Chapter 18
Eighteen
Marlon
There was no time to grieve for the human Blake was.
Now he would forever be condemned to live by night and drink blood to survive.
There was a hole in my chest where my dead heart hurt for what he’d lost, but a small part of me was happy to not have to continually try to save him from himself.
“I wanted to drain you when you first released me,” I admitted as we lay on the side of the mountain still naked under the blanket of night.
“It’s hard for me to remember. Some memories are so sharp, and others aren’t,” Blake said.
“That will change soon, and you’ll have your memory back.
I need you to know I only changed you because your friend wanted me to, and once he asked it was all I could think of.
” I had hated this life for most of it and when I was first trapped, I’d hoped eventually I would die or cease to exist. But that hadn’t happened, and my will to live had kept me alive possibly so I could finally meet my mate.
“Josiah attacked you and made sure you’d either die, or I’d have to choose to turn you,” I said and pulled him closer into my side.
“I don’t understand how he could still be alive. He was supposed to be dead years ago. My grandfather said he left town in search of gold and never returned,” Blake said.
“They used my blood and somehow it worked. I don’t know how, but I don’t have experience with turning a human. It was never something I wanted to experience or inflict on another. It was the one rule I lived by, not to create another vampire.”
“But you fed on humans,” he said and leaned up on his elbow. Already he had changed. He was handsome before, but now the change had perfected any slight imperfection he had. Healing anything that may have been injured and preventing any harm that could ever come to him.
“I did. At first, I couldn’t stop myself, but eventually I was able to choose who I fed from and then I realized animals sustained me as well as humans. Which is how I was able to make it across the country all those years ago.”
“I don’t want to kill anyone,” he said.
“I know, love.” The pain of knowing I had to kill to live never went away. While some vampires reveled in the act of hunting their prey, I hated it. “I’m going to help you learn other ways. We’ll figure this out together,” I said.
“What about my job? I still have to pay bills, or will we live here? My family is still here; would I want to kill them?” He stood far quicker than any human would have been able to move and stood way too still. He was amazing.
“We’ll figure it out, but you won’t be able to be outside in the sun, and being around humans won’t be easy.”
“Marlon? I don’t want my life to end,” he whispered, his voice so full of hurt and pain I felt it in what was left of my soul.
“I know,” I said not having any other words. “There is nothing that will make me leave you. I swear to you we’ll figure this out.” I pulled him into my arms and held him so tight I worried I’d hurt him.
“But how?” he asked as he buried his face in my neck.
“First we find Josiah and tear his head off,” I said and growled deep in my chest. Gone was the small amount of fondness I’d held onto for so long. All that was left was deep dark hate. Blake met my eyes and lifted his lip showing his fangs.
“How will we find him? He could be anywhere.”
“He used my blood. That is the pull I’ve been feeling since you released me from the grave.
I thought it was the need to feed but it’s the call of one who has been turned with my blood.
That’s another reason I never wanted to turn anyone.
There is no hiding from your maker, and many new vampires have been destroyed when their master is no longer entertained by the new vampire they created. ”
“Master?” Blake asked and leaned away from me.
“Not all vampires are mated, and usually when one is created, the creator is also the new vampire’s master.”
“Can you control him?” Blake asked with a glint of an idea.
“Yes. But only if I can get close enough for him to hear my voice. If I had known he’d been turned, and how, I could have forced him to kneel to me.” I never wanted to hold power over another creature so badly as I wanted to control Josiah. He would pay for what he’d done.
“Too bad you couldn’t use brain control,” he said before grinning. I took his face in my hands and kissed his smile away.
“You’re coming back to me,” I whispered.
“I’ve been here all along,” he said. “But my mind isn’t as foggy as it was earlier. I want to make him pay. But I need to make sure my life here will still survive at some level.”
“What do you want to do? I’ll do whatever you want.”
“I’m going to talk to my boss and tell him I need to leave town for a while. Then when or if we do return, I’ll still have something here, or at least I’ll feel like I do. I need to speak to Aaron,” he said.
“You’ll have to be very careful, and I’ll need to be with you.”
“But why? I would never hurt him. He’s my friend.”
“When a vampire is near a human their blood calls to us. Their heartbeat is so strong and makes their blood very hard to resist. You wouldn’t want to hurt your friend, but you may not be able to help yourself.”
His eyes widened with fear, and he chewed his lip as he thought about what I’d said. “I need to speak to him. Please promise me you won’t let anything happen to him. It would kill me if I hurt him.”
“I won’t let you hurt him, but I promise you I won’t ever control you unless a life depends on it.
” I’d never seen my creator after that night, and I’d had to learn control on my own.
I didn’t want to use my authority over him if I didn’t have to, but I would use it if it was necessary.
“It will be better if we meet with him outdoors.”
“Let me call him.” He patted his pockets for his phone before grunting in frustration. “Shit. I don’t know where my phone is.”
“You may have lost it when you were attacked. It was all very quick and violent. Which reminds me, I need to take care of a body.” I picked up my pants and pulled them on before I noticed Blake hadn’t moved.
“A body?”
“Rupert. Don’t worry though. I’ll just put him outside where he’ll be in the sun when it rises. That way there won’t be anything left. He’ll be nothing but a bad memory.”
“Let’s hurry. I’m not ready to experience the sun,” he said and pulled his pants and shirt on. Once we were both dressed, we ran back to town and right to his house.
“Wait out here. I’ll make sure Aaron isn’t here,” I said, knowing for a fact he wasn’t.
I didn’t want Blake to see Rupert or how much of his own blood was all over the floor.
He stayed outside as I rushed in and cleaned up as best I could before shoving Rupert and his head into a sack I found in the garage just as Blake walked in.
Suddenly he dropped into a crouch. His eyes were dark, and his fangs were exposed ready to defend or tear apart anything or anyone that was a threat. The scent of blood had triggered him to react.
“Blake?” Aaron yelled from the front of the house just as Blake caught his scent.
“Blake, no!” I yelled, but my voice sounded different to my ears, and he instantly froze. “You will not hurt him.” Aaron stood there clutching the door, eyes wide and face pale. “It’s okay, he can’t hurt you.”
Blake hadn’t moved, but his eyes followed every movement, and his breath came out in hurried pants. “Aaron, you shouldn’t be here,” he said through gritted teeth.
Aaron swallowed hard before stepping into the room. “You’re my friend, and I trust you.”
“You shouldn’t,” I said. But because of my command and out of sheer will, Blake still hadn’t moved. “He’s not the same Blake you knew before.”
“I know, but he’s still my friend.”
“Aaron, listen to him,” Blake managed to say. “I don’t want to hurt you.”
“What can I do?” Aaron asked without taking his eyes off Blake.
“Don’t move,” Blake said just as Aaron noticed the sack that now held Rupert.