Chapter 79

ELEANOR

^~24 hours before~^

David sat at the kitchen table sipping his wine, always keeping an eye on the door. He was always alert, always ready to run.

I couldn’t blame him, though I wished he realized how strong I was and that I wouldn’t let anyone touch him again.

I hadn’t expected him to stay. He had been so insistent on going home the first night. I didn’t think he’d be in his room, my old room, the next evening.

But he had dragged himself downstairs, eaten the food I handed him, and produced a notebook. One of my old notebooks.

He flipped it open and started reading. They were all his memories of our parents. I was bawling.

To repay him, I painted a depiction of our parents, following his instruction. It made him cry, and we were even.

I had actually shown the painting to Mother, who hugged me tightly and nodded. They looked like they did in her memory. Then she also started crying.

Since then, he and I had been trying to spend as much time together as we could, though it was difficult because I was also dying to spend time with Aric.

My new body was strong, powerful, and unrelenting in its desire to seek out Aric. I was slowly getting used to it, including the speed at which I walked.

I had to learn to slow down for David and control the thirst, the burning sensation in my throat when I was around him.

I was slowly starting to understand how difficult it had been for my family to have me around.

I couldn’t imagine the pain my mother had been in when I hugged her as a small child.

I understood now why when I was little, Venus, Phoenix, and to a certain extent Aric, didn’t want to spend much time with me. It was torture to be around such sweet-smelling blood.

But there were perks to being a vampire for sure. I could hear people from far off, and I could smell things, scents that I didn’t even know existed.

The first evening I walked the long halls of the castle where I had grown up, touching the walls, aligning memories of human senses, seeing all the details as a vampire.

The real revolution was the taste of blood and the varieties in flavor. Mixing the right combinations had me feeling like I had eaten three different courses.

Aric showed me his favorite blood types, a woman who had come to the wedding with Aleesha and Angus was still in the castle and willing to help me learn.

With Aric’s guidance, I drank from her throat and learned to stop when I heard her heart faltering.

Aleesha and Angus were social with me. For the first time in my life, I saw them from close up.

Aleesha was stiff, but my being a pureblood had shocked her completely, and she was willing to accept me. Angus seemed to be as well.

I didn’t feel any true ill-will toward them, not like the grouchy grandparents who had locked themselves downstairs. So, I forgave them, though Aric wasn’t too thrilled with the idea.

Eloise was a different story. She flounced into the living room where Aric was teaching me to differentiate AB negative and AB positive, like the tannins in wine.

She was sat down next to Aric, way closer than I liked. A hiss erupted from my lips.

Before I knew what was happening, I was on my feet, grabbing her hair and pulling her to the floor. Eloise gasped and screeched, launching herself at me.

I swung and scratched her across the face. She went down like her grandparents, clutching her bloodied cheek, hissing at me.

“Stay the fuck away from me!” I snarled. “And Aric!”

As she scampered away, Aric chuckled and pulled me onto his lap, pressing his lips to mine. “I may have overreacted a little,” I admitted. Aric grinned, his blue eyes sparkling.

“I like this feisty side of you.” He nuzzled into the crook of my neck, sending off a wave of emotions and sensations through my body, pooling heavily at my core, and I realized I was purring.

I hadn’t seen Eloise since. I doubted we were going to be on good terms for the next couple of decades.

I had once admired her as a child. The blatant way she’d attempted to kill me and seduce Aric had all my admiration bubbling into fury.

I gazed discreetly at David sipping his drink. Outside, I could hear Aric and Demetrius. They were heading toward the barn to test some more whiskey, giggling like schoolgirls.

It warmed my heart to hear them happy. I felt I had been such a drain on the family for so long, as they fought over me, lost me, mourned me, then had to hide me.

I was glad it was over, no more hiding, no more fear. I could finally fight my own battles—and win, considering Elizabeth and Damon’s bloodied noses.

David was a loud sipper. Maybe all humans were, and I hadn’t noticed before. He tsked with annoyance at something he read on his phone.

I was making chili con carne, which he was already salivating for. The beans had him hooting with joy. A Colombian thing, apparently.

His eyes still startled me sometimes. They were identical to mine and our mother’s, he told me. He had a skin tone like mine, tan and dark curly hair like mine, but his was a little lighter.

His nose was straight like mine, his jaw wider, his brow heavier, his ears stuck out a little. I wondered if my father’s ears had also stuck out a little.

“Put more beans in it. He likes those. And it’s good for his blood,” Phoenix said. She grinned at me.

I had never known Phoenix to even give me a second’s thought in the past, but we’d grown closer than I had expected over the last two days.

She and I bonded over our hair techniques, fashion choices, and favorite holiday destinations.

I had told her the story of my life since leaving the Mcnoxnoctis family, and she was intensely interested in my stories from college.

She told me about her life, her birthday party, finally turning four hundred, and her struggles with Prince Alexander.

It was a delicate subject. I couldn’t stand the man. She was technically dating him, though she didn’t seem to want to have anything to do with him.

Every time he came into the room, he was looking for me. She hissed at him, and he eventually left.

Most surprisingly to me, Phoenix seemed to not mind having David around. Considering the fits she had thrown when I was around, it was both insulting and refreshing.

I decided not to dwell on the insult when I saw her sitting beside him, serving him a glass of wine and telling him all about her adventures in Colombia fifty years before.

David’s poor heart was racing a mile a minute, and he could barely stop laughing at her tales. I had never known her so lively. I could understand why he was so enthralled.

She really was still the most beautiful girl.

Her chaotic red hair, kept in a bursting French braid, a pair of high-waisted jeans, and a tight white shirt were enough to knock anyone off their feet. Let alone her brilliant smile and bright moss green eyes.

“It’s already chock-full of beans,” I told her. She was eyeing David, sitting on the countertop.

“But he likes the beans.”

“There are enough beans,” I repeated. She glanced at me, then grinned.

“Sure, you would know better. I’ve never eaten the stuff.” She giggled and smiled. I couldn’t help smiling back.

“Do you want to try it?” I asked her. She shook her head, wrinkling her nose.

“No, it smells overcooked and burnt to me,” she replied. I stared at the chili. It looked perfect.

“It smells like it’s still raw to me,” I replied. She scoffed.

“The meat is definitely cooked, Eleanor,” she chuckled.

“It really smells raw to me,” I stirred the pot. The meat did look the right hue of brown, but the scent was distinctly raw meat.

This piqued Phoenix’s interest. She slipped off the counter and sniffed the food more deeply, then glanced at me.

“What does this smell like?” she asked me, grabbing an onion.

“Like iron,” I admitted, frowning slightly.

“And this?” she asked, opening the fridge and holding the steak. By then, David was watching us curiously.

“Like blood,” I answered.

“Fuck,” she breathed.

“What?” David asked. Phoenix glanced at him, then looked back at me, her eyes wide.

“Well, Eleanor, tell me, how many things in the room smell like blood or raw meat to you?” she asked. I stepped around her, smelling things and pointing them out for her.

As I did, I realized that almost everything did smell like blood.

“Is this my new vampire scent developing?” I asked her.

“No.” She shook her head quickly. “Something else is developing.” She grinned at me.

“What?” David repeated.

“Eleanor.” Phoenix looked at David then back at me. “I think you might be pregnant.”

“Excuse me?” I gasped, frowning at her. I couldn’t believe it. Pregnant. That was impossible.

“I can’t be pregnant. Aric is a vampire, and I’m a—”

“You’re not a turned vampire, are you?” Phoenix breathed. “You’re a pureblood, and you guys have been having unprotected sex. I know, I heard you last night.”

I could barely register my embarrassment. I could only shake my head.

“Pregnant?” David asked, looking thoroughly horrified.

“But I’ve only been a pureblood for two days! Is there some type of vampire pregnancy test I can take?” I gasped.

“The Mcnoxnoctis are very fertile. And apparently, so are you. Yes, there is.” She waved me closer.

I stepped toward her. She grabbed my shoulder, lowered herself to my flat stomach, and pressed her ear against my belly. I jumped back in annoyance. David watched us wide-eyed.

“Get off me,” I growled.

Phoenix pursed her lips. “Well, I hear it. Here, proof for you.” She grabbed my wrist, slicing it open with her nail, and pressed my blood to my lips.

I almost jumped out of my skin. My blood tasted different, as if I was mixing two types of blood.

I blinked at her as she tasted a little too. Her eyes widened.

“You’re pregnant, Eleanor.” She nodded slowly. “I’m going to be an aunt!” She grinned.

“But I haven’t finished my studies yet!” I complained.

“Don’t worry. You have plenty of gestation time. You’ll finish before the baby claws its way out of you,” Phoenix sang.

“Plenty of gestation time,” I scoffed. “I’m still a couple of years from finishing my Ph.D.”

She grinned at me. “Eleanor, think about how long it takes for us to age. Apply that to a fetus.”

I stared at her in horror. “What are you saying? How long will I be pregnant for?”

“About three years,” she answered.

“WHAT?” I screeched.