AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“I don’t need help, little human.” Her wicked grin returns and her hard mask resurfaces. “How could you possibly help me?”
“I can’t answer that question until I know what the problem is.” I stare straight back at Veronica, unaffected by her arrogant tone. She’s not going to fool me any longer. We all have walls we build, brick by brick, to keep ourselves protected. Hers have tumbled down and I’ll help her rebuild them if she needs, but only if that’s the boundary she needs. My teeth sink into my bottom lip wondering if I should push her, and if so, how much harder.
Her shoulders relax and she leans back in her chair while tapping her bloodred nails on the desk. “I didn’t like last night.” Her cool expression and flat tone are at least a bit more genuine. I’ll take the small opening she gave me.
“You didn’t want him to claim you?”
She shakes her head gently. “It’s not that. I’m honored to be his mate. I really am.” She takes a deepbreath and adds, “I didn’t know fate would give me a mate at all.”
“I don’t understand. Don’t you all have mates?”
Her response is to give me a soft smile that doesn’t reach her dark brown eyes. “No, only werewolves, dear.” She watches her fingers tap along the desk for a moment before continuing. “Other shifters too, I suppose.” She breathes in heavily before meeting my questioning gaze. “Not vampires. We don’t have mates.”
“But you have Vince?”
“Only because Vince has me as a mate. Fate’s a cruel bitch.” She snorts a laugh although there’s no humor in what she said.
“Why is it cruel?”
“Well, for starters, she gave Vince a bitch for a mate. And then for me …” Her voice trails off and she straightens in her seat before staring into my eyes. “Fate decided to give me a mate. One person to love for my entirety. I will love him with everything I have, but I will live much longer than he will. I will watch him grow old, while I am ageless. I will hold his hand when he dies, yet I will live.” Red tears brim around her eyes as she smirks.
“Like I said, fate’s a bitch. I never planned this.”She huffs that same humorless laugh. “I never wanted this. I never thought I’d have someone to love. And now that I have it, I’m not sure that I should. I wasn’t made for this. It’s not what I am.” Her voice turns hard at the end and it makes my body stiffen with fear. She’s a roller coaster of emotion ranging from disbelief to sadness and ending in anger. At first I’m taken aback by her honesty, but then I focus on what she said.
“You never thought you would love?” She can’t truly mean that. “Do vampires not have the ability to love?”
She laughs, with real humor this time, and leans back in her seat while wiping away the blood rimming her eyes. I grimace inadvertently at the sight and unfortunately she sees my reaction.
“You don’t know much about vampires, do you?”
“No. I’m sorry, I didn’t—” She cuts me off before I can fully apologize.
“I’ve been a vampire for nearly two hundred years and I still despise some aspects of our species.” She wipes her fingers on a tissue and places it on the desk as if she knows she’ll need it again before trashing it; the bright red is vibrant against the stark white. “If I could change it, I would.”
“You’re two hundred years old?” Holy fuck. I don’t have enough self-control to contain my shocked expression.
“Something like that.” Her voice is flat. Then she tilts her head and a glint of happiness sparkles in her eyes. “Would you like to know how I came to be immortal? How I was changed?” Her smile widens, revealing her sharp white fangs. “I wasn’t always like this.” She shakes her head. “Vampires are a capricious species.”
I clear my throat. From what I learned of vampires in school, that sounds about right. But then again, humans in general don’t know much about them.
“Tell me.” She quirks a brow and I suppress my smile. “Please.” Her grin grows as we share a knowing look.
“I was a little older than twenty. I don’t remember what day my birthday was because it’s been so damn long. I was unmarried because I had been raised religious and thought I would become a nun. The day everything changed happened sometime around summer. I know that because there was a big thunderstorm that had just passed through our area, and where I lived the rainy season began in June.” Sherocks gently, glancing out the window as if watching her recollection playing out before her like she’s watching a movie.
“I was in the rainforest foraging for my grandmother. She sent me out all the time to gather things. My mother and father had both passed away when I was a baby, leaving me alone with my grandmother to raise me by herself. She was in good health for her age and took care of me as any mother would.” A sad smile pulls at her lips. “She always said I looked like my mother.” That humorless huff of a laugh erupts from her throat. “I don’t remember her at all. I used to be able to, but it was so long ago that I can’t even picture her face anymore.” Veronica falls silent as she tries and fails to recall her memory.
“I’m sorry.” My voice brings her back to the present. Her dark eyes find mine and her grin returns.
“Don’t be, dear. My first twenty years were good years. Even if I suffered loss, I was still grateful for my life.” She visibly swallows. “At least until that day.” I settle into my seat as I watch her pull her legs into her body. “I was gathering pandan leaves in the rainforest when I found some mangoes. They were delicious; I remember that well. They were nearly overripe but I’d cut one open to taste it. Fruit is best when it’s almosttoo sweet, don’t you think? It was a little treat for me. A reward for going out for my grandmother.”
Her smile fades and her voice drops as she continues her tale. “I traveled to my usual area, where I knew I’d be able to find most of what she’d asked for. I was at the last pandan plant with only half of my basket full. I knew she’d need more leaves, so I went out a little farther. There was a large clearing and on the other side I spotted more bushes. The storm the previous night had left downed trees and broken branches in its wake, but somehow this clearing had been spared. It was so pretty. Undisturbed with dewdrops clinging to everything and sparkling in the light. So pure. I almost felt bad crossing through it to get to the other side.” She gently shakes her head again and swallows. “But no one lived close to us and I didn’t think I’d ruin it for anyone but myself. So I continued into the other side until my basket was full.” Her lips pull down in a frown. “I knew my grandmother would be grateful. She would’ve been so happy to have a full basket.”
Leaning forward in my seat, I clasp my hands. A hard pit forms in my stomach and my blood chills. I can tell I’m not going to like what I hear next. She clears her throat, but her dark eyes stay focused onher nails, tracing over the grain pattern in the walnut desk. She nods her head slowly. “I knew something bad was going to happen when I got back to the clearing. I could see so many large footprints in the dirt. They came from the left. I remember thinking there may have been four of them.” The red tears brim in her eyes and spill over, trailing streaks of blood down her light brown skin. I part my lips, but before I can speak, she continues. “They were werewolves. I saw them shift in front of me. Well, two did. Two didn’t.” Her breath hitches.
“I don’t have to tell you everything they did. But know that I didn’t value my life afterward. I wished they’d just killed me. Instead, they left me mangled and damaged after they’d had their way with me. I was covered in bruises and bleeding out from the injuries they’d inflicted on me. Some of the plants I’d gathered had medicinal qualities; I used them to staunch my wounds. I still don’t know how I made it back without dying. It was the longest journey of my life. Part of me wanted to stay and just succumb, but I was so scared they would come back.”
“Where did you go?” I whisper the question, not sure I want to hear more but knowing I have to.
“Back to my grandmother’s. Where else could Ihave gone? It was two hundred years ago. There were no phones to call for help. We lived in such a remote area, there were no hospitals nearby. The shamans in our area had all left due to religious persecution. There was no one but her.” Her sad smile returns and she laughs before she tells me, “She scolded me. When she heard the door open, she yelled from the kitchen that I’d scared her and to never do that again. And then she came out and saw me.
