Chapter 43

ARIC

I could already smell her from outside through the rain. Sweet, tangy, spicy; it filled my nostrils, and I already felt my eyes flashing red.

I had forgotten how absolutely delicious she smelled. I burst through the door of the bar and quickly scanned the room.

There she was. At the back of the room, sitting on a velvet chair, her legs pulled up and resting on the wood dowels on the chair next to her.

She had an empty martini glass in front of her, and her head was tossed back in laughter. The sound was different from before but still her. Most definitely her. My heart thumped in my chest just once.

She wore a small black dress that hugged her form. I found my eyes moving up and down her shape as she moved, laughing with her friend: her tight waist, her flared hips, long legs, and the dark curls that tumbled down her back.

I quickly noticed other men staring at her as well, talking about her with their friends. She seemed completely oblivious to it all.

It became obvious to me that the human sister that I had lost fifteen years before was no longer a child. She was a woman.

I leaned across the bar and waved the waiter over. He shuffled toward me.

“Sir?” he stammered.

“I’ll order a round for those girls in the back,” I pointed.

He nodded, gulping.

“I’ll bring it to them right away,” he said, quickly moving back away from me.

I returned my gaze to Eleanor.

“And then, aha, he decided he was Tarzan or something and attempted to grab the vine and swing himself over the mud, well he slipped and splash!” She and her friend roared with laughter.

“He had mud everywhere!” she tittered. “We were finding it in his ears days after!”

“I can totally imagine him doing that.” Her friend was snickering.

The waiter slid toward them with their drinks and placed them on the table. Then he pointed at me, explaining where they came from.

Her friend lit up immediately, and I could hear her heart thumping in her chest.

Slowly, still giggling, Eleanor turned to face me. Her opal eyes found mine.

Her heart started beating, and I saw the blush rising to her cheeks, bringing the blood closer to her skin. I almost choked on the sweet scent of it.

She had grown so much. Her round childish face had matured into a beautiful young woman. Her dark brows arched gracefully, and her cheekbones were high and finely pronounced.

She had a small straight nose, small rosy, plump lips, and a delicately rounded chin. Her skin was light brown, the color of warm sand.

Her dark hair hung over her ample chest, which rose dramatically with each of her faltering breaths.

She had truly grown into a stunning woman. I grinned at her, seeing the recognition in her eyes.

“Fuck,” she whispered.

I strode toward them, her friend babbling about me as I approached. But Eleanor’s eyes never left mine. I could hear her heart racing, the sound of her sweet blood rushing in my ears.

“Eleanor.” I stood in front of her. She gazed up at me, her eyes wide.

“Ellie. It’s Ellie now,” she whispered quickly. I pulled at the chair next to her, and she dropped her legs down, immediately pushing them under the table.

“Of course.” I smiled at her. “It’s wonderful to see you again,” I told her.

“It is?” she squeaked, then cleared her throat, blushing deeply. It made my throat dry.

“Of course.” I reached out. I couldn’t help it and traced my finger lightly on her cheek. She shivered. I glanced at her friend. “Is there somewhere we can catch up?” I asked.

She glanced quickly at her friend, then stood up abruptly, then sat down again, seemingly unaware of what to do with herself. “Of course. I’m sorry. This is my brother, Aric.”

“Really?” her friend gasped. Eleanor nodded slowly, her gaze shifting from mine to her friend’s.

“Can we meet again soon?” Eleanor asked her friend. Her friend glanced at me, then nodded once.

“Sure, of course. I wasn’t going to drink anymore anyway,” she said quickly, giving me a shy smile.

“This was great. I’ll call you. And I’ll cover our tab,” Eleanor said, grabbing her bag, glancing at me, and marching toward the bar. I gave her friend a small smile, then stood and followed her.

She was waiting for the bartender to print out the receipt, her fingers tapping on her card. She glanced up at me, blushing again.

“Please.” She spoke so softly, I knew no one else could hear her. “Please don’t hurt her. She’s a good person,” she begged.

My eyes widened, and I shook my head. “I won’t hurt anyone,” I promised. She hesitated, then nodded her head.

“Thanks,” she whispered, then took the receipt and bolted out the door into the rain. I think she forgot about the rain because she came back inside seconds later swearing and soaking wet.

Her hair stuck to the sides of her face, and her dress stuck to her body, molded against her. I felt my heart beat again, my fingers itching to run along her curves.

I watched her searching through her bag for her phone. She quickly ordered an Uber and slipped outside again, plastering herself against the side of the building, glaring at the rain.

She didn’t look at me.

I watched the raindrops slowly making their way down her face, down her throat, between her breasts. I reached out again, placing my hand on her shoulder.

Her skin was soft and warm. I could feel her pulse racing. She looked up at me, her eyes wide.

“Aric,” she whispered. I smiled.

“I’ve missed you,” I told her. She bit down on her bottom lip, losing her gaze into the rain.

“I never thought I’d see you again,” she murmured.

“Neither did I,” I admitted. She nodded slowly, avoiding my gaze.

A small blue car appeared parking in front of the bar. Eleanor launched herself forward, opening the car door and sliding inside, waving at me to follow. She gave her address to the driver then sat back.

She pulled her soaking hair in front of her and wrung it out slowly.

“So…,” she started, glancing at me. “Are you here to kill me?”

“Of course not!” I told her quickly, reaching out and placing my hand on her knee. She gazed at me, wide-eyed. “Eleanor, I could never hurt you.”

“But you almost did. I remember. You would have ripped my throat out if Mother hadn’t pushed you out of the way.” Her eyes were blazing. I remembered that as well.

The scent of her open wound had had me craving her blood. The fear in her eyes had stopped me.

“I wasn’t going to do it,” I told her quietly. She turned to face the window, watching the streets go by.

The car pulled up in front of a block of condos. She thanked the guy and slipped out into the rain. I followed her inside the building.

She punched the button for the elevator then pressed the sixth floor, the highest one. We rode the elevator in silence.

When we arrived on her floor, Eleanor pulled her keys out from her purse and approached the furthest door down the hall. She pushed the door open slowly and stepped back, glancing up at me.

“So, this is it,” she murmured as I stepped through the door.

It was small but finely decorated with a large dining table in the center of the room, a wide-open kitchen, and paintings hanging on each wall.

At the far end of the room was an easel set up with a box of paint tubes and a tin can stuffed-full of paintbrushes. The painting was of the northern lights, the lines crossing the dark canvas in various colors.

Eleanor had already slipped off her coat and heels. She stood in the middle of the room, glancing around nervously as I closed the door behind me.

“Eleanor…I had no idea you survived.” Her brows rose in surprise.

“Hold on, I’m going to need something more for this conversation,” she said, moving quickly to the kitchen and grabbing a plate. She loaded it with brownies and poured herself a glass of wine.

She then sat down on the barstool by the kitchen counter and indicated that I should do the same.

I sat down, keeping my gaze on her. She bit into her brownie, the small crumbs dusting down her chin.

“You have grown up,” I commented. “You’re a woman now.”

“Yeah, well, that happens to humans if you leave them alone for fifteen years,” she scoffed, then glanced at me to see my reaction. I smiled.

“I think you’re beautiful,” I told her. Her eyes widened, and she almost choked on her brownie.

“Next to the twins and Eloise, I must look like a lump of coal,” she muttered. I watched her drink her wine.

“So, how is your life? What do you do?” I asked her. She blinked at me.

“I’m still studying, actually,” she admitted. “I’m doing a Ph.D. in Aeronautical Engineering.”

I grinned at her. “That’s brilliant!”

“Yeah, well, I had a big brother who liked to tell me everything about how planes flew. Got me interested,” she muttered.

“I’m very proud,” I told her. She frowned slightly.

“Aric, why are you here? I mean, who else knows I’m here?” Her voice was very soft. I reached out and pushed her hair lightly behind her ear.

“No one,” I assured her. “Just me.”

“I saw a pureblood, seven years ago, at UCLA,” she said, watching my expression.

“Henry,” I informed her. “Yes, he told me. I didn’t know you were alive, so I didn’t believe him.”

“Aric, how did I survive?” Her brows furrowed. “I just remember waking up in the hospital with a new name and no sign of my family.”

“It was Father. He had a backup plan,” I ran my fingers through my hair. She sipped at her drink. “You remember when he went to see the king?”

“Vividly.”

“Good. The king told us we could either kill you or turn you,” I told her.

“So, Mother decided to turn you. Though she didn’t want to. Children never survive the turn, and to live eternity in a child’s body would be torture. But it was the only option she had.

“To turn someone, if you remember, you need to have vampire blood in your system, and then you need to be drained of blood. The vampire blood then becomes your blood.

“It’s a painful experience. Many don’t survive it. That’s why she drained you.”

“But I didn’t have any vampire blood in my system.” She frowned.

“Yeah, she didn’t know that. Father had told her he’d given some to you during the flight. As a backup plan. So, instead, she ended up killing you.”

“Yeah, I remember that. I remember calling for you.” She was staring at me, her gaze hard.

“Eleanor,” I heaved a heavy sigh. “If I could go back and change that day, I would. I would have taken you and run far, far away.”

“But you didn’t. You abandoned me.”

“Father wanted to keep you safe. The only way to do that was to cut all ties with our family,” she pursed her lips.

“I’m not ready to forgive, Aric,” she murmured. “It broke my heart.”

“It broke mine too,” I told her.

I placed my hand softly on her shoulder and pulled her to face me. Her heart was racing. “Eleanor, I came to find you so that I can keep you safe. So that no one can ever hurt you again.”

Her eyes widened, and I heard her heart rate accelerate.

“Aric, am I in danger?” she whispered.

“Not from me,” I promised her. She nodded once and smiled just a little. I felt my heart beat just once.

I watched as she ate her last brownie and finished off her wine. She stood to pour herself another glass, moving around the counter.

I watched her graceful movements, the soft curves of her body, her breath as it lifted her breasts.

I knew she was beautiful; she could have had every man in the bar on their knees for her, but I had never considered a human beautiful before.

I had never stopped to watch their movements or follow the soft arches of their bodies. I glanced up at her face. She was studying me, her eyes squinting slightly, her bottom lip pushed out in a slight pout.

I wanted to bite that lip.

I stood up suddenly and moved toward her. She watched me, her heart racing. I reached out and placed my hand, very lightly, on her hip. She shivered slightly but didn’t push me away.

I stepped closer, pulling her closer to me. Her eyes were wide, boring into mine. I didn’t know if I wanted to bite her or kiss her.

“Eleanor,” I reached out and placed my fingers under her chin, lifting it up. She shuddered, holding my gaze. I felt my eyes turning crimson. Her eyes widened, but she didn’t step away.

She stepped a little closer until her chest was brushing up against mine, her hard nipples poking out of her wet clothes pressing against me.

At that moment, there was a pounding on the front door, and she jumped back, gasping, blushing, her heart racing.

“Ellie! Please, can we talk about it?” a man’s voice called from the other side of the door.