Chapter 35
Thirty-Five
Blake
It only took me a few minutes to arrive at the small house my parents owned. Grandpa lived in the back section of the house where he had his own small apartment and, thankfully, its own entrance. I knocked quietly and waited for him to make his way to the door.
“Hello?” he said as he cracked open the door. “Awful early for a visit don’t you think?”
“Sorry, but this couldn’t wait,” I said, as he opened the door enough to let me in.
“Come on in then. You know you’re always welcome, but I can’t remember the last time I saw you up this early.
Something has changed.” He hugged me and I clamped my mouth shut when I was so close to his neck I could hear the blood rushing through his veins.
His kind blue eyes met mine and the gentle smile he always wore reminded me of all the time spent listening to his stories.
“I’ll be up early from now on I suppose,” I said more to myself than him.
“Something’s happened and I wanted you to find out from me and know the truth.
I know how rumors get spread in this town.
” Marlon’s story was the perfect example and now I knew the truth, I was still trying to figure out why the story had changed so much.
“You’re right to be concerned,” he said before settling back into his usual chair.
“Now tell me what brings you here, are you okay?” He leaned forward in his chair and clasped his hands together while staring at me and waiting for me to answer.
His hands were rough and scarred from years of working the same land Marlon had helped buy, but none of them knew that.
“A while back, Aaron and I decided to go out to the cemetery and see if the stories were true.”
“You didn’t,” he gasped and sat back in his chair before covering his eyes with his hand.
“We did, and the stories were true. There was a vampire buried there, but he—”
“Wasn’t dead,” he finished for me.
“How did you—”
“I didn’t, but I assumed. Not that I know a lot about vampires, but I didn’t think they were easy to kill,” he said. “What happened?”
I told him everything, how we’d dug up Marlon and how he wasn’t dead and how he fed on me. “Did he hurt you?” he asked.
“No, he would never hurt me,” I said as I second-guessed my decision to tell him.
“Why did he feed on you? I thought they would kill you if that happened,” he said. His voice was calm, but his eyes were filled with worry and fear for me.
“He had to, he hadn’t had any blood in all that time, and he was slowly withering away. My blood saved him—and then he saved me.”
“Oh, son,” he murmured.
“I love him, and he loves me. We never meant it to happen, but it did, it’s like we were meant to be together,” I explained. “You see, I’m like him now.” I barely got those words out and I was afraid to look at my grandfather to see his reaction.
“Did he hurt you?” he whispered again. This had to be so confusing for him, but I wanted him to know. I needed him to know.
“No, he changed me because another vampire tried to kill me. That vampire just happened to be our ancestor who traveled out here. If they hadn’t made that trip we wouldn’t be here,” I said, and waited for him to freak out.
“You mean the uncle that came up missing once they got here?” he asked and reminded me of Josiah as he stared at nothing and tried to understand what I was telling him.
“Yes, Josiah Miller.”
“His younger brother looked for him once he was old enough. He never gave up on finding his brother. My father once told me how his grandfather would mention his brother, even when he was old and his memory had faded,” Grandpa said.
“Josiah is the vampire that tried to kill me,” I said, because there was no need to try to keep this secret anymore. My grandfather knew, and if he was horrified with what I’d become, I’d leave and never return.
“So, our ancestor is a vampire too?” he asked.
“Yes, and he wants to meet you.”
“Does he? And what about the one you’re in love with?” he asked and reminded where I’d gotten my lack of self-preservation and unquenchable curiosity.
“They all want to meet you,” I said as he grinned at me. “But we can’t be out in the sun.” I could feel the warning in my skin that dawn was coming, and I calmed the need to run to my mate. Fuck I sounded just like Marlon now. “Would it be okay if we came back at dusk?”
“What about your parents?” He knew we were not close, but I couldn’t remember a time when he hadn’t been there for me. They rarely checked in with me, and I no longer cared if they did or not.
“I don’t want them to know. They won’t miss me if I leave.”
“Are you leaving?”
I took a deep breath before answering. This had been on my mind for a while. “I know we should, but I’d like Marlon to live here and remember what it’s like to be human. He’s been so alone for so long,” I whispered. “I’d really like for him to remember family.”
“Is he going to want to eat anyone? I mean there are a few I can suggest,” he mumbled that last part and covered his mouth with his hand.
“No, he can control himself. Same as me. We want to live in peace, and I want to learn more about my new life from him, my mate.” His eyes widened slightly before he reached his hand out to me and I moved close enough to take it.
He smelled of fresh cut grass, clean water, and the soil this farm was built on and there was nothing that was strong enough to make me hurt him.
“I would love to meet your—mate. If he matters to you then he’s important to me too. I’m not so sure about the one that hurt you,” he said and when I looked in his eyes, I saw no judgment or fear, I saw only the love and kindness he’d always shown me.
“There’s so much more to the story. But I promise he’s not going to hurt anyone, and I know he really wants to meet you.
” I never thought I would be defending Josiah to anyone, but least of all my grandfather.
But I could see he was different. Whatever hold the witch had on him had faded and was gone, now his focus was on Mark.
“Plus, Marlon still doesn’t trust him and if he did anything that hurt me, he’d lose his head.
” I didn’t mean to say it, but after flinching my grandfather grinned at me.
“I guess I don’t have to worry about him taking care of you,” he said. “When will I meet them?”
I glanced at the distance where the sun was just barely brightening the horizon. Too dim for human eyes but my vampire senses told me exactly how long I had to get to safety. “We’ll come back at dusk. Remember, I don’t want Mom and Dad to know,” I whispered.
“What will you tell them?”
“I’ll write them a note. It’s not like they’ve been all that involved in my life the past few years.
They’ll just think I ran off to somewhere else.
” Once I’d graduated, they’d moved on from their roles as parents and fully embraced living their own lives.
They traveled or kept busy with many things in the area that had nothing to do with me.
They’d found their own happiness and while I resented it as a human, now I was thankful for it.
“Okay, son, I’ll honor whatever you think is best,” he said and reached for my hand and a help up from his chair. “I’ll be here when you return.”
I waited outside and watched as he walked back into the small farmhouse, the very house Marlon dreamed of having and never got, and I swore to the heavens I’d make sure the next hundred years of his life were happy.