AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I drew in a sharp, gasping breath when it eased. Every cell in my body vibrated in relief.
There was someone breathing to my right, steady and unbroken until I opened my eyes. I blinked several times allowing my sight to adjust to the low light. How I was alive? Where was I?
The walls were logs, the scent of earth encasing me, dark and dusty. I turned my head to William. His shirt off, trousers undone. His messy copper hair had fallen over his blood shot eyes—the irises nearly white—tears stained his cheeks. He seemed uneasy as I peered at him.
“How are you feeling?” he asked, strained. Memories of the fire kissed my mind, the imprint of it on my skin. I flinched. My joints ached, my throat burned, my head felt as if it would surely burst.
I opened my mouth, but the pain which coursed through my jaw was enough to make me regret it.
“Hurting,” I croaked. He laughed humorlessly, fingers trailing my arm. “How am I alive? Where is our daughter?”
“She is gone, Rose,” he said solemnly.
“I saw her! Noel tore her from me! I saw her!” I cried, my voice cracking, the ghost of grief creeping in on the edges of anger.
“Darling, when I came to the house, I could not hear her heartbeat anywhere. Noel set much of the place aflame.”
“No, William, no. Where is she? We have to find her.”
“She’s dead, Rosemary. I’m sorry.” His voice was pained, the crease deep between his brows. I bellowed in anguish, how could I be alive but our child did not survive? I ran my hand down my stomach, flat and together, almost as if it had never held our child within it.
“Did Noel say anything to you?” William brushed my cheek gently.
“Everything.” My eyes narrowed into slits.
“Specify.”
“I just endured the most traumatic event of my life, and you are worried about what Noel had to say? You were in love with her!” I accused. I was not angry with him for having been in love before me, but for how little I knew about his past. “Why couldn'tyoutell me that? It would have put so many pieces together for me.”
“I was a young human boy, I did not know what love was,” he answered, matter of fact and flat.
“There must be more to it for her to be so hell bent on revenge.” I sat up slowly, pressing my palm against my temple which pounded with the upward movement.
“Take your time, my love. The Change is difficult at first.” William stared at his palms, almost as if he was a punished child.TheChange is difficult at first.
“The Change?” I breathed, trying to wrap my head his words.
The Change?
William’s eyes didn’t meet mine, his face twisted in something like regret.
“Am I… am I avampyre?”
His too-white gaze found mine, the answer so plain on his face, everything seemed to still.
It clicked into place, it explained everything. The burning in my throat, the pain that throbbed in my head; everything. I’d died, and yet I was still here. Still breathing, still existing. Awe was stamped quickly by betrayal, an acid in my veins. I didn’t want this. I never wanted to live in the way he did. I never wanted an immortal life.
“I–I know it was selfish of me, but you have to understand–”
“Understand what? That you took it into your own hands to curse me with something I barely knew of and wanted no part in? You are no different than Noel!” I nearly shouted, jumping from the makeshift bed he’d had me on, moving toward the door with such speed I startled myself. William was already there, holding my shoulders tightly.
“How can you say that? Please, you mustn't exert yourself just yet, Rose. You need to feed,” The set of his mouth was serious, stubborn. I could only stare at him blankly.
Feed?
“You want me to take someone else's life? To drink theirblood?” I was repulsed.
“It is the only way to live. There's a woman outside of this door right now—I bet you can smell her, can't you?” His fangs were exposed as he seemed to dial in on her scent.
