Chapter 69

ARIC

I carried Eleanor’s lifeless body deep into the woods, leaving a trail of blood in our wake. She had stopped breathing, and her heart was motionless.

She hadn’t opened her eyes since I broke her fall. It was my heart that was racing, racing like it never had before.

I ran faster and faster, taking her as far away as I could. It wasn’t until I could no longer hear or smell my family that I stopped. I had reached the river.

I put Eleanor down in the water, washing the blood and grime from her clothes and her skin.

Her blood tainted the color of the river, her ivory skin disappearing under the dark tones of the bloody water. I had never seen her so pale.

I pulled her from the water, carried her gently up the shore, and settled her down on the ground, holding her body against mine, wrapping my arms around her tightly.

Her head lolled back, making contact with my shoulder, her eyes open, staring, unseeing.

The silence in the air was deafening. No heartbeat, no breathing. Eleanor was completely silent. I gazed at her face, at the ragged wound on her neck, at the wound I had created. She was dead. I had killed her.

I held her closer, pressing my face against hers and breathing in her scent, still delicious, still slightly warm.

My heart raced. I whispered gently, reminding myself that this was part of the transition. She had to die to come back. This was what she had wanted.

It was what I wanted too, of course. To be with her forever.

As the silent minutes drew on, I was racked with fear and anger: fear she’d never open her eyes again, anger that I had let her make such a dangerous decision, angry I was too weak, too in love to truly be able to send her away.

I was afraid that I had, in fact, just killed the love of my life. She wouldn’t wake up.

She had to wake up. She just had to. I had lost the opportunity that I had been counting on to give her more of my blood before she passed.

Instead, her last seconds had been in Elizabeth’s grip, being tossed off the balcony. She was lifeless the second she’d landed in my arms. I shuddered. Was this what cold felt like?

Eleanor was motionless in my arms.

I rocked her gently, staring ahead at the racing river. I could hear the squirrels racing up the trees, the soft wings of preying birds, the bubbling of the water as it slipped over the river stones.

Eleanor had loved to play in the river during the summer. The blue moonlight reflected off the still water.

She’d run in screaming with delight, tossing water into the air, encouraging James and me to follow.

I found myself smiling at the memory.

There was something about slow winding rivers that calms the spirit. I had sat by this river, watched it flow, followed it to where it emptied into the sea, followed it back up to its source.

It was constant, continuous. As a child, I had considered myself to be like the river. Unaffected by time, following my path.

I realized as I grew that I wasn’t like the river. I was like the stones in the river, cold, unmoving, and watching from a distance as everything, and everyone moved on in life.

Staring at the moonlight glistening on the river’s surface, I was reminded of a life long ago when I was still very small. I remember running through fields of wheat.

The stalks were tall, taller than me, stretching up into the night sky. I flew through it, carving a small path as I went.

In the distance, my parents were laughing. They were teasing me, chasing me, and I was laughing. At that moment, a scent reached my nose. Hot, sweet, spicy. I couldn’t resist.

Before my parents realized, I had thrown myself on the lone farmer returning late to his hut through the field.

I had ripped his throat out by the time my father tore me off him and threw me into the nearby river.

I had been afraid, but not of the water or the current dragging me away. Not even of my father, hissing with rage at my disobedience, his eyes blazing red in the night.

I had been afraid of how uncontrolled I had been. How completely blinded I had been.

Since that young age, I had done my fair share of murder and violence against humans, but never without control. Being with Eleanor had somehow knocked me off kilter.

I couldn’t control myself around her. I controlled my thirst and my lust, but my emotions were in freefall and had been since I had first found her in Boston.

I was truly raw around her. I had been so close to attacking Alexander when I had found him grabbing her.

Had I attacked, we would have both been killed. I knew that he knew that, and yet I almost did.

Eleanor’s body was growing heavier in my arms, the warmth washing away. The last of her blood trickling out of her wound. I felt the last of my control go with it.

A white-hot spike of rage and pain coursed through my body. I was trembling, my vision blurring as thick blood dropped onto Eleanor’s pale face.

My grip around her tightened. I could feel her bones and weak muscles under my touch.

My chest was constricting, and my heart was racing so fast.

“Eleanor!” My voice came out in a raspy growl. My gaze searched her face. “Eleanor, you won’t leave me,” I growled. I held her tighter, pressing my face against hers. “I won’t let you,” I snarled.

Minutes drew by, drifting into hours. Time stretched across the night sky. The moon swinging by, the stars spinning. Around us, beetles crawled, mice scampered by, and foxes leapt to and fro.

Eleanor didn’t move.

I started to feel the sun rising on the horizon. The air shimmered with heat. Deep pink sunlight glimmered in the distance, already reflecting on the surface of the river.

I had to move soon. To make it back to the castle or to find a place underground for the night. My skin felt tight and hot. My tears had dried on my face, and they crackled against Eleanor’s cheeks.

I slowly lifted her off me. Her skin was cold. I laid her head on the ground softly. Her face fell away from me, facing the rising sun. I felt my chest clenching, my breath hitched. I couldn’t leave her.

I sat back down and drew her into my arms again, burying my face deep into her cold neck. The sun rose slowly. I could feel every degree of heat rise. My skin prickled and drew tight.

I could feel my heart racing. The first rays of sun streaked across the water and hit us huddled in the shadows of the trees. I gazed at the sun, fighting against the burning pain behind my red eyes.

The sunrise was beautiful. I realized I had never seen one like this: pink, purple, orange, light blue, a mirage of colors stretching across the dark sky, bright sunlight, illuminating the water.

It reminded me of Eleanor’s paintings. She had perfectly captured its essence.

Suddenly, Eleanor started screaming. Her body convulsed in my arms, and the bright sunlight illuminated her face. Her skin was growing darker, tight, dry.

She was shuddering violently, her screams drowning out the sounds of the insects around us. Her head snapped toward me, and her eyes popped open.

She stared at me with a pair of large, bright crimson eyes and screamed.

I felt my heart racing. I moved quickly. I had to get her and myself out of the sunshine. I picked up her shuddering body and ran deep into the forest. I didn’t have time to return to the castle.

The sun would beat us there. I wasn’t strong enough. Instead, I headed for town. It was dangerous for a young vampire to turn near humans, but we were out of options.

I flew into the small city, Eleanor’s screams drawing attention from the street cleaners. I dove into the closest underground parking lot on the edge of the town.

It reeked, and Eleanor’s screams echoed through the building. I ran deeper, three floors down, until I could smell the earth behind my feet.

I put Eleanor on the concrete ground. She shuddered, screamed, her eyes streaking tears of blood, her body convulsing. There was nothing I could do to help her. So, I focused on what I could give her, a safe place to turn.

I punched the concrete ground. It shattered. I quickly began pulling it apart until I reached the dirt. Then I began digging.

Cave digging was a skill my mother taught me. Purebloods spent half their time digging themselves new homes to live in.

It took me only a couple of minutes to dig a tunnel and a small chamber below the parking lot. Then I gingerly drew Eleanor in and blocked the end of the tunnel.

We weren’t well hidden, but the bottom floor of the parking lot was mostly empty. Hopefully, we wouldn’t be disturbed.

Eleanor was convulsing violently, her mouth frothing with blood. Great tears of blood smeared against her cheeks.

I pulled her against my chest and held her tightly against me. Her body shook violently, and her cries of utter pain etched into my mind.

I tried offering her some of my blood, but she was unable to swallow.

Her eyes seemed unable to focus on anything, constantly dropping back into her head as she passed out, woke up screaming, and passed out again.

I could feel her reaching for me, her fingers gripping mine. If I could give her my strength, I would have.

I held her tight, making sure she didn’t hurt herself while she convulsed and trying to feed her little drops of blood while she was passed out. Around me, I could feel the earth warming.

I could hear the humans above us, the ones getting their cars, the ones walking on the pavement two floors above us. The hours melded together, and Eleanor eventually passed out completely.

For a while, everything was quiet inside our tiny chamber. I closed my eyes and leaned back, cradling her to my chest.

***

I woke to the sound of a woman’s laughter—a human woman, one floor above us, laughing with her child. I immediately focused on Eleanor, splayed in my arms.

She wasn’t breathing, her heart wasn’t beating, but she was alive and staring up at me with wide crimson eyes.

Her dark blue gown had been utterly ruined, coated in blood and mud. Her face was smeared with grime. She was utterly beautiful. She blinked at me and cracked the smallest smile.

“Hi,” she croaked, her voice raspy and strangled.

“Eleanor,” I breathed, moving her dark locks out of her eyes and pulling her closer. She smelled like blood. Delicious blood and dirt. Like the earth.

“Aric,” she whispered and smiled again. Her teeth were coated in blood. Two long fangs pressed heavily against her bottom lip. “I don’t remember much,” she breathed, licking her bloody lips.

Her crimson eyes darted around the chamber, focusing upward to the sounds of humans.

“You turned, Eleanor.” I smiled softly, cupping her face gently. Soft bloody tears ran down her cheek.

“I thought I was going to die,” she whispered, her voice heavy with remnants of the pain she’d suffered the last twenty hours.

“You did die, my love,” I reminded her. “You’re a vampire now, Eleanor.”

She nodded slowly. “I remember Elizabeth,” she said softly, blinking up at me.

“I was hoping you wouldn’t,” I admitted. “I didn’t want that to be the last thing you remembered. She, Eloise, and Aleesha attacked us as I was draining you.”

Eleanor nodded again. Her eyes were darting about in the darkness. She could hear the voices above. She could probably smell the humans barely a floor away from us.

“I was scared, Aric,” she whispered, her gaze coming back to rest on mine. “Can you take me home now?”

“We’ll have to wait for nightfall,” I replied. “It should be in a couple of hours. You can no longer go out during the day.” I stroked her cheek.

She gave me a playful little smile. “Then perhaps you can hold me while I sleep a little more? I’m exhausted.”

I cuddled her against my chest, pressing my lips to her bloody forehead. I heard her heart beat just once. I would miss the sounds of her heart racing when she was around me.

She closed her eyes and leaned against me.

“Aric, can you control me now? Now that I’m a turned vampire?”

“Technically, yes,” I admitted.

“You will help me control my thirst around humans?” she whispered.

“Of course. Anything you want. I love you, Eleanor,” I told her.

She lifted her face up to mine.

“I love you, Aric,” she whispered, pressing her lips to mine gingerly.