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Chapter One
Cassius
The act of sleeping was like a dream for me. It had been centuries since I had enjoyed the simple pleasure that blessed every mortal. I swam in the depths of my subconscious, my body enjoying the gentle rhythm of rest that rose and fell with every sweet, deep breath. Snores rattled out of my mouth and I sank into the embrace of the bed, my body a dead weight, yet still alive, recuperating and resting through the small hours of the night. My dreams were vague things though, shapeless and formless, mere sensations that danced and throbbed around my mind. Perhaps my body had forgotten how to dream given how long it had been since I had been able to sink into these murky depths, but I did not mind because my life was better than a dream. Willow had freed me from my curse and had broken the tether to eternity that had kept me shackled. I no longer had to fear watching her grow old and die, I no longer had to lose her, at least not until we had lived a life together.
And what a life we would live.
She had seen me at my worst. I had seen her brethren, and we had both survived. Her beauty would never fade in my eyes, and although I had been taught to never court death I was now more at peace with the idea of that grisly creature coming to visit me. Vampires were indeed an aberration, and I had ended that blight upon the world. I was the last vampire and as I had drunk the potion I had pushed away that part of myself, returning myself to my mortal form. My flesh was now pink instead of pale, and it burned with a heat that had long faded to ice. I became thirsty, I hungered, and I could not conjure the arcane spells that had once been at my fingertips. I had lost the wry sense of everything that happened in this castle, and indeed my link to this fortress had been severed as well. I had lost so much, and yet what I had gained in return far outweighed all of that.
As long as I had Willow, I had everything.
Now my only fear was losing her. She slept beside me, her perfect body swelling with curves, her skin soft and supple, the blanket falling around her flawless form. Dark tresses of hair caressed her milky skin. The pendant that allowed her to access the wolf inside her rested against the hollow of her throat. How that skin welcomed me. How that flesh tempted me. If she were a sea then I would have swam to her depths and drowned in her. If she were a mountain then I would have climbed to her peak and basked in the glory of the rich air. If she were a jungle then I would have delved into her darkest depths, never fearing what awaited me because I knew that each step brought me closer to something wonderful, brought me closer to her.
I thought I had known love before, but never like this. Willow had shown me how fulfilling and wholesome it could be, and she had taught me that an ancient relic of the world like me could still experience something new. She had awakened me and rejuvenated me, and I felt privileged to be able to say that she loved me.
We had been through many trials, but now I hoped they were over. Our future stretched before us like a golden road coated in stardust. We had all the possibilities of the world open to us, and there was nothing we could not do together. We lived in a dying world, yes, but with a bit of finesse we could still travel elsewhere, and we would find an endless adventure within ourselves. Love is a many splendored thing, and each moment we spent together was something precious and divine.
And we still had all the books in the library to amuse us, of course. I doubted that any of them could define love in the way that I felt it though. Such a thing escaped the confines of meaning and explanation. It was something that could only be comprehended through experience, and if it had not been for Willow then I would have spent eternity missing this most obvious and evident truth in the world; love was everything.
I was giddy. My head spun. My thoughts were dazed. The aftermath of our lovemaking lingered on my skin. Tingles reverberated throughout my body, and drops of sweat trickled along the angles of my torso. My chest heaved and I gasped as I relived the sensation of her fingertips running along my spine, of her lips trailing kisses along my collar bone, of her body pressed so tightly against me that I thought we were going to melt together and truly become one.
I breathed deeply. The sensations were intense, even more so than when I had been a vampire. There were so many ways in which being a vampire was superior to being a mortal, but in some ways there was nothing to compare. The limited lifespan gave everything an extra intensity. All the sensations were concentrated in vibrant and vivid bursts that bubbled within and spewed out like fire. I had almost passed out the first time we had made love in my new form, and while it would take some getting used to, in leaving my life as a vampire behind, I was certain that I would get used to it, especially with sensations as sweet as these.
I did mourn the history that had been swept away by my decision. Vampires had been a proud people. Most of us had not been turned by choice, but we all devoted ourselves to a culture that was long and storied. Myths about us would endure, but the last vampires had died, and the last vampire king had abdicated his throne, peeling away his immortality and leaving it to rot. If the others knew that I had done this then they would have looked upon me with scorn. They would have shamed me and waged war against me, seeking to tear me apart and leave no trace of me left. But they were safely ensconced away, trapped in a shadow realm from which there was no escape. They were caught in limbo between life and death, never to enter the world again.
Never to trouble anyone.
And the wolves that had been my sworn enemy no longer pursued me. Willow and I had formed a truce with them, and they accepted her decision to stay with me. I had been willing to go to war with them, but thankfully that had not been necessary. Given that my position had changed, I thought that I would not be the focus of their ire if our paths should ever cross again, although my enmity would be something I needed to shake, a part of my past that I needed to release.
Just as I was basking in the soft comfort of the night I felt Willow stir beside me. I smiled towards her, but she had a concerned look on her face. She sniffed the air and her eyes blazed with a primal, savage fury that told me something was wrong. A rush of air passed through the door. I turned my head and I gasped. No, it was impossible. It couldn’t be.
Amara, the vampire who had first turned me, had returned. She wielded her long sword and screamed as she came running into the chamber. I was frozen, unable to react in time, my senses dulled, otherwise I would have felt her coming. She drew back and I saw the fire in her violet eyes. They screamed death and vengeance and all the dark things of the world, and all I could think was that my mortal life had been too short lived. There wasn’t even time for it to flash before my eyes as the sword came shrieking through the air towards me, but I wasn’t alone.
Willow growled as she shed her mortal form and transformed into a majestic wolf. She leaped over me, claws bared, her huge wolf form tense with anger as she pushed the sword back and then glared at Amara.
I really wish that I had been dreaming.
Chapter Two
Willow
I had been drifting in the sweet realm between dreams and life. The two had been woven together like a fine tapestry for me, because I had everything I ever wanted. The finest man I had ever known was beside me, and yes a man, no longer a vampire. I loved him as he was, and I love him as he is. Now his flesh is warm to the touch. His pallor is not deathly pale, and no longer does he have time stretching out before him with no end. I no longer needed to fear growing old before him, wrinkling and shriveling while he stayed as he ever was, youth forever etched upon his skin. Now he would grow old with me, and what’s more we could have a family. The world we inhabited was not exactly ideal in which to raise a child, but in some ways no world was. Danger lurked all around and there was nothing that would guarantee a child’s safety, but we would love them all the same, and a loving home would be a happy home.
I knew that well, because that was one thing that had been denied me.
But although the past still stung, the pain had ebbed away after my last visit to the pack. Old wounds had not healed entirely, but I could accept that things had moved on, and that just as I had changed, so had they. I suppose it was easier to let things go when I had something more important to hold onto. Nothing was going to take Cassius away from me.
As my arm lay draped across his chest I murmured softly, enjoying a shallow dream of a child running through the castle walls, giggling loudly. It was a rich, mellifluous sound that had been sorely missed in this barren place, and a smile twitched upon my face. But then some dark instinct took hold of me and I knew that something was amiss. I looked up. Cassius did not seem disturbed, but he was only a man now. He had been shorn of everything that had made his senses keen, and his connection with this castle had been severed.
He had abdicated his throne as the last vampire king, and with it all his responsibilities, as well as his privileges. The vampires were all gone… yet why did I sense one?
It was a niggling feeling at the back of my neck, an itch I could not scratch. I did not understand it at first as it did not seem possible at all, but in my confusion I spent too much time questioning it rather than taking action, and then the room filled with the scent of brimstone and ash. Somehow she had returned, the woman who had sired Cassius as a vampire, the one who had lured that desperate boy he had been into her lair with promises of everything he had ever wanted, all his dreams made real. Little did he know at the time that those dreams would swiftly turn to nightmares. He had banished her and the rest of them to some nether realm ridding the world of the rot of vampires, but now she was here and things were so real I knew this was no dream.
I could also taste the anger in the air. It radiated off her as thick as tar and was unmistakable. It made the air hot and humid, and I almost made myself sick because of it. I shook the sensation away though, not intending it to prevent me from protecting my mate. Cassius wore a look of shock, as though he had seen a ghost. In a way he had. Questions about how Amara had returned could wait for later though. I embraced the wolf inside. The pendant glowed as it worked its magic and helped break through whatever natural barrier had impeded me before. I felt the wonder and the pain strike through me, lancing as though someone had impaled me with a spear. My flesh parted, tearing and transforming into something new, something more.
I bellowed out a scream as I lunged towards Amara. As I shifted, it shifted too into a howl that reverberated through the hollow halls of this castle.
My castle.
