A Cross to Bear (18 page)

“Hey! There’s no need to be a bitch. I did just free you from . . . from whatever the hell you had going on.”

“Wizard’s curse. Two hundred years old. Little asshole isn’t even alive anymore for to get my revenge.”

“You did that all on purpose,” said Gabby. “Pushing me like that.”

“You’re smart one, yes? Well, congratulations. We had bets, you know. On who you snap on first. Master Mushito was sure he would be first.”

Gabby thought about that. Mushito had been pushing her harder lately, even giving her a bloody nose a few days back.

“You mean . . . you are all . . . something not human?”

“You
are
bright one,” said Ingrid, rolling her big eyes.

“What is Mushito?” Gabby asked.

“Why don’t you ask him?”

Gabby left Ingrid on the driveway and ran up the winding hills along the coast. She burst through the castle doors and bolted to the dojo.

Master Mushito was waiting for her.

He held his bo staff in his left hand. His right was outstretched to the side, palm up. Gabby ran to the wall and grabbed a staff of her own. She charged across the room and engaged him in a familiar routine that they had been working on, only this time Gabby averted from the usual dance. Mushito blocked the surprise blow and twirled away with a flourish.

She charged again, twirling her staff before her and coming in from the side. Mushito met the attack and disarmed her in a flurry of strikes that left her completely open for attack. The staff came swiftly, striking her in the shin and swiping her feet. Gabby landed on her back but instantly bridged her body and sprang to her feet. Mushito came at her with the staff raised high.

“No!”
Gabby cried as she extended her arms.

A wave of energy hit Mushito, and he fell to the floor beside her.

Gabby scrambled to her feet and watched with horrified anticipation of what he might become now that she had broken the spell. To her surprise, he remained the old man that she had come to know.

He groaned and began to move.

Gabby stood there, biting her lip. “M-master Mushito. Are you all right?”

“Yes, yes,” he grumbled, getting to his feet.

“I’m sorry, I thought that you would change like Ingrid.”

“That troll? What an insult. I have always been human.”

“Then what curse did I lift?” Gabby asked.

Mushito felt his chest with his hand. He searched his face with the other. “I was cursed three hundred years ago with immortality. I believe that you have successfully lifted it.”

Gabby took in a sharp breath and covered her mouth. “But why would you want to die?”

Mushito offered her a fatherly smile. “Dear foolish girl, why would you want to live forever?”

“Excuse me, Master Mushito,” said Lilly from the door. She bowed to them both. “The master of the house would like to speak with Gabriella.”

Gabby stormed into the dining room with Lilly and Orchid in tow. The two had been urging her to follow them upstairs so that she could be properly dressed.

“Did I pass your little test?” she yelled as soon as she saw Victor standing there beside the fire.

When he didn’t answer, she stormed across the room toward him.

“Please,” he said with an outstretched hand. “Come no closer.”

Gabby staggered to a stop, eyes blurring with tears. “You son of a bitch. You couldn’t even talk to me?”

“Look,” he said, “this hasn’t been easy on me either.”

“Bullshit! You could give a damn about me. How much money are you making on my cures?”

“This isn’t about money, Gabriella.”

“
You
don’t get to call me that!”

“Please, listen to me. There is a way for us to be together.”

Victor said it with a strain in his voice, and Gabby realized that she had been projecting her power. She relaxed and took a step back.

“How?”

“My blood. If you drink my blood, it will make me and me alone immune to your powers.”

“Then I’ll do it.”

“No,” said Victor. “Listen before you jump in so boldly. You can never become a vampire or a werewolf. Neither can you be cursed or harmed by magic. But your power was created through blood magic, therefore you will be affected by drinking my blood. I believe that you will gain my innate powers for a short time.”

“I’ll do it,” Gabby repeated.

Victor shook his head and let out a long sigh. “Gabriella, are you sure that you want to do this? Once you get a taste for vampire blood . . .”

“I can handle it,” she assured him.

“Very well. I need you to relax. Clear your mind.”

Lilly brought in a wineglass and set it on the table beside Victor. She helped him out of his jacket and rolled up his sleeve. Victor put his wrist to his mouth and bit down hard. Blood instantly began to pour into the cup he held below the wound.

He walked toward Gabby slowly and weakly.

“Victor . . .”

“Your power weakens me even now. Quickly, drink from the cup.”

He held it out to her, and she crossed the distance in a heartbeat, grabbing the glass and drinking the blood quickly.

Fire hit her gut and dropped her to her knees.

Gabby gasped, fighting for breath. The pain increased until she cried out.

Then, suddenly, it was gone.

Victor stood over her, lending a hand. She took it, and he pulled her in for a long kiss.

***

Victor led her by the hand outside. They stood beneath the moon overlooking the ocean, and Gabby was awed by what she saw. The night was more alive than she could have ever imagined. Under the effects of the vampire blood, the night sky became like day. It was as though the green of camera night vision had been exchanged for red, though she could switch in and out from her normal vision at will. Her ears picked up the smallest of rustles in the nearby woods. She could clearly hear her own heartbeat. Beside her, Victor’s beat in unison.

“Look up,” said Victor with a grin.

She did so, switching to the red vision of vampires. Stars exploded to life before her eyes. She saw planets and galaxies that she never knew were there.

“Come.” Victor laughed. “Run with me.”

He released her hand and sped off along the cliff overlooking the rocky coast. Gabby’s heart fluttered with excitement as she followed at a pace that she could not have kept for long even recently. Victor’s blood coursed through her veins, lending her supernatural speed and strength. Her balance was perfect, her movements sure. She flawlessly leaped ten feet from one outcropping of rock to another, landing sure-footed and continuing on at breakneck speeds.

Victor leaped twenty feet to clear an outcropping of jagged rock, and Gabby copied him, landing next to him, beaming. He grabbed her and kissed her passionately. She melted in his arms. Her searching hands found his shirt and ripped it off. He in return tore free her breasts and bit her left nipple. Gabby moaned in ecstasy and ripped at his pants. The vampire blood, along with her frantic need for him, gave her the strength to tear free his pants with ease.

Finally, free of the burdens of modesty, Gabby climbed onto Victor, who easily held her in his strong arms. Without guidance, he was inside her. She cried out into the night, thrashing and gyrating against him. Victor spun around and lowered her onto the soft rock moss at the edge of the cliff. Immense waves pulled by the full moon pounded the shore, and Victor slowed his thrusts to match the rhythm of the ocean.

Gabby could barely take it. Victor thrust into her deeply, pressing her shoulders down as the waves crashed in the distance. The water pulled back, slowly gaining momentum as the next large wave gathered strength. Likewise, Victor pulled back from her slowly, leaving her to claw at his back, feebly trying to pull him into her. Then the wave would strike once more, and again Victor would thrust, filling her with the most incredible pleasure. He cradled the back of her neck and stared deeply into her eyes as he teased her with the rhythm of the waters. Gabby lost herself in his gaze, feeling her heart swell with love so strong it hurt.

“I love you,” she said, voice shuddering with emotion and pleasure.

Victor arched his back and thrust into her harder than before. She cried out in surprise, and he held her there, pressed firmly against his pelvis. The slightest of movements left Gabby convulsing beneath him. He looked to her with such lust and such hunger. His teeth were fully erect now, gleaming white in the light of the moon. His eyes had turned bestial.

“I love you, Gabriella.”

Tears blurred her vision, melting Victor with the moon behind him. He pulled her up into a sitting position, and she clung to him, gyrating her hips urgently, finally free to do to him what she wished.

She rode him to the ground and pinned his arms out wide, teasingly grinding in circles and biting his bottom lip. He snapped at her playfully, his fangs coming within inches of her. She wanted him to bite her and to suckle from her the red-hot blood coursing through her veins. She wanted him to take from her, even as he filled her with such a thick, throbbing . . .

The first orgasm flared inside of her, threatening to build forever, leaving her unable to breathe and quivering. She felt the change in Victor as well. He tensed and swelled inside of her, which pushed her over the top instantly. When finally her voice escaped her, it was joined by Victor’s cry of pleasure.

Victor held her long after the last shudder of pleasure had passed between them. She had been crying all the while and had left the side of his face glistening with tears that mingled with the glowing sheen of sweat and salt water covering them both.

“I love you,” he whispered.

She tried to answer but found that she could not speak. Instead, she let her burning lips tell him what she could not.

Gabby awoke in Victor’s arms feeling safe and warm. Her sleep had been restful and deep. She felt refreshed and alert, ready to conquer the day. Instinctively, she looked around the room for a clock to find the time.

“Good morning,” said Victor.

She looked up at him, and he smiled, pulling her closer and kissing her tenderly on the lips.

“Good morning to you too.” She giggled.

To her surprise and delight, Victor disappeared beneath the sheets. She laughed and protested weakly, saying that she hadn’t even showered. He seemed not to care, for his mouth found her and silenced her instantly.

She clutched the sheets as he parted her folds with his skilled tongue. He made slow circles, nearly pausing at the top before continuing on down one side and up the other. She clutched the sheets and writhed beneath him, quickly coming to climax. He pressed his tongue hard when he felt her tense. Faster and faster came the swirling tongue. His head shook like a beast devouring its prey. She grabbed two handfuls of hair and cried out, pressing him against her.

When she caught her breath, Victor was lying beside her with one arm behind his head, looking thoroughly pleased with himself and smoking a brown hand-rolled cigarette.

He passed it to her as he blew a large smoke ring out of his mouth.

“I want to run through the forest with you again,” she said, snuggling up to him and taking a drag. The tobacco was minty and sweet.

Victor laughed. “You are too eager to drink my blood.”

“Is that bad?” Gabby asked, suddenly concerned. “Are there any adverse effects?”

“Being dependent on it
is
an adverse effect. It must be used sparingly.”

“How often will I have to drink it to keep you safe from my powers?” Gabby asked, handing the cigarette back to him.

“A few times a week or more. It is hard to say.”

“Can I have some now?”

Victor studied her eyes, frowning. “You are insufferable.”

“I’m sorry,” she said with a sigh. “It’s just . . . oh my God, it’s like being a friggin’ superhero. I’ve been busting my ass, in case you hadn’t noticed. I’ve come a long way, but your blood makes me feel indestructible.”

“Then it is very important for you to understand that you are not indestructible. No matter how much power you gain, you can still be killed. Anyone can. I know this. That is how I have survived six hundred years.”

“What would I do if I didn’t have you?” Gabby asked, tracing kisses up his chest to his chin.

Victor put out the cigarette and squared on her. “You would be dead at the hands of Michael Steele and his werewolves,” he said seriously. “Listen to what I say. This is not a game. My blood is not for you to get
high
. It is for your protection as well as a way for us to be together. You are about to become a warrior of the Otherworld. And while your power might seem godlike, it is not. You may be able to nullify magic, but that means also that potions, healing spells, blessings, and other beneficial aspects of the supernatural world are useless to you. Without my blood, you would be at a complete disadvantage in this regard. That is why I have had you training so hard. You might be able to turn a werewolf into a bare-assed human, but you still have to beat that human. Do you understand? You cannot depend on your gift or my blood alone.”

“I understand, Victor. I’m sorry.”

“Do not be sorry. Be smart.” He got out of bed and went into the bathroom.

Gabby sighed and stuffed her face in her pillow.

Way to come off like a vampire-blood junkie, Gabs. Awesome.

The shower turned on in the bathroom, and Gabby grinned to herself.

She jumped out of bed naked and joined Victor, intent on repaying him for her morning treat.

They spent most of the day in bed talking and making love. Food was brought when they asked for it, and wine as well. Gabby felt in the mood to celebrate, and she found that due to the vampire blood still in her system, she was able to drink a bottle of wine without much more than a slight buzz.

When the sun went down, they finally dressed and ventured from the bedroom out into the darkening night.

Victor bit his wrist and let a few drops fall. He eyed her with a knowing look and teasingly withheld the powerful blood.

“Are you ready to meet the night once more?” he asked.