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“This is no dream, my love.” He smiled, his pale lips tipping up at the corner as I remembered so well. “And you are no longer asleep.” His kiss had changed not at all in a hundred years. Thank Circe and all the gods and goddesses. His lips moved over mine in that beloved caress, mine parting to admit his tongue. Some people found the kiss of a vampire too chill, but I’d always considered it cold heat. Somehow, it burned. In the best possible way.
Finally one of us—me— ran out breath and pulled back. “How is this possible? I’m dead-ish.”
Circe’s warm laugh rolled over my skin. “No faith at all, daughter? What did I tell you when I kept you here?” Here was a cave in some mountain somewhere. Greece maybe? Or outside the city Erik lived in. No idea.
“But you weren’t sure. And it’s been so long. What changed?”
She shrugged. “Things are always changing, shifting, and the time was right.”
Then I realized…what had been between Erik and me had not changed. Sure, I was more aware of my love for him, but I was still going to get old and die while he watched and mourned all over again.
“I can make you a vampire,” Erik offered. “I never wished it on you before, but I can’t see us apart again.”
“You didn’t want to do it because you didn’t like that life. If you change me, then how long before resentment sets in?”
We went back and forth a few times before Circe cut in. “You two are determined to be miserable, aren’t you?”
“No, we don’t want—” I began.
“I’m as old as the world. Or almost. And I am right here, but you don’t ask me for advice?”
I opened my mouth to speak, but Erik squeezed my wrist. “Goddess Circe, what is your advice for us?”
“Is my descendant also willing to listen to my wisdom?” Man, these goddesses had an ego. But I was getting the idea.
“Of course. I am grateful for your kindness to us. To me all this time.” She might have an ego, but she’d done for me what nobody else could. “What is your advice to us?”
“Well, I don’t know…”
I held my tongue, waiting.
“If you want, I can transform Erik into a mere human and you can live out your natural lives together. You will still have your powers, of course, but your lifespans will be similar.”
Erik gaped at her. “How can you do this?”
“If I can transform men into pigs and drown their rude asses, why can’t I do this? You know I am the daughter of the sun. There should be some benefits.”
Unable to control myself, I ran and fell to my knees before her, hugging her knees. “You are extraordinary. How can we repay you for this?”
“Hmmm…” Oh heck. I’d read about people offering boons to goddesses and learning to regret it. “Just be happy together, children. Your love story has been long in coming. Whenever you’re ready, we can do the transformation and then I’ll send you back to your city. But remember, I’ll be watching.”
I turned to look at Erik as a vampire for the last time before nodding at him. “We’re ready, Mother.”
Her heat covered us, the sun’s daughter sharing what was rightfully hers. And then we were not in the cave but standing outside the Midnight. In daylight. And when Erik hugged me, spoke into my ear, he was so warm.
Everything was so warm. And alive. But he was still the best kisser ever.
Epilogue
Valentina
“Are you sure your place is big enough? There are a lot of us, Asher,” I said as we entered the gates of the estate. Asher’s parents had invited us for New Year’s Eve. As we drove up the driveway, I knew they had severely underestimated this place. I’d thought we needed to be home to direct the movers, but my mates had paid for the best. When we got back, just about everything would be there and in place.
This place we approached wasn’t an estate. It was a state. A whole-ass state. I could fit three of my new houses into one wing of this one.
“Never mind,” I said, laughing along with the others as the house came into view. We’d rented a huge van that would fit all of us for the trip. Bad things happened when we were separated, even for this hopefully peaceful and happy start to a new year.
Asher’s mothers and father welcomed us with open arms. I instantly saw how they loved Raven and Onyx. I thought they hugged and kissed them both more than they did Asher.
