27. Geordi
CHAPTER 27
Geordi
I watch in stunned silence as Elias takes Tristan from Benicio, and using the chains wrapped around the vampire’s body, effortlessly strings him up from a metal beam above us. Tristan is still defiant, glaring at me and doing his best to endure the burning of the chains on his flesh. He’s still pretty, which is more than annoying, but his looks are marred by blood and singe marks.
A hint of guilt tugs at my chest that I’m allowing this to happen. Not only am I allowing it, but I’m relieved. I don’t want anything bad to happen to Elias or me, but especially Elias. He put himself in this position with Tristan on my behalf.
“You’re wrong, darling,” Elias says as he steps back to admire his work. “This would have happened even if our paths had never crossed. You recall how we met.”
“Right. Yeah.”
“You see, Tristan was misguided, lured by the promise of dominance that will never happen. A wise vampire knows we are outnumbered by mortals many times over. We learned during the war that mortals will go to extreme lengths, even destroy themselves, to retain power. They will sacrifice anything and a vampire will sacrifice nothing. We have no real allegiance to anything, no grand purpose except our own continued existence.”
He glances at me, smiling.
“There have been many such misguided pursuits over the centuries. Uprisings against the church or a powerful government. I’ve seen it more times than I can count, and do you know what happens every time?”
I shake my head. “What?”
“We are pushed back into the shadows. We are forced into hiding for our own preservation. We gain nothing and lose much. What Fisher, Tristan, and the others who joined their cause couldn’t see is that our current reality is the most progress our kind has ever made. I can walk freely among mortals. I enjoy the opportunity to make a fruitful life for myself and others like me. Domination is not the goal because it’s impossible to reach. Peaceful coexistence is the only reasonable choice.”
“Yeah, I get that.”
“Unfortunately for Tristan, he didn’t understand me as much as he thought he did. He thought he could seduce the most powerful vampire currently living, but I knew something wasn’t right about him. Foolish,” he whispers. “Didn’t you consider that if I wanted more power, I simply would have taken it?”
Tristan’s upper lip curls into something of a snarl, but he tries to maintain his composure as best he can in his position.
“Now, you stupid little puppet.” Elias steps closer to Tristan. “You’re going to watch me entangle my soul with another.” He grips Tristan’s chin hard. “I’m going to drain him, then feed him, then fuck him. He’s going to scream my name in pleasure, now and forever.”
Tristan’s eyes harden. “I don’t care. Your punishment is meaningless.”
Elias chuckles. “You can’t lie to me. I feel your grief and humiliation. I feel your rage.”
Elias opens his mouth to reveal his fangs, and my stomach does somersaults. He’s so sexy. And he’s mine.
“You want to tear my mortal apart, but you’re powerless. You wanted it to be you.” Elias drags his nails down Tristan’s chest, drawing blood. Tristan flinches but remains stoic.
“He’ll tire of you,” Tristan says to me. “He tires of everyone. His eyes will stray to the next pretty mortal, and when he’s over you, he’ll discard you and one of his friends will take his seconds. You mean nothing to him.”
Tristan’s words sting, but when I look at Elias, his eyes are pulsing. I don’t know how I know, but I literally feel his commitment to me. I don’t understand why he chose me, but I know to my core that he has.
“That’s what you’d like to believe.” I straighten my shoulders. “But you know I’m different. You hate it but you know. He’s going to keep me, and you can watch him love me from your eternal grave.”
Elias smiles, pride in his eyes. “Geordi knows what he is to me.”
“Why?” Tristan demands, his voice tight and strained. “Why this one?”
“Who am I to question my instincts? Perhaps it’s fate. I don’t really care. All I need to know is how he makes me feel, how he lights me up, and gives this old vampire a new outlook.”
Elias turns to me, and as his eyes pulse with heat, my cock swells and my mouth waters.
“Are we done talking to him? I want you.”
“Yes, my darling, we’re done talking to him.”
Elias stalks toward me, taking my hand and guiding me to the bed in the room. Is it shaped like a coffin? Yep. Is that the coolest thing I’ve ever seen? Also yes.
Elias sits first before pulling me up with him and cradling my head against his chest. He brushes my hair from my forehead, gazing down at me with what must be love in his eyes. I believe that’s what it is.
“What a gift you’re about to give me,” he says. “I don’t take it lightly. In fact, I’m honored to be the one.”
I nod, clinging to his forearm. “I’m ready.”
With his hand on the back of my neck, he lifts me slightly, pulls his head back to reveal sharp white fangs, then bends forward and sinks them into my neck. I squeeze my eyes closed, waiting for pain, but what I get is a flood of warmth and good feelings.
Joy.
Peace.
Love.
Acceptance.
Home.
Elias is home. He’s the one to fill the empty hole I’ve had since losing my family. He’s my family now.
My toes and fingers lose feeling, and I become lightheaded. When I open my eyes, the room is blurry, but my hearing is weirdly sharp. I hear Tristan’s chains rattling and his groans of protest. My blood rushes through my veins to the wound in my neck as Elias drinks me in. My heartbeat slows but Elias’s becomes louder.
I’m dying.
My stomach clenches with hunger, twisting painfully as I claw at Elias’s chest. I want to speak, to beg for relief, but the words don’t form.
He pulls his head back, his teeth tugging at my flesh as he slides them out. I try to focus on his face, but I can barely make out shapes, much less his features.
“Here you go, my darling. Drink up.”
The first cool drop of metallic liquid lands on my tongue, igniting a desperate hunger like nothing I’ve ever felt. His blood isn’t warm at all, but I knew that about vampires. I grab his wrist, holding the open vein to my mouth, and drink, gulping the thick nectar down my throat.
As I swallow, my strength returns, the feeling in my extremities tingling back to life. A smile tugs at my lips, but it’s short lived. A searing pain stabs me in the chest, and I gasp, throwing my head back and groaning. The convulsions start next, and I’m taken back to the horror of watching my sister struggle. It’s happening.
I’m turning.
Elias hovers over me, and the pure calm and affection on his face soothes the fear and panic spreading through me. This is supposed to happen.
When the spasms stop, the world does too. It’s dead silent as the room falls away.
I hear nothing.
See nothing.
I’m dead.