Chapter 33
Thirty-Three
Sully
Epilogue: One year later
A year ago I never could have imagined my life would be so normal.
Well, as normal as a vampire’s life can be, waking at dusk, snuggling my more person, and entertaining my freakishly smart pet rat.
We put the finishing touches on our guest-room-slash-library just last month. The same room that was previously occupied by Ru’s dearly departed book-loving parents, then by me, then by Hayworth and Caleb before they got their own place, an old farmhouse down the street.
I’d like to think Ru’s parents would approve of the changes we made. The older queen bed is gone in favor of a smaller daybed for reading. Carpet removed for hardwood. And regular bedroom furniture traded for floor-to-ceiling bookshelves.
We painted the new shelves a luscious plum color and lined every wall with them. When that proved not to be enough shelf space for the entire collection, we decked out half the hallway with even more shelves.
We completed the tedious but oh-so-rewarding process of digitally cataloguing each book, scroll, and pamphlet one by one.
It’s taken nearly the whole year, but now if you want a certain book, or to research a certain topic or find a certain author, it’s a matter of a simple search that will lead you directly to the correct shelf. The result feels like a miracle.
And I absolutely love all the books.
Ru said to me, with his arms around my waist and his chin resting lightly on my head as we admired the results of our hard work, “I wish they were here to see it. But even more than that, I wish they were here to meet you. They’d love you so much, Sully.”
I’m sure I would have loved them too.
They raised my Ru, after all, and for that I’ll be forever grateful.
We’ve become something like a hub for the surrounding preternatural community. A safe space, a library, a social outlet. The other hybrids visit often.
Voijin still lurks in and out. Sometimes we even invite him since it turns out he’s not entirely awful. He even has a few good stories once you get him talking.
I have friends now.
Zoe, of course. Other vampires too. Malachi stays in touch, which is nice.
And even a few human friends I met on my frequent trips to a diner that serves pies until midnight.
Peach pie and apple pie and chocolate pie and strawberry rhubarb pie in the springtime, and this time of year I can even have pumpkin.
I love pie. Maybe not as much as I love books, but close to it.
Ru has a new job, not that he needed one.
Turns out, Voijin’s loaded, and he’s only too happy to share the wealth.
He’s doing what he can to make up for his past. But Ru enjoys working.
He enjoys planning and strategizing and generally being a boon to all in the preternatural world.
Recently, he was the lead designer for a new ethical blood distribution system for the PCN (Preternatural Care Network).
His upcoming project for them entails prototype climate-controlled dark transport vehicles to help vampires move about the country and the world at large with greater safety and ease.
Like, he’s so smart and important. Somehow that makes him even more sexy. I can’t believe he’s all mine. I love Ru even more than books and pies put together.
It’s amazing how much can happen in a year.
When Ru is busy with his work, I stay busy with mine.
To be honest, I’m rather obsessed with our library, and with one quandary in particular: How to turn a human into a vampire.
Technically the answer is simple: Drain the human’s blood then replace it with the vampire’s. Easy-peasy. But in practice there’s a great deal of nuance and more than one way to accomplish this astonishing feat.
And I’ve made a few recent discoveries I can’t wait to share.
Ru has been at a work meeting in Pennsylvania since last night. It took absolutely all of my restraint not to call him and spill the beans.
But this is too important.
Too exciting.
I have to tell him in person. He’s on his way home now, and should arrive any minute. I’m pacing back and forth across our porch to kill time. Socks watches from the doorway. Twenty-Four rides on my shoulder. If my excited restlessness bothers him, he doesn’t show it.
When Ru finally pulls up in our old Honda, it’s all I can do not to tackle him on the driveway. “I have news!”
He greets me with open arms and a wide smile. “Kiss me first.”
“Happily.” Kissing Ru is just about the only thing better than telling Ru about my recent discoveries. I could kiss him for hours.
He walks me backwards, guiding us to the porch without breaking the kiss. We stumble up the stairs and settle on our porch swing. It’s our favorite place for long talks and even longer make-out sessions.
“What’s up?” he asks. “You look super cute when you’re this excited, by the way.”
“Thank you.” I flutter my lids. It’s good to feel cute. “You’re going to love this. I’m relatively sure we don’t need Voijin.”
Ru gets my meaning at once. “You mean, to make me a vampire?”
“Right.”
“Well, that’s a dream come true. Tell me more.”
I chuckle.
Ru’s gotten used to Voijin, but he’s never going to be comfortable enough to want Voijin to be the vampire that turns him. And he does want to be turned. Sooner than later, even. We’ve had several versions of that conversation over the course of the year.
“Okay, there’s two things. Good news and—”
“Let me guess. Bad news?” He throws his arm over my shoulder and rocks us. Overhead, stars twinkle in the clear, cool sky.
“Nope! Good news and great news. Which do you want first?”
His smile never fails to charm me. He hits me with a stunner. “Ooh, let’s go in order. Good then great.”
“Deal. The good news is that a fledgling isn’t always weaker than their sire.
I’ve been reading The Midnight Ledger: Observations on Progeny by the Vampire Ephraim, and he explains a method of transmission that should guarantee the strength of the sire is conveyed in full to the fledgling.
It’s essentially a way to make the relationship more equal. ”
“That sounds promising.”
“Ephraim lists multiple recorded instances where this method has worked, it’s just not widely known.”
“Why not? Is it dangerous?”
“No, not that. Dumb reasons if you ask me. Basically there’s a stigma against creating strong fledglings among most of those who know how, so they don’t share the knowledge. The old I struggled through being young and weak, so now you have to struggle through being young and weak too.”
“That sounds familiar, and very human,” says Ru. “Tradition over progress. I paid off my student loans so why should yours be forgiven? But it doesn’t have to be that way.”
“No. It doesn’t.”
“So how is it done?”
I’m eager to share the details. “Slowly. Over the course of one entire night, dusk till dawn. The premise is the same, the human needs to be drained of his blood and then consume the blood of the vampire to replace it, but rather than all at once, it’s a back-and-forth exchange that repeats.
Draining and drinking from each other in tandem, over and over, until there is no difference between the blood. Not mine and yours, but ours.”
Maybe I’m weird, but the thought of it is so romantic I could swoon. I can think of nothing better than cuddling with Ru as the hours tick by and taking turns giving and indulging until there’s no difference between his blood and mine. Until we pass out from the pleasure of it. Dreamy.
Ru narrows his gaze. “Wait, you’re speaking as if we could do this. You and me, not me and Voijin.”
A happy little squeal escapes my throat. “That’s the great news. I think we can!”
“Really?” Careful hope flickers in his gaze. “But how do you know? There were no hybrids back when Ephraim was scribbling in those journals.”
“Because I spoke with Rachel. She and Caleb were always close friends back at II Tech. Their rooms were next to each other. After she left New York, they kept in touch. Caleb said I needed to call her, that she had news, so I did. She’s in Oregon now and really happy.
She fell in love with a human there called Emma, and has successfully turned her without the help of any traditional vampire. ”
“That’s great news.” His hint of hope bursts bright behind excited eyes and a big smile. “If Rachel can do it, you definitely can.”
He’s right. I don’t like to compare any of us—we’re all unique in our own ways—but of the hybrids, I’d turned out the strongest while Rachel was perhaps the most humanlike of the bunch. The weakest in terms of strength and speed.
“When can we do it?” Ru asks, fearless in his enthusiasm.
And though I’m excited to my very core, I still have a few reservations.
“Are you sure you’re sure? Because it can’t be undone.
And even though you shouldn’t turn out weaker than me, we’ll still be different.
I’m always going to be able to eat food, but you won’t be.
You’ll be like any other vampire, probably. Not like a hybrid.”
Ru’s soft chuckle does little to reassure me, but his words help. “Just because you can’t imagine giving up things like cream cheese frosting and popcorn and pumpkin pie doesn’t mean giving up those things will bother me. I don’t need food to be happy. I only need you.”
My heart melts.
“You’ll have to eat enough cinnamon rolls and pizza for the both of us from now on.” He pats my stomach lovingly.
“That won’t be a problem.”
“What matters to me is that we’re safe and whole together. I’ve never cared that I might be weaker as a new vampire than you are. I’ve never cared that you’ll still be a hybrid and I won’t be. I’m excited to learn from you. We’re good at doing new things together. We’ll be good at this too.”
His vote of confidence eases something tight in my chest.
The urge to kiss him senseless is sudden and overwhelming. I give into it without hesitation, all but climbing into his lap. “How are you so perfect?” I mumble against his mouth.
He holds me close and returns my kisses. He doesn’t answer, but he doesn’t need to.
We part just enough to lock gazes.
“If you need more time, that’s fine. I understand,” says Ru.
“I won’t rush you. But believe me when I tell you I’m ready.
I’m eager. I’ve spent my whole life just outside of the preternatural world looking in, and joining it once and for all with you at my side feels like the right thing to do. There’s no question for me, okay?”
I nod. I believe him. But I appreciate the time, nonetheless. I’m going to plan the perfect night for us. “Okay.”
A chilly breeze ruffles his hair. It’s gotten longer, almost to his shoulders. I run my fingers through it and tuck the stray locks behind his ears. The faint creak of trees breaks up the near silence.
“I missed you,” he says, though he was only away for one night.
“I missed you too,” I reply, because one night felt like a hundred without him.
“Let’s go inside. I got you something.”
“Ooh, a present?”
We grab his bags from the car and head in. The house is warm and cozy and much homier for having him back in it. He heads to our room and plops the bag on the bed, then digs inside it and pulls out a book.
“For the library. I thought you’d like it.” He hands me a delightfully old-looking tome.
I turn in over in my hands. “In a Glass Darkly, by Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu.”
“It’s a first edition and contains his serial called ‘Carmilla.’ A vampire novel that predates Dracula. Right up your alley.”
I love the book right away. “I can’t wait to read it. Thank you.”
“My pleasure. Truly. Because watching you read is hot.” He grins. “You know what else is hot?”
“What?”
“Watching you watch TV you’ve never seen. Come on.”
We head to the living room and curl up on the sofa together. Twenty-Four hops from my shoulder to Ru’s. Socks leaps up next to me and purrs as I pet her.
“You’re going to love this show,” says Ru with a level of glee in his voice that frankly makes me giggle.
“Oh, I am, am I?”
“It’s quintessential vampire TV, a classic, and there’s talk of a remake happening, or not happening, so we have to watch the original, ASAP.”
“You’ll get no argument from me, but isn’t this show about, like, killing us?”
He hits play on the first episode of Buffy the Vampire Slayer. “It’s not just that. There’s Angel. You’ll like him. Tragic backstory. And Spike, a British hottie that runs around in daylight with a blanket over his head… just wait.”
“You had me at British hottie.” I tuck my feet up as Socks settles against my thigh.
Ru lays his arm around my shoulders and tugs me close.
This is it. This is everything. This is the life I always dreamed of.
Just the two of us, safe and sound in our home, watching a witty teenage slayer kick a heck of a lot of vampire ass.
The End
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Love,
Lee Colgin