AllFreeNovel
Share Us
He couldn’t. Not yet. But he would.
“Why do you believe you were born into the wrong family?”
“Because families should love their children.” Her statement struck him. He didn’t know what it was like to be born in an unloving family. His family was as loving as they came. It hurt to lose his parents, but he was happy for the memories they created. More importantly, he still had Karina. “My dad died before I was born. No idea why, but I knew he wasn’t loved among the sorceress community. I wouldn’t put his death past any of them. My mother is still living, but that doesn’t mean she’s part of my life.” She awkwardly shrugged, as if to act like what she was saying didn’t bother her. Darius could see right through her though. She was incredibly sad.
When she looked away again, Darius ran a finger down her cheek. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. She nodded, acknowledging his comment.
“My mother always resented me,” she continued, her gaze set elsewhere. He didn’t push her to look his way while she spoke, not wanting her to become upset with him. She was opening up to him and it meant so much to Darius. He wouldn’t jeopardize this moment. “Sorceresses aren’t supposed to sleep with humans. They’re toogoodfor that. I was evidence of how low she had stooped. A constant reminder to everyone. I suppose she gave me mercy by not throwing me in the ocean when I was born. But I’m not sure how grateful I am for that.”
“Always be grateful for the opportunity to live.” Yet as he said this, he wondered about himself and how he loathed having been turned into a vampire. Wasn’t that the same as being ungrateful for having the opportunity to live?
Another awkward shrug. “The sorceresses hated me about as much as my mother did. I was useless with only one power, and even more useless because I eventually refused to use it. No one wanted to hear the fortunes I predicted, and I became so sick after predicting them. I tried though. I really did. I didn’t want them to hate me. But it didn’t matter, they all did anyway. So one day I stopped trying, refusing to use my powers again.” She looked down, shaking her head. “And that only pissed them all off more. I couldn’t do anything to make anyone happy. They hated me. I pathetically tried to win them over for a century and it didn’t matter. I bet they threw a party the day I left the island.” She looked up to Darius, “I’m saying too much, aren’t I?”
He already knew opening up was difficult to her, but now he was beginning to see exactly why. She spent the first one-hundred years of her life trying to get the approval of others, always failing. After failing for so long, what reason did she have to expect today to be any different? “Not at all. I’m impressed,” he said, trying to make her recognize that she had his approval already, more so now than before.
“Impressed?” Her tone of voice was incredibly soft and ridiculously unsure, which was so unlike her.
“I’m impressed with what you endured and how you continue to keep your head up. But what impresses me even more is that despite having experienced years of hostility from others whenever you opened your heart to them, you’re still brave enough to give it another try by opening your heart to me.” He gave her hand another squeeze. “I’m not going to disappoint you. Not like they did. They were foolish women who were incapable of seeing what a great person you were. I’m glad they’ll never get a chance to see the courageous, magnificent person you’ve grown into. They don’t deserve you,Vioi.”
Her expression softened, a sliver of what looked like hope visible. “I… I don’t know what to say,” she admitted.
He knew what he wanted her to say, because he wanted to hear more. “Tell me about the day you made the bold decision to leave those parasitic unnatural beings.”
“Okay,” she nodded. “I told my mother I was leaving before I actually did. I guess I told her because I wanted her to ask me to stay. I wanted to know she loved me, if only a bit. But when I did, she didn’t say anything, she only looked the other way.” She was speaking much quicker, the earlier hesitancy in her voice lost. “It was like a weight was lifted off my shoulders the day I arrived in Florida. I didn’t have to spend my days trying to please those I could never please. Finally, I was able to focus on myself and no one else. And that’s exactly what I did for the next hundred years. Until…” she paused, seeming to be indecisive over what to say next. “Until I met you.”
Darius was taken aback in more ways than one. He was both amazed and proud that she intentionally admitted he was the first person she grew any sort of relationship with in centuries. She was taking a chance on him and she wanted him to know it. Finally.I won’t disappoint you, he thought.
Her story finally made him grasp her true age. If she spent a century on the island and a century in Florida, that would make her only two-hundred years old. In other words, she was so much younger than the millennia old sorceress he originally believed her to be. Trying his hardest not to sound insulting, he asked, “Eva, are you two-hundred years old?”
She shrugged. “I guess. Something like that. I never had anyone to celebrate my birthdays with so I didn’t really have any motivation to count them.”
Two-hundred.
She was incredibly young and yet lived a solitary life for far too long. He’d make sure she’d never feel dejected again. From now, she was going to live a better, happier life. No wonder she was so tough. Her life had been shit and she had no one to share that shit with. Everything she went through she went through alone. She undoubtedly dropped her walls for sorceresses countless times, only to be shut down over and over again. It was no wonder her walls had become so thick over the years.
She had no one to go through the lows and highs of life with. No one to make memories with.Not anymore,he determined. “When is your birthday?”
“I believe it’s a summer birthday. I don’t know. I forgot a long time ago.”
He nodded. “We’ll celebrate your birthday this summer. Pick a date and we’ll stick to it.”
Her eyes widened in surprise, a smile breaking through. “You can’t just make up birthdays,” she laughed. Gods, he was so happy to hear her laugh again. But this laugh was different. This one was real.
“Everyone gets a birthday. Pick a date,Vioi.”
Her brows furrowed, but a grin lightened her features. “Seriously?”
“I couldn’t be any more serious.”
“Okay…” She slowly nodded as she began to accept his proposal. “Okay,” she spoke with much more assurance. “July 4th. When we celebrate my birthday, I want there to be fireworks.”
“And there will be. July 4th it is.” He nearly lost himself in her smile, so much so that he was smiling himself. Hope radiated off her, as it did for him. Her future would be better. More importantly, he believed his would be as well. “You’re incredible, do you know that?”
For the first time in a long time, he found himself looking at a future full of possibilities. A future where he was more than a bloodsucking monster.
A future where he was happy.
Chapter Thirty-Five
