I had no idea just how wrong he was. We continued on in our daily routines. His hunting went from once a day, to once a week and finally to once every two weeks. The sun remained no problem for him. At night we would sleep in each other’s arms. To this day I don’t understand why, but despite our passionate attraction we never had gotten around to making love. I say it that way and I know you are rolling your eyes. I’ve fucked men in my life. That is no big thing for me, but what I had with Gareth was so much more than that. Anyway, I digress. It was soon a year since I had found him in that alley, and I heard something from the constable that made my blood run cold. The attacks were increasing. The rogue vampire hadn’t moved on but had settled in. I knew what this meant. If the constable knew, that meant that the Council did, as well. The last thing I needed was a scuffle with the Council of Elders. I had heard about them during my stay with the researchers. They had told me that a board of the oldest and wisest vampires existed not far from our country. Their sole purpose was to handle problems that might arise and cause friction with the human world. The researchers knew about them because they were working against them. The Elders had no use for humans finding out anything about their kind. There were many times when the researchers had hidden me from the Elders. Being such a unique human would have been perceived as a threat to the Elders’ ways and rules of life. They had a very specific rule about rogues. If a rogue decided to put down roots in one location, which would cause alarm to the human authorities, the said rogue would be seen as a threat and eliminated. Before elimination, though, the Elders would search the rogue’s mind for any possible surviving victims...any newborn possibilities….and eliminate them, as well. This meant that the Elders would be hunting Gareth. It also meant that they would find out about me. When I returned from my lunch with the constable, I sat Gareth down and told him what I knew. I also told him what it meant to us. The room got deathly quiet. After a long, arduous amount of time, he spoke.
“I will go to them myself. I will let them know I am not a threat of any kind. I will tell them how you’ve helped me. I will ask to stay with you.”
“They won’t understand. If they knew about me….if they knew who I was…they would either kill me or imprison me. They can’t know my true age or any of that. They can’t know my name. I have no idea if Eliot and I were ever known to them. They won’t listen to you, Gareth, if they have it in their minds that you are to be killed, they will not listen.”
“How do we know if they even know about me? You said the rogue thought I was dead. Anyway, who’s to say that are even investigating yet?”
“The constable told me about some disturbed graves in the cemetery. Every grave dug up was a victim of an unsolved attack, including Aria’s. Becky had a headstone for you. It was dug up, as well.”
“So they know.”
“It’s only a matter of time before they find you. If they haven’t killed the rogue yet, he will lead them to you. He will lead them here.” At this, he sank to his knees. I kneeled beside him and pulled him into my arms. He shook his head furiously.
“No, there has got to be something we can do. We can run. We’ll take the horses and just leave.”
“You know as well as I do that running won’t work. They’ll find us. Our only hope of you surviving this is if they haven’t decided on your elimination. Maybe they will listen, but they won’t listen to just you. I will have to be there. We don’t have to tell them who I am or anything about me. It will hopefully make them listen to have a human witness. They can hear my heart beat; they will know I am human. Hopefully that’s all they will need to know. They are the Elders; they still have some weakness in the sun. This much I do know. They will wait until after it is dark. That gives us an hour.”
“That’s not much time. What should we do?”
“We prepare for our guests.”
They arrived an hour later, as if they were invited. I made sure to be the one to answer the door. If Gareth had answered they would have snatched him from the doorstep. I smiled welcomingly at the tall, icy group that stood before me. The one ahead of the rest seemed to have paper-thin skin. It looked like it was dusted in a fine, white powder. His black eyes looked as if they wanted to bore into me, but I felt nothing. He spoke abruptly.
“Miss, I am sorry for interrupting you at this lat hour, but I was wondering if you could help me.” He paused and looked back at a weasely looking man behind him. The man nodded his head nervously. He looked back at me and said, “I am looking for a man named Gareth Wynneman.”
“Well sir, then please come in.” I responded plainly, shifting myself aside to let them in. “Would you please sit down? I have plenty of room in here.” I showed them to the library, where we had arranged several plush chairs for our guests. After they sat, I began politely, “Might I ask your name, sir?”
“My name is Caelius. I have come a long way, Miss. I can see you are willing to cooperate.”
“Caelius, hmm… you must be the representative from the Roman sector. I have heard you have a more reasonable nature than some of the other sectors. That is a long way.”
“It is quite a distance. It seems that this rogue has caused quite a stir about the regions. You see, he was sired by one of ours in
“What do you wish to complete here, Caelius? You must realize that I have spent an entire year with Gareth. I found him when that thing, that rogue was finished with him. I have taught him much. He hunts animals and he has never tasted the blood of a human.” As I said this, I saw Caelius’ eyebrow arch curiously.
“You do realize, though, that he has much to learn that you cannot teach. There could be abilities latent within him that only we could find.”
“So you will not kill him?”
“You have piqued my interest in him. I can only promise to keep my mind receptive.”
“That is all that I could ask.” I smiled a small smile of relief. I had studied about the Elders well in my days with the researchers, but there was no accounting for their unstable nature. I called Gareth in. He moved swiftly to my side. We remained standing as Caelius took a moment to take in Gareth.
“It seems you were right, Miss, in piquing my interest. Is he strong?”
“Very strong and very steady. The sun seems to have little effect on him. He has retained all memory of who he was and the transformation was surprisingly smooth.”
“Transformations are never smooth.” He corrected me.
“I am sorry. I will explain. His transformation was much shorter than what I have seen. He regained composure soon after his first feed.”
“And what was his first meal? You said he has never fed on humans.”
“I had a lame mare. I cut her throat and left as soon as he was conscious. I own much of the eastern woods. He hunts there. He sticks to deer and elk, but if we are having a predator problem he will hunt them. He stays away from the wolves, though, at my request.”
“Have a soft heart for the dogs?”
“No, I just do not wish to have a battle in my yard.”
“That is understandable. If we are to teach him, though, you understand he must learn to feed properly.”
“Feed on humans? Is that really necessary?” I asked. I was frightened what Gareth would become if given to feed on humans. He saw the look on my face, and decided to speak for me.
“Caelius, I understand that my life is at stake here, but I have to ask. Is there any way you could forget about me? Let me stay here and live with her as I have for the past year. I don’t want to kill people. I mean no disrespect to you or our kind, but it just doesn’t suit me.”
“Gareth, you must understand that there are laws that govern our kind that we cannot ignore. First of all, any sire must have guidance, vampires’ guidance, if they are to be allowed to live. You have potential, and it would be a shame to have you eliminated. If we are to understand, and have you reach your full potential you have to be at your best. Human blood strengthens us. Animals can only sustain us, despite what your human thinks.”
“You will only let me live if I go with you?” The sadness crept into Gareth’s face as Caelius nodded slowly. Caelius cast a glance at his two counterparts behind him. They had been holding onto the rogue. With a nod from him, they left swiftly. I knew then that he would be dead soon. Despite what he had done to Gareth, I felt myself shudder at the thought.
“Only on one condition.” he paused as he watched Gareth carefully. Suddenly, I knew what his condition would be. I stepped closer to Gareth, wrapping my arms around him. Caelius could see I understood as a tear escaped down my cheek. Caelius smiled broadly as Gareth swallowed hard.
“What condition?” He asked softly. I had told him that they might ask for this. He didn’t want to hear it, but I told him that they would want him to feed on me. I told him they would want me dead. That is why I never gave up my name. I knew that rumors existed of me and my brother. I knew they would never ask this of him if they knew I wouldn’t die. I had told him what to do; I just hoped he had the nerve to do it.
“Feed…on…her.” Caelius said deliberately. If there was blood in Gareth’s face, it would have drained from it. Caelius sneered. I felt Gareth hold me protectively. I could see on his face that he was considering fighting. I knew that would be bad for us both. If we did what he asked, we would both live. Caelius didn’t know that. I pulled Garth’s face towards mine and kissed him. I nodded as the tears dripped from my chin. I moved my dark hair off of my shoulder and presented my throat to him. He whispered into my ear that he loved me and I whispered to him the same. Then I told him to do it. I could hear a sharp intake of air into his lungs and I closed my eyes. It was unlike anything I had ever felt before. The bite was sharp, but I barely felt it. All of a sudden, all I could feel was him. I could almost hear his thoughts. I felt like I was becoming a part of him completely. My blood flowed easily into his mouth. I heard him moan softly and I realized he was as aroused as I was.
My loins burned for him and it took me a little while to realize what I still had to do. I took a deep breath and slowed my heart rate. I took another deep breath and slowed my breathing. I opened my eyes to see Caelius’ triumphant smile. I consciously stopped my heart and breathed out in a rattle. The room went black. I could feel my body drop to the floor. Echoes of laughter and sobbing rang inside my head. I could feel his warmed lips press against mine as his hand closed my eyes. It didn’t take long for my cells to take over. I breathed in sharply and coughed. I opened my eyes. I was alone. I ran over to the window and saw Caelius follow Gareth into the back of a carriage.
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