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Gideon’s roar was tectonic. He threw himself at Candy, no longer in the form of a beautiful male, but in his true form, something formless and yet horrific, eldritch in nature, tentacle, claw and fang roiling from a dark mass of vicious vengeance.
Candy’s final shriek was closer to that of a whimper lost in the whirling wind of Gideon’s destruction.
Gideon reformed in his human state, looking fresher and revived for having been temporarily dematerialized into a creature of nightmare. He knelt down by Carter, feeling a most overwhelming sense of regret and loss.
The feeding had not taken. He knew Carter would be unable to heal. It would fall to Gideon to destroy the very thing he now realized he had come to love.
For the first time in thousands of years, Gideon felt hot tears form in his eyes and roll down his cheeks. This seemed so deeply, personally unfair. It felt wrong, though it was not nearly as wrong as many things he had done in his life. He knew he had no right to become attached to anybody, not a fledgling or a lover, not a child, or a friend. His life was loss.
“Urggh…” a slight gasp issued from Carter.
Gideon felt a sudden rush of relief. He was strong. He was fighting. Gideon would fight too.
Carter was but a baby fledgling, and as such could not sustain the kind of damage Candy had dealt him and rejuvenate on his own. However, with many decades of rest and constant blood feeding, he might very well survive.
Gideon clutched Carter to his chest and was so glad to feel the wounded fledgling’s fangs pierce his chest, his cold tongue beginning to suckle.
By now, the other vampires of the house had arrived, too late to help, but not too late to obey. He looked up into their pale, confused faces and issued an order that many of them immediately followed, all at once.
“Call Maddox.”
18
Less than an hour ago, Maddox’s arrival was announced. Gideon was half-surprised he had answered the summons. He had retired to the dungeon of his home, where a grave had been prepared. It would be the place of his and Carter’s repose.
Maddox came down the stairs, his expression concerned. He stopped when he saw Carter’s body being held limp in Gideon’s arms. An expression of grave concern passed over his elegant features.
“Is he…”
“He was grievously wounded by the wraith. I am taking him to sleep. A hundred years should allow his flesh to knit again. He will mend. He is strong.”
“Candy did this?” Maddox seemed to know what had happened without being told, but it was possible the rumor mill was already in full force, and frankly, Gideon no longer cared.
“Whatever she is, she is nothing like Candy. She is bitter and vile, a creature I wish I had the power to destroy all over again.”
“You killed her?”
“Oh, very much so.”
Maddox seemed confused. “I thought you could not kill her.”
“I did notwantto kill her. She interested me, she made me feel something new. Pain. And now she has delivered me more pain than I thought it possible to feel. She has hurt someone I…” Gideon stumbled over the word a few times before getting it out. “Love. And that pain is a deeper pain than I knew was possible. I thought the worst pain was the seven tortures of Sangdeep, but… they are nothing on this.” He paused for a moment. “And every mortal is forced to feel this pain several times in their life, or maybe even many times.”
* * *
Maddox stood and watched the essence of evil incarnate come to terms with the pain of mortality. Gideon was ancient, but in this moment with his broken grandchild in his arms, he was as innocent as any human facing the pain of the mortality of others for the first time.
“You have truly never cared for another like you care for this one,” Maddox observed. “Why?”
Gideon’s expression was a picture of perfect befuddlement. “I don’t know. It makes no sense. It feels entirely random. Objectively, I know he is no different from any other fledgling in the world, but practically, I would destroy a nation to keep him safe.”
“That is how love works,” Maddox commiserated. “Once it has you, it does not let go.”
“I will not let him go. I will take him to his rest, and in a hundred years, we will see if he has not recovered.” Gideon looked deep into Maddox’s eyes. “So, my fledgling. You have won.”
“I would hardly call this a victory.”
“Really? The monster had no interest in hurting Carter before. In fact, she outright refused to do so when he begged to join her in death. What changed her mind? Did you have some interfering hand in the matter? After all, now you are free to pursue the rest of your wolf’s limited lifespan without interference from me.”
