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She sighed with pleasure, as heat fanned us, wooden rafters falling to the ground in small explosions all around us.
“I wished so much this was not how it ended…we were so…oh, Dom…”
I stopped my suckling, looking up at the orange halo of fire around her head, pleading at her with my eyes. “I did not betray you, my love, I did not want her dead. I loved you. It was not at my hands…”
She looked down over me, lovingly, but didn’t respond, only stroked my cheek gently.
For a moment, I thought she would relent, give into all our selfish needs no matter what had happened between us. I hold her shining, lavender eyes with mine, and I see one tear slide down her grinning face. “Lie to me, tell me we are like sunset,” she whispered.
“We are, my love. Sunsets come with the feeling of accomplishment and freedom from the days end.
But then sunrise always comes—and the sunrise is a reminder that it is a new day, a day full of unknown possibilities. And it’s then that we must answer the unasked questions from the evening before, together.”
There was a deafening pause, even as the castle burned around us.
“I wish that we could play forever inside the sunset and the sunrise, but we are not creatures of the morning, but eternally of the night.”
In one moment, I caressed her with my tongue, my hands gripping her plump cheeks, and in the next she was gone, a nest of snakes now at my feet.
At that moment, I could only make a vow to myself to find her again and again. Making a promise to myself that I would search the ends of the earth for her, until I found a way to prove my love and loyalty. Until we could watch every sun setting.
She was love incarnate—my only love, and every element that graced the earth. The softness and strength of water, the unpredictable chill of the winds, the permanence of the earth below my feet; and the fire that burned through my veins while simultaneously destroying everything in its path.
And I would lose her.
I backed away on all fours and watched in horror as Melody appeared in a blur with Charles slumped against her.
“Go!”
We were outside in an instant, and I could hear the cries of the men inside, burning alive.
We ran as fast as we could to the edge of the woods, as far away as we could get from the castle, now just a burning orange glow on the horizon.
I looked down over Charle’s lifeless body, laying still on the sodden green grass.
“What did you do?” I asked, searching Melody’s eyes for answers. She looked young, fragile. I hated feeling responsible for vampire youngling—it was a heavy burden to bear.
“Dom…I think he’s dead.”
EPILOGUE
Domenico
The kind neighbor that invited us inside his house gave us all hot tea, and I doubted he realized just who I was after I discarded my robe and swore that I would never again preach the word of God to a soul.
Did I really think that this was punishment for my own sins? Did I want to continue living this lie when deep down, I fought against a blood lust that called to me day in and out?
I wanted to give in to my needs, and now I had two vampire younglings on my hands, two blood-bounds attached to me forever. We needed to start over, there needed to be a fresh new beginning, one where I could put everything behind me, all the men who died because they followed my word.
“You are welcome to stay the night, until you regain your strength. I do not have much food though; I don’t think I can offer much past that.”
“We appreciate your kindness.” I smiled, the steam of the tea caressing my face like a lost lover. The pain of seeing Lilith again slicing through my stomach, and I held back a gag.
Would I ever truly recover from her absence? Could I move past our unrequited love and find a new reason to exist past her?
I watched Charles’ chest rise and fall on the cot by the fireplace. He was pale, and I knew he would have to feed excessively before we would be able to move on in our travels. The woman would have to die, a small sacrifice for my newest blood-bound youngling. His lips were heart shaped, and a small tug of admiration hits me, realizing I had no other choice but to start over. For them both.
Melody stroked his hair, looking lovingly at him. It was the three of us now, a new trio of power that I was determined to make a name for…somewhere.
