Chapter 44
Chapter forty-four
Ethan
“You can have me.”
The words rang in his ears, surprising even himself with how sure he sounded. How confident. He loved Tressa. There was no doubt about it. And he refused to let her die for him. Refused to let her family die for him.
He could finally save someone he cared about.
“Nobody else needs to get hurt,” he told Renata. “There’s been enough pain. It needs to stop.”
She eyed him warily, as if she didn’t expect him to actually cooperate.
“That is true,” she said before tossing Tressa to the ground beside the others and holding out her hand.
“It is a shame that your intelligence is to be your downfall, but what you have created cannot exist. And your death is the only way to guarantee it will never be duplicated.”
When he didn’t immediately take her hand, she grabbed his arm and jerked him closer to her.
He couldn’t help but cringe at the proximity as her scent filled his nostrils.
It was cloying, and he felt like he might choke on her rotten, perfumy smell.
It had been faint when she first sank her fangs into him months ago, but this time it was overwhelming, and he fought the urge to gag.
He wanted his last scent to be that of Tressa’s.
Wanted his last sight to be her beautiful chestnut brown eyes.
Instead, it seemed like he would leave the world being forced to endure flashbacks of Jake’s death.
It bothered him, the fact that he still had no idea why his heart medication could be such a risk to vampires. He’d hoped Baylin could figure it out once he shared the information with him, but they hadn’t had time for that. There hadn’t been time for a lot of things he wanted to do before dying.
He chuckled sadly to himself, wondering if he won the award for shortest stint as a vampire ever. If he had to give up eternity, though, he was glad it was for Tressa. Nobody deserved to live more than his Sunflower.
But Renata was na?ve if she thought killing him would actually solve anything for long.
“It won’t end, you know,” he told her, resisting the urge to spit in her face as he stared into the hollow voids that were her eyes.
“Someday, another scientist will come up with the same theory I did. You can destroy me. You can destroy my research. You can destroy every computer and every lab that had anything to do with it. But you can’t destroy human curiosity.
Eventually, someone will discover the same thing I did. ”
“Perhaps,” she said as she dragged the rough piece of driftwood over the scar on his neck, tearing it open just enough to send a small stream of blood dribbling down his chest. “And that is why I will remain ever vigilant. That is the purpose that has been given to me. After five hundred years, she has offered me a reason to continue this unending existence. So long as humans keep stumbling across things they don’t understand, I will be here.
Watching in the shadows. Cleaning up the mess. ”
She sniffed his neck, then licked up a tiny bit of his blood.
“You really do taste delicious, even now that you’ve been turned.
I can barely smell anything but vanilla and bubblegum when you and Tressa are around.
And that brain of yours? So much potential.
I can see why she fell for you. I truly am sorry about this, Ethan. ”
When she slid the driftwood down his chest to rest above his heart, he squeezed his eyes shut, bracing himself for the end.
“Wait!” Tressa screamed, and he cracked one eye open to see her at his side, her hand gripping Renata’s wrist. “Can I just say goodbye? Please?” she begged, the sorrow in her tone causing more damage to his heart than any stake ever could.
Renata glanced back and forth between them before the tension in her face went slack. “Fine,” she conceded, some of the edge in her voice fading. “You may say your farewell.”
“Can you let him go?” his mate pleaded softly, her gaze fixed on Renata. “Just so I can kiss him one last time. It would mean everything to me.”
Renata’s eyes narrowed for a fraction of a second, and then she sighed.
“You do know there is nothing that can be done to save him, right? If you are attempting a… What do the humans call it? A Hail Mary?” She shuddered.
“It will do you no good. And I might be less inclined to make his demise quick and painless.”
Tressa shook her head, placing her other hand over the one tightly wrapped around the stake. “I promise. It’s not that. Just one last kiss.”
Remembering his mate’s Gift, Ethan watched as Renata succumbed, and a small, sad smile curled up the corner of her mouth. “How could I deny you such a simple request?”
She released her hold on Ethan and stepped back, gesturing for Tressa to go ahead.
“Oh, and one more thing, Loloma,” Renata said, halting them as they reached for each other. “While I enjoy having the rough edges of my anger soothed as much as the next person, if you try to use your ability on me again, I’ll tear your pretty head from your shoulders. Family or no.”
Tressa gulped, nodded, then turned back to Ethan.
She wrapped her arms around his waist and locked her eyes on his.
“I know why you’re doing this, Ethan,” she said in a quiet voice even though every vampire on the beach could clearly hear their exchange.
“And I think your mom would be proud of you. I think your mom’s friends would be proud of you too. ”
The pointed look she gave him carried more than just the weight of goodbye, and he searched her face, struggling to understand what message she was trying to convey. He turned the words over in his head, parsing them for any clue.
Friends.
That was the word she had put emphasis on. But what could that possibly have to do with…
It hit him like a fastball to the face, and he could only hope Renata didn’t catch the slight widening of his eyes before he schooled his expression.
His mom’s friends.
The witches.
The potion.
“You’ll know when the time is right.” That was what the kind, older woman in the 50’s swing dress had said.
He smiled at Tressa. “I agree,” he said, running his hand down the side of her arm to rest on her hip, inches away from his own pocket that held the small vial. “I think she would be proud.”
He pulled his mate to his chest with one arm and kissed her with all the passion he felt just in case he failed.
While he let his head fill with all the beautiful moments they’d spent together, his hand slipped away from her hip and moved to his own, sliding into the loose pocket of the black track pants he was glad he’d chosen over tight jeans.
His fingers curled around the bottle, and Tressa let out a tiny moan, deepening the kiss. He slowly pulled the potion from his pocket, his thumb brushing against the cork stopper as he tested to see how easily he could pop it off.
Time stood still as he debated.
Drink or toss.
Both were viable options, but he couldn’t decide. The witch hadn’t been clear. In fact, she’d been purposefully vague about what the hell he was supposed to do with the liquid. Was it poison or protection?
Drink or toss.
He’d told her exactly what he was going up against—an ancient vampire—and she hadn’t even blinked. Simply disappeared into her kitchen for a moment, then returned with the vial, telling him it was the exact thing he needed.
Drink or toss.
His mind flashed back to when Saiden had hurled the gas canister. How easily Renata had caught it. There was no way he could throw the bottle fast enough to catch her off guard.
Drink or toss.
He could see only one realistic choice, and he had to try.
Drink.
As he slowly pulled back from their kiss, he lifted the potion to his mouth, dragging it up between their bodies so Renata wouldn’t see. He leaned in close to Tressa, pressing his forehead to hers.
Please let this work.
His thumb pressed against the cork lid, loosening it.
“I love you,” he whispered to Tressa.
“I love you too, Ethan. Whatever happens, I—”
Before Tressa could finish her sentence, she was flung away from him with a pained yelp, and a hand clamped down on the one holding the potion, pausing it less than an inch from his lips. He looked into Renata’s dark eyes, and a sinking feeling coiled in the pit of his stomach.
“I’m disappointed,” she said sadly. “I told you not to try anything, and yet you didn’t listen.”
Ethan swallowed roughly. He could see the vial. It was so close, yet the grip holding him might as well have been carved from marble for all he could move his hand.
He’d failed.
Renata glanced down at the bottle and then back up to Ethan. She dug the tip of the stake into his chin, forcing him to look at her. “I am curious, though. What exactly did you think you were going to do?”
“Nothing,” he snapped. If he was going to die, he would at least show her that he wasn’t afraid. It was all he had left.
Renata arched an eyebrow. “I don’t believe this is nothing.” When he didn’t respond, her face twisted in anger. “Tell me what this is Ethan, or I might not choose to spare Tressa when this is done. I’ve been more than patient with you all, and I’ve gotten nothing but lies and disrespect in return.”
He glanced over at his mate who was still lying on the beach where Renata had thrown her, barely able to lift her head to look at him. The fear he thought he’d suppressed came rising back up. He didn’t care what happened to him, but he had to know Tressa would be okay.
His shoulders sagged. “I think it’s a protection potion,” he admitted. “My mom was some sort of witch. One of her friends gave it to me.”
Renata stared at him, her eyes searching his, and then she tossed her head back and laughed. “A protection potion? Delightful.” She pried the small vial out of his hands and sniffed it. “I don’t smell anything. Are you sure she didn’t give you water? A bit of false courage?”
“Doesn’t matter now,” he gritted out. “Does it?”
“No,” Renata said, pressing the stake into Ethan’s chest. “It doesn’t.”
The wood burrowed through skin and muscle, inching toward his heart. He ground his teeth together through the agonizing pain. He wouldn’t beg for his life. Jake had begged, and it hadn’t saved him.
Maybe Ethan should have died in that lab. Maybe it would have been better if he’d never met Tressa. Never had that brief moment of happiness. That teaser of what could have been.
Maybe dying would be easier if he didn’t know what he was leaving behind.
“I’m sorry to drag this out,” Renata said, and it actually sounded like she meant it. “But I did tell you what would happen if you tried anything.”
She pressed a little harder, and Ethan heard his sternum crack. Blood filled his lungs, and he coughed, sending small red splatters across Renata’s face. When she pulled him in close, every aspect of her looked exactly the same as it had that night, right down to the flecks of blood on her skin.
“Do it,” he bit out. “I’d rather die than spend another second looking at your hideous face.”
The smirk she gave him belied any sense of the civility she claimed to have. “In that case,” she replied, the vacant depths of her dark eyes prepared to swallow his soul, “your wish is finally granted.”
She lifted the potion in front of his face and crushed the vial.
“Goodbye, Ethan.”