A Chance for Charity (The Immortal Ones) (29 page)

“
Discretion is of utmost
importance, is it not? The visit you remember Charity, is when I
came back a few years later to check up on you. I was pleasantly
surprised to find you sharing a home with my friends. But you still
had no memory of the event, and I didn’t see the need to force it,”
Lulach nodded.

“
Well that explains the two
visits so close together. I’m pretty sure that it was the one and
only time you didn’t allow fifteen to twenty years to lapse between
visits,” Catherine remarked.

“
I was following my
connection to Charity and ended up at your home. It was a lovely
discovery,” Lulach’s mouth twitched into a small smile.

“
I feel that connection to
you Link. I’ve been going crazy since I woke up from my sleep. I
can hear you... I can feel you... I can almost see you... even when
you are not in the same room as me,” I gasped and turned back to
Lulach. “But I never changed from your blood. I don’t have Vampire
strength. I’m not swift, definitely not agile. My eyes do not burn
from the sunlight. Link is going through all sorts of changes
today. I didn’t change at all?”

“
That is not entirely true.
I agree with the lack of agility, you break too many bones, and the
strength and speed. However, your hearing is sharper and more
precise than either James or Catherine. I have put it to several
tests throughout the years. Vampires can command their body’s pace
of healing. That is how we are able to allow others to drink from
us. You too have that ability. I think you have more within you,
Charity. You just need to channel the power that is locked within
my blood and bring it out,” Lucach explained.

“
Vampire’s eyes burn in the
sunlight,” Link exhaled. A light bulb had gone off in his head. “My
eyes...”

“
...have been extremely
sensitive to sunlight all day,” I finished his sentence.

“
I’m fast. I’m strong. My
vision, my aim, my hearing... have all heightened. I’m not becoming
like you. I’m becoming like him,” Link shuddered.

“
You are not a Dark One,
young man. I could tell in an instant that you had traits, but you
are not one of us. When I gave Charity my blood it fused with hers.
So, what you received is something that is entirely unique. There
is no other blood like it in this world,” Lulach nodded.

“
I’m a hybrid car - part
gas powered, part electric,” Link smirked.

“
May I?” Lulach spoke, and
then was at Link’s side as if he had been there all along. The
quickness of the movement was startling. Without waiting for
permission, Lulach raised Link’s hand, pierced his palm with one
fingernail, then licked the blood away, and the wound shut. “There
are three elements to your blood, young man. The taste of mortal is
faint. You had lost the majority of your blood I assume. Charity’s
Immortal blood is in you, I remember that intoxicating flavor so
well. Since my blood is fused with Charity’s, Vampire blood is also
present.”

“
I’m a tri-brid then,” Link
sighed.

Cozmo, who had been silently listening -
along with Marcus, Eve, and Lizabelle - gave a snort. “A tri-brid,”
he repeated.

That brought back the twitch of a smile to
Lulach’s lips. “Observe him well, James. He is the only one of his
kind... that I know of. Be aware of your body’s needs Mr. Knight.
Although Charity’s body never desired blood, yours may. Don’t deny
it what it wants, or it may lead to involuntary actions that you
will later regret.”

Lizabelle gave a visible shudder to that
last statement.

“
I wish I had known some of
this earlier. I wish I could remember that night. I guess I need to
thank you for staying with me and for making sure that I was
found,” I smiled.

“
I should not have waited
so long to tell you the truth. But would the knowledge have changed
anything? Would you still have shared your blood with this man?”
Lulach asked.

“
I would have done... I
will do... anything to save him. He was dying, right before my
eyes. But now I have changed him in so many ways,” I covered my
face with my hands, ashamed.

“
Charity, don’t. I accept
the changes, whatever they may be, as long as they keep me with
you. I love you,” Link tugged at my hands, lowered them from my
face, and pushed back my hair.

“
But you had no choice. I
did this to you,” I worried.

“
I had a choice. I chose to
be with you, even after I found out what you were. I choose
you
,” Link’s voice was
calm and steady. There was no hint of regret. But that could still
come. He might wake up one day in the desperate throes of
blood-lust and lament my actions. As if reading my thought, though
I know he couldn’t, Link cradled my face in his hands. “Charity,
you are everything to me. I will never grieve the loss of a purely
mortal life,” he whispered, and brushed my lips with his
own.

“
I love you,” I
smiled.

Lulach departed very soon after that. He
blamed his abrupt exodus on a newly acquired lead on a murderer, in
Cortez. He wasn’t sure how long the offender would remain in the
city, and he wanted to capture him while his trail was still warm.
He promised to come back as soon as the deed was done.

That’s how it has been with Lulach for as
long as I’ve known him. He gets a lead on a vicious murderer from
somewhere, and hunts that person down. He said the hunt was best
part. The blood of the wicked, that is the only blood he permitted
himself anymore. Before he left, he told me that I was the last
drink of innocent blood he had taken. Taken being the key word. He
still allowed himself the innocent, but willing, donor. There are
many people who will gladly bare their neck for a Dark One,
especially one as striking as Lulach.

How we managed to regain composure, sit down
to a Christmas dinner, and then continue with the opening of
presents, still amazes me. But we did it, and it was a wonderful
night.

Catherine loved the yards of antique
material that I had acquired for her. And, James was equally
pleased with the books. I always keep presents stashed away for the
Witches. This year I gave each of them a tiny MP3 player that I had
pre-loaded with tons of their favorite music – a different color,
and a different selection of songs for each. Catherine had
thoughtfully wrapped a gorgeous dress, and had presented it to
Lizabelle – who accepted the gift with a sincere smile.

That is my favorite part of Christmas...
watching the smile appear. To me, the joy is in the giving.

At Twelve-oh-one, I know this because I
looked at the clock, Link and I went back up to my room. It had
been a long two days. Perhaps, the longest in my life. I was
exhausted and simply wanted to sleep in my favorite place – wrapped
in Link’s loving arms.

“
There is still one more
present to open,” Link flashed that brilliant smile. There was a
touch of devilishness behind it this time. It was a knowing smile,
a secretive one.

“
It’s after midnight. It’s
not Christmas anymore,” I reminded him.

“
Ah, but the night belongs
to the day it follows. So technically... still Christmas. Open,” he
commanded and placed a large square red foil wrapped present, with
gold and silver ribbon adorning the paper, on my lap.

“
It’s so pretty,” I smiled,
“I almost don’t want to open it.”

“
Please do,” he
whispered.

I pulled at the ribbon, loosening the bow,
and then slipping it off. Next, I tore at the red foil wrapping,
discarding it to the floor. Then, I closed my eyes, and lifted off
the lid.

I paused there for a moment, eyes closed, a
smile on my face.

“
Well aren’t you gonna
look?” Link quietly asked.

I glanced down and spied
that inside the box, nestled in a cloud of white cotton, was a
shiny silver throwing star -
Link’s
Charity
– was engraved around the center
circle.

“
See, you are not the only
one that can give a weapon as a present,” he smiled. “Lift it up,
see how it fits in your hand,” he coaxed.

I reached into the box and carefully lifted
out my present. It was then that I noticed a thin, transparent
string – like fishing line – was tied to one point of the star. As
I lifted the star up higher, a shiny bauble was suspended in air. A
white gold ring with three glittering diamonds hung from the star.
The center stone was slightly larger, with a smaller one on each
side of it.

“
Marry me, Charity. You are
my past, my present, and my future – forever,” Link had slid down
to the floor in front of me, perched on one knee. It was a true old
fashioned proposal.

I sat motionless, one hand raised high in
the air, holding the star so that the ring was suspended in front
of my eyes. I just stared at it.

“
Well,” Link smiled as the
tears streamed down my face.

“
Are you sure, Link? You
really haven’t known me that long. It’s only been a couple of
months,” I questioned him, unable to believe this was happening to
me.

“
You’re it, baby, the one
I’ve been waiting for.”

“
Yes, Lincoln, my love, I
will marry you,” I beamed through the tears.

Link eased the star out of my hands and
snapped the fishing line as if it were a gossamer thread. He slid
the ring onto the third finger of my left hand.

“
God, I love you,” I
murmured, and his lips were immediately on mine.

“
That’s my line,” he smiled
as he scooped me up, to cradle me in his arms. His lips never left
mine and he continued to kiss me in a way that sent an electrifying
shock through my body. He held me close, much longer than any
mortal man could. It was as if I was made of air.

“
You are so strong now,” I
murmured against his lips, not wanting to break away.

After another minute, when I truly needed
the air, Link pulled back. “I’ve got powers,” he smiled.

“
Awesome powers,” I
agreed.

chapter eighteen

BEGINNING AGAIN

My name is Emily Johnston, seventeen year
old high school senior. And, I have recently added to the town
gossip machine that has been running at full force since Christmas
day.

The first bit of juicy information, that got
the machine oiled up and started, was the discovery of two dead
men. They had apparently been fighting each other at the top of
Bridal Veil Falls, sometime after dark on Christmas Eve. They,
strangely enough, were involved in a gun and knife battle that
ended when some bears stumbled upon them and attacked them, driving
them toward the falls. The two men and the two bears, fell over the
falls. The bodies were found in the late afternoon, on Christmas
Day, when some ice climbers stumbled upon them. The local police
were still piecing together the clues left at the scene.

I obtained all this information from Summer,
when she called me, breathless with excitement and fear, the day
after Christmas. The fear part came from the fact that, although
the authorities believed there were two bears involved in the
attack, there were bloody bear tracks leading away from the base of
the falls. An alert was put out for an injured bear, who had
already attacked two men, and may still be alive and dangerous.

This news brought a ray of hope into the
eyes of Lizabelle, our new Shape-Shifting friend. She immediately
left our house, along with Cozmo – they were now inseparable - in
search of the bear. We were unsure if it was Elliott or Rowan that
had survived the fall. They needed to track the surviving Shifter
down, to find out.

Our friends departed, with anticipation and
caution. Lizabelle wanted answers. She wanted to know why her
brothers would take a murder for hire job. She insisted that it
just wasn’t something she could have ever imagined them doing.

The second bit of information, given to
Summer Paxton by yours truly, was that I was quitting Telluride
High School. I told her that I’d been taking extra online courses
and was only one credit away from my diploma. Technically I am not
a High School drop-out, since I’d be finishing my coursework
online. That’s my story and I’m sticking to it. Plus, this would
have been my sixth senior year. I have the five previous diplomas
to prove it, each with a different name, but still me. I had to go
through the coursework, I had to pass the tests, so they’re mine. I
just couldn’t spend another day posing as a High School student,
especially after all that has happened to me since we’d moved to
this town.

The third bit of information, was again
about me, this time spread promptly by Delilah and Summer.

Early afternoon, on New Year’s Day, I’d just
walked out of the Chinese Restaurant with Link at my side. We were
picking up take-out, when Summer and Delilah spotted us and ran
over to say “hi!” I’d been sporting my new engagement ring, since
the moment Link slipped it on my finger. Delilah started screaming,
“Oh my God!” at the top of her lungs, in the middle of Colorado
Ave., the second she spied it.

They gushed, I beamed, and I’m sure that by
now the whole town thinks I am “with child”. I heard a few
whispers, almost immediately. Why else would a seventeen year old
girl decide to leave High School and also become engaged? Little do
they know, it’s entirely impossible. There has only been one virgin
birth that I am aware of, and I’m pretty sure I’m not the next
candidate for that miracle. In a few months, when my belly still
hasn’t grown, people will have no choice but to admit that the
rumor was false. I’m a very patient woman. I can wait until then
for my apologetic glances.