Chapter 16
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Lilith brought Spencer to her home in The Underworld, and three days came and went while she never left his side.
Deirdre had stopped by the first day to return Esther, but other than that, Lilith hadn’t seen a single soul.
Percival took daily flights around The Underworld, but she didn’t bother connecting with him.
She didn’t want to speak to anyone. Not while Spencer lay in limbo.
Esther had nearly made a full recovery. Dee told her the snake had been on death’s door for a moment, and she didn’t mean Azrael’s front porch.
No doubt when Spencer lay dying, her familiar could barely withstand the agony tearing Lilith apart.
She would have lost them both if she hadn’t turned Spencer. She had done the right thing.
She had done the right thing.
Hadn’t she?
Esther’s color had returned, she was eating, and she spent her time wrapped around Lilith’s shoulders or coiled on Spencer’s stomach. She’d taken to Spencer the moment she saw him, as she should have. He was her soulmate too.
She had done the right thing. So, why was her stomach still tied in knots?
“Lilith?” Eve’s voice sounded from the living room. “I know you said no visitors, but we came to check on you anyway. Is he awake yet?”
“Not yet.” Reluctantly, she rose from her seat beside the bed and padded down the hall. “Come back here. I don’t want to leave him alone.”
“We don’t want to disturb him,” Venus said.
Deirdre motioned for them to follow her to the bedroom. “Believe me. He’s dead to the world right now. He won’t hear a thing.”
The women filed into the room and stood around the bed. “He’s a cutie pie, isn’t he?” Eve said.
Dee smiled at him. “Adorable.”
“And a sweetheart too,” Venus said.
Lilith cringed. “We’ll see how sweet he wants to be when he wakes up and realizes what I’ve done. I’m afraid he’ll hate me.”
“Why would he hate you?” the Goddess of Love asked.
“Because he made it quite clear he did not want to be a vampire. What if I’ve done the wrong thing by turning him?”
“Pfft.” Deirdre waved a hand dismissively. “He’ll get over that real quick.”
“How do you know? Were you turned against your will?”
“Well, no, but my sire abandoned me a few years later, and I got over it.”
Lilith crossed her arms. “And how long did that take?”
Dee shrugged. “Just a century or so.”
Lilith sighed and sank onto the edge of the bed. “Fangtastic. He’s going to hate me for a century.”
“No, he won’t.” Eve patted her shoulder. “You’re not going to abandon him. That’s the difference.”
“Never. I love him.”
“Everything will work out,” Venus said. “Ladies, let’s give Lilith some privacy. You know where to find us if you need anything.”
Lilith nodded. “Thank you.”
Her friends left, and Lilith gazed at her soulmate lying on the bed.
Esther had taken her favorite spot on Spencer’s belly, and Lilith lay beside them in the bed while Percival sat between them.
She never realized how much of her heart resided outside her body until this moment.
She’d taken her familiars for granted, assumed they would always be with her.
She knew now that she had to take care of them and of herself.
Spencer’s eyes moved beneath his lids, and Lilith sat up, her muscles tensing. She would never take this man for granted, and she would show him every day for the rest of eternity how much of her heart resided in him.
Percival rose to his feet, watching the movement intently, and a light flush of color returned to Spencer's ashen cheeks. Though he didn’t need to breathe, he sucked in a gasp of air, and his eyes opened.
* * *
Spencer lay still, staring at the ceiling in a dark room.
A weight lay on his stomach, and something or someone stirred beside him.
His throat felt like he’d swallowed an electric sander—while it was running—and his mouth tasted of copper, but otherwise, he felt okay. A little foggy, but no worse for wear.
The ceiling above didn’t look like anything he’d seen before. Painted black, it had millions of tiny crystals scattered across it like stars. Where the hell was he?
Think, Spence. Think. What’s the last thing you remember?
The cavern in the rainforest had been covered with crystals like this. Had the cave-in knocked him out? Had the past few weeks been nothing more than a dream? No, that wasn’t possible. He’d found his soulmate; he hadn’t imagined that. Speed dating… Costa Rica…
Romania. He and Lilith had spent the night at Andrei’s castle, and Alan and Rebecca met them there the next day. Then what? He squeezed his eyes shut, trying to chase the fog from his mind. They interviewed Andrei. Or…they were going to interview him. Had they done it?
Yes, the memory was vague, but he recalled the library and how good Lilith looked on camera. Then they’d gone to the cemetery, and… No, that part had to be a nightmare.
“Spencer?” Lilith’s fingers brushed his forehead, and he opened his eyes to find her gazing at him lovingly.
Relief washed over him. “I had the wildest dream.” He rose onto his elbows, and his gaze locked on the thing weighing down his stomach…a snake.
A fucking snake.
“Ahh!” Without thinking, without assessing what kind of snake it might be, whether or not its bite could kill him, or even why it was lying on his stomach, he grabbed it behind its head and flung it across the room.
His fight or flight kicked in, and he shot to his feet, ready for his owl to take over.
He shifted his weight, preparing to take flight, but he froze.
Something was wrong. Very, very wrong. Feathers didn’t prick beneath his skin.
Magic didn’t hum through his bones. He stood there, and… nothing happened.
“Esther!” Lilith paced toward the snake and picked it up while Spencer squeezed his eyes shut, focusing on his inner owl and willing it to the surface.
It wasn’t there.
He clutched his chest before raking his fingers through his hair, pulling it at the roots. “What the fuck is happening?”
He felt hollow, like a piece of him had been ripped from his psyche and shredded into a million particles before being cast to the wind. “Lilith?”
She clutched the snake in her hands, and it coiled around her arm, flicking out its forked tongue. “It’s okay, my pet. Spencer was stunned. He didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Your pet?”
“This is Esther, my familiar that you helped save.”
All this time, she’d been trying to save a fucking snake? He shook his head. He couldn’t think about it now. Right now, the only important thing was his owl. “What happened? Why can’t I shift?”
She put the snake in a terrarium and turned on a heat lamp. “It’s important that your animal be neutralized during the transformation. How do you feel? Oh, you must be parched. It’s been ages since I’ve done this. Come.” She motioned for him to follow and strode down the hallway.
“Neutralized during the…” His stomach sank down to his shoes. Oh, hell no. She wouldn’t. This couldn’t… His hands trembled as he slowly reached toward his mouth and ran his fingers over his teeth.
Fangs.
She’d turned him into a fucking vampire.
His owl was dead.
“What the fuck have you done to me?” He marched down the hall and found her in the kitchen, pouring a thick red liquid into a glass.
She pursed her lips. “You’re hangry. Let’s get some blood in you, and your emotions will settle.” She offered him the glass.
The scent wafted to his senses, making his mouth water and his head spin. Rich and luscious, it had hints of nutmeg and vanilla, like the cookies his grandma used to bake. But it was blood. He crossed his arms. No way in Lucifer’s realm was he drinking that.
She held it toward him for a moment before setting it on the counter and flashing a hesitant smile. “You need to drink—”
“I don’t want it. I don’t want this.” He flung his hands in the air. “You killed my owl, Lilith.” He snapped her name with enough venom to paralyze a cow, making her flinch. “How could you? I told you I didn’t want this.”
“I didn’t kill your owl; I saved your life. Do you not remember?”
He didn’t know whether to scream or cry.
A deep, agonizing ache wrenched in his chest, and the heat of anger burning in his veins made his fists clench.
“Do I not remember a zombie vampire ripping my throat out? Yeah, I remember. I also remember telling you multiple times that I did not want to be turned.”
“You would have died otherwise.”
“You should have let me. Death would be better than this.”
Her lips parted, and tears gathered on her lower lids. “Your friends begged me to.”
“And what they want is more important than what I want?”
She lowered her head, gazing at the counter and drumming her fingers. When she looked up at him, a single tear slid down her cheek. “I love you, Spencer. I couldn’t live without you.”
No. He couldn’t bear to hear those words from her. Not now. Not when she’d killed half his soul to keep him alive forever. An eternity without his owl…
A flash of anger burned white-hot in his chest. “You did it on purpose. You set the whole thing up so you’d have an excuse to turn me without my consent.”
She gaped. “What are you talking about?”
“Traveling to Romania, digging up the body. You knew that vampire would still be alive when we unearthed it; that’s why you chose that grave.
You planted the snake because you know how much I hate them.
” He knew as the words tumbled from his lips that they weren’t true.
He didn’t believe what he was saying, but he couldn’t stop the venomous accusations from spilling.
“You did it all so you could keep me forever.” He gestured to Percival, who stood on the back of a chair. “So I could be one of your pets.”
Her nostrils flared as she let out a slow breath. “I saved your life.”
“You shouldn’t have. I can’t live without my owl.”
“Your owl—”
He held up a hand. “Save it. I have to get out of here.”