Fateful (14 page)

He gathered her fingers into his hands and
tried to warm them with friction. She was unable to ignore the fact
that his hands felt normal and definitely warmer than hers.

“Wait, you said your heart doesn’t beat at
night? It just stops as the sun sets?”

He nodded. “I’m guessing since we still
have blood in our system, our hearts beat during the day when
we’re
mostly
mortal … to keep
it circulated. At night it is completely still.” Ethan then took
her hand and placed it over his heart. “Do you feel it?”

Danielle focused in on what she was feeling
... he definitely had a beating heart and she nodded in reply.
After a moment of silence he lifted her hand to his lips, placed a
kiss on her fingers and then released her.

“
As you noticed last night, we have
superhuman powers, making it easy for us to catch our prey. Not
that we need them, but Lilith wanted us to be a beautiful monster
that was not easily escaped. Those powers exist only at night: our
urges, our senses and our magic. We never hunt during the day. In
fact, we couldn’t even if we wanted to. Our fangs will not emerge
then.”

His expression transformed with worry. “Are
you okay with this information? Do you need to run again, or get
away from me? I wouldn’t blame you if you did.”

Thoughtful, she mused. Even now knowing his
deep dark secret, the familiarity overshadowed any bad and she just
didn’t want to get away from him. “No, Ethan, I don’t want to get
away from you, and no, I’m not going to run again. I needed to do
that earlier, but I’m fine now.”

Ethan nodded and exhaled with relief as
one hand raked through his golden mop of hair. Vampire, she thought
as she watched him drag his fingers through his hair another
time.
And she’d thought of him as an
angel
? Mr. Darcy didn’t even fit. Granted, he was
probably from the same time.... Oh, man, it was the Frog Prince
scenario that fit best. She wasn’t dating some superhero, or an
angel, or an Austen dreamboat, she was dating the toad.

Danielle took a deep breath. She was
nervous about asking the next question in her head. But she could
picture that—in however long he’d lived with the temptation to kill
mortals—he could have slipped at least once. “Um, have you
ever
killed a mortal?”

Ethan winced at the bluntness. “No,” he
said.

“Really?”

“Yes, really.”

“In how many years?” Danielle glanced at the
ruins that had been his childhood home.

“In over a hundred and fifty years."

“How?”

“Danielle! Do you not believe me?” he asked,
sounding hurt.

“I’m sorry. No, I
do
believe you. I’m just trying to understand
how you managed to resist the curse for so long.”

“I never was a murderer, and never wanted to
be. Many of us don’t, which is why Beon and another man named Seth
began the Order. We believe that if you never taste mortal blood,
it will be easier to resist it. That is what’s worked for me. I
have never tasted human blood, and I don’t plan to. If I am out
amongst mortals at night, I make sure I’m well-fed first.”

“The Order?”

“Ah, yes. The full name is the Order of the
Curse-Bound Knights. We call it the Order for short.”

“You’re kidding.”

He shook his head. “I’m quite serious.” His
left hand moved to the ring on his right. A thick band adorned with
a crest. The image depicted a lion facing a dragon, with two swords
crossing above a crown-topped shield in the middle. “Even though we
haven’t been able to reverse our ... condition, we’ve decided to
fight it instead. I suppose the best comparison would be the
Knights of Templar.”

“Vigilantes?”

Draping his arm over one bent knee, he said,
“I suppose it’s like that, but there are no laws for vampires. We
simply rebel against what the magic tries to make us.”

When he took in the fact she was still
looking at his ring, he removed it and passed it to her. The heavy
weight of the gold settled against her palm. It was warm from his
skin. She ran a finger over the ornately designed band. With the
lack of conversation, Danielle noted the sounds of birds chirping
and the trees rustling. As she returned the signet ring to him, her
gaze caught on to his lack of a smile and she thought of the teeth
she couldn’t see, then wondered aloud, “Why have I never seen your
fangs? I’ve seen you at night ... and I thought vampires were pale,
you don’t look pale to me … and I thought your eyes were supposed
to be a strange color.”

“The fangs are retractable and only come out
when we need them. And unless we’re thirsty, our eyes and skin will
maintain their natural color.” His gaze touched onto hers. “I’m
sure you noticed that Lucas was pallid and his eyes were silver and
slightly reflective?”

How could she forget? She nodded, realizing
it hadn’t been just a trick of the light. His eyes really had been
glowing, but not so much that she recognized the difference
then.

“He was only a little thirsty, but even so,
he was extremely dangerous. Your defense skills never would have
worked on him, no matter how good you were.”

This conversation was a bit too serious and
she decided to lighten it up with one silly question prompted by
something she’d read in that vampire book. “Um, do you like to
count?”

Laughing loudly, “You can’t be serious!”

She laughed too. His features rearranged into
an incredible smile that melted her heart. That was so much better
than the intense frown wrinkling his brow earlier.

Chapter 8

Maybe it’s Not a Fairytale

He looked at her, gathering in the details of
her dress, and then changed the subject. “This dress is kind of
Edwardian and I loved that era. Partly because they wore a lot of
white then. Plus,” his smile brightened, “it’s rather smashing on
you.”

Trying not to blush at the compliment, she
tucked the hem under her bent leg. They basked in silence for a few
moments before more questions began swirling around her head. She
didn’t want to bring back his frown by talking more about vampires,
so instead she asked, “Do elves exist?”

“Elves?” he chuckled at the random question.
“Where did that come from?”

“Do they exist?” she persisted.

Leaning back he eyed her curiously and then
responded with, “They’re real.”

“How do you know?”

“I’ve been around a while. Long enough at
least to have met a few creatures perceived as fiction.”

Blown away by his answer, she searched her
thoughts for more mythical beings. “Hobbits then?”

“Extinct,” he said. She gasped.

“I realize this one is more of a fairytale
than myth.... Snow White?”

“True.”

Her eyes grew wider. “So then dwarves—?”

“Are also real.”

“Cinderella?”

“I don’t think so. Who could possibly dance
in glass slippers? You’d probably cut your foot wide open.”

“Oh, right. Goldie Locks and the Three
Bears?”

Ethan burst out laughing. “No, certainly
not!”

“The Princess and the Pea?”

“Nonsense!” Still laughing.

“Hansel and Gretel?”

“Yes to that one.”

“So then...”

“Yes, witches are real too.”

“Are they like sorcerers?”

“No. Witches are mortal. They use plants and
other things to make poisons or potions. A sorcerer is immortal,
and has the power of magic in them, therefore more powerful than a
witch.”

This was fascinating. “Giants?” she
asked.

“Yes, they live in remote places, but they’re
also almost extinct.”

Danielle thought for a moment. Ethan seemed
to like watching the wheels in her head turn as the smile never
left his face, and she wanted to keep it there.

“Dragons?”

“Just another dinosaur. Extinct.”

“Unicorns?”

“Real.”

Now her favorite. “Fairies?” she asked, her
eyes wide with anticipation.

The corners of his lips turned up even more.
“Real,” he breathed.

Danielle’s hands flew to her mouth, her jaw
dropped. Fairies exist!

“Here?” She came to her knees and began
scanning for little fairies because this was the kind of place she
could imagine them living.

Ethan chuckled. “Nope, sorry.”

“Dang it!” Danielle wanted to see a fairy.
Her eyes returned to his grinning face. “Can you show me?”

“Yes, I can do that.” He rolled his
eyes, as if to say,
Of course she wants to
see fairies
.

Danielle let out a squeal of delight. She
couldn’t believe it, the enchanting myth seated before her was
going to introduce her to another. “Now?” She was practically
bouncing up and down with childlike enthusiasm.

“No, later ... is that all right?” Apparently
he feared her eminent displeasure.

“Yeah, I guess so.” She sighed.

“They’re hard to find,” he explained, trying
to soothe her obvious disappointment. “It will take another day
trip and more hiking.”

“Okay,” Danielle said, as she tried to
imagine where they could be. But it didn’t take long for her
thoughts to return to the subject of him. Hesitating at bringing
back up the topic she’d happily left earlier, she notched her chin
a bit and asked, “When were you born? When did you become a
vampire?”

“I was born in eighteen thirty-four, and I
grew up here. I was transformed into a vampire when I was
twenty-three.”

“So you’re how old?” Math was never her
strong suit.

“I’m over a hundred and seventy years
old.”

Even amazed by his age as she was, she knew
there was much more she wanted to know, so she pushed the
staggering thought aside and continued, “So you were able to stop
that heavy lamppost and send it flying like it was weightless
because of this curse? But how did you know where I was?”

“Yes—and, I was already following you.”

“What?” She hadn’t expected that. “Why?”

“Lucas hasn’t stopped hunting you since that
first night.”

Goosebumps crawled their way across her
skin as fear crept in. A vampire was hunting
her
specifically?

“You
should
fear him,” he said, making her aware of
the fact that the worry was visible on her face. “He wants you
dead, and it
is
personal.”

“Personal? Against me?”

“No, personal against me. I’ve managed
to interrupt his hunting many times—and he knows that I’ve taken a
personal interest in you. He wants
you
to get back at me.”

“So you’ve had to follow me to keep me safe
from him?”

“Yes.”

Stunned by this information, she fell silent
for a moment, rolled down onto her stomach, and hid her face in her
folded arms. This was more serious than she'd thought. She would
never feel safe in the dark again. Her thoughts drifted back to her
family and how all of this affected them as much as it did her. She
lifted her head, suddenly concerned. “Ethan, my family!”

He smiled a comforting smile. “Don’t worry,
I’ve had watch on your house almost twenty-four-seven.”

“How can you do that?”

“I have shifts worked out with the Order. We
don’t have to watch too closely during the day, mostly at
night.”

“Beon?”

“Yes, and a few others. Max was the one you
saw briefly last night.”

Danielle wasn’t sure what more to say except,
“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he whispered.

* * * * *

Restless, Danielle stood, forgetting about
her ankle. She winced and bit her lip when the pain reminded her.
Ethan nearly sprang to his feet. She held one hand out, stopping
him. “No, it’s okay.” Her voice was high, hinting at her fib, but
she was determined to walk on it anyway. She’d dealt with worse
pain from karate injuries. Danielle wanted to explore the ruins
more thoroughly.

She glanced back at Ethan who remained
somewhat relaxed on the blanket. She could tell it bothered him to
watch her limp. It seemed after a few moments of agonizing over it,
he decided to join her.

“What was this place like?” She tried to
imagine the ruins before they were ruins. She wasn’t getting very
far.

“It was built in the sixteen hundreds, and it
was old even when we lived here. I shouldn’t have allowed it to
fall into ruins, but when my parents died, I had to let it go along
with them.

“It was as big as your uncle’s place. There
was a garden there. They kept the carriage and horses there. My
room was here. The kitchen was here.” He ran to each location,
trying to give her a perspective of size.

“What was your life like?”

“In my eyes it was wonderful.... My parents
were quite happy even though they hadn’t married for love. The
servants were like family. Clair was the cook; I was very fond of
her. She took the time to teach me many things besides cooking. My
father was a Duke. He taught me to respect ladies, and to treat
them as such.” Ethan stroked the back of his fingers along her jaw
line.

“My mother read stories to me, and sang me to
sleep when I was sick.” He dropped his hand, paced around her in a
circle, and then began singing the words to the song his mother had
sung. A song that had been forgotten over the centuries, no longer
passed down from mothers to their children, with words that were
gentle and loving, and meant only for a child. Danielle liked the
sound of his voice, even though he wouldn’t necessarily be
considered a great singer.

She could imagine a mother singing that song
to a child, and it broke her heart to think she was gone.
Danielle’s easily touched emotions melted and tears filled her
eyes. She tried to stop them, but they overflowed anyway, slipping
down her cheeks. Danielle felt sorry for him—his mother, his
family, his childhood home—all gone. He’d out lived them all.