigh and lean back into Solon’s arms, never wanting to leave this place.
“I don’t even know how you live in the city,” I tell him in a dreamy voice. “I would spend all my time here.”
“I do come here often,” Solon says, running his thumb over my bare arm in light circles. “But then I miss the city. You’d think after so many centuries I’d be over people, but I’m not. I like the hustle and bustle. The smells. The sounds. If it’s too quiet for too long, then I start looking for problems, usually within myself.”
“I’m going to guess that you have properties all over the world,” I tell him.
“I do.”
“Are you planning on taking me to all of them?” I ask, tilting my head back to look at him.
“If you wish,” he says with a soft smile, kissing the top of my head. “I’ll take you wherever you want to go.”
I think that over. I’ve traveled quite a bit already, but right now, with eternity stretched out in front of us, I feel like the world is our oyster.
“I know this sounds silly after everything that’s happened,” I begin. “But I still want to finish my degree. I still want to do the things I had planned.”
His face grows serious. “That doesn’t sound silly, Lenore. That sounds like the right thing to do. Most vampires go to school, over and over again, in as many different areas of expertise that they can.”
“But, you see, I have this internship in August, on a dig in Egypt…”
“And so we’ll go. Together.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. If it’s important to you, it’s important to me. Besides, it’s been a century since I’ve been to Egypt.”
I think about that for a bit. “Do you travel by private plane?” I ask.
He gives me a smug look. “The one thing my money is really good for.”
“I don’t know,” I muse, staring at the orange sun as it starts to disappear under the horizon. “I think this place is more than good. In fact, I insist we use this at least once a month.”
“Oh really?”
“We live in a vampire frat house, Solon.”
“What did you just say?” he growls sharply, and then starts to tickle my sides.
I squeal, trying to get out of the way, but he holds me down, and Odin gets up, licking my arms, trying to figure out what’s happening. “Not fair that I’m still ticklish,” I cry out.
“Your senses are permanently heightened,” he says, gripping me hard and pulling me back into him. “We’re the most ticklish creatures on the planet.”
