Fate of the Vampire (27 page)

“No,” I told him. “It’s al
l right.” The world was getting smaller and smaller. I could barely see Jessie at all anymore. The only thing left that I could make out was his beautiful gray eyes. “It’s just …”

“What is it my dear, sweet Aurora?” he asked.

I parted my lips and focused very hard on making them speak. “I’m going to miss you.”

“I’ll wait for you,” Jessie cried, tears rolling down his face. “No matter how long it takes, I’ll wait for you. Just promise you’ll come back to me.”

I wanted to tell him I would try. I wanted to tell him that I loved him and that, more than anything in the world, I wanted him to be happy. But my words were gone. My vision was fading. My breath was frozen in my chest.

“This is my curse,” Jessie sobbed. “This is my fate. To find true love and then always lose her.”

The world became dark. My vision went black. All I could see was a small pinhole of light at the end of what looked like a very long tunnel.

The last thing I felt was one of Jessie’s tears splashing on my cheek. The last thing I heard was him saying, “Goodbye
, my darling. Sleep well.”

I was screaming. I couldn’t remember when I’d started screaming
, and I didn’t feel like I could ever stop. It felt like every cell in my body had exploded.

“Aurora. Drink this
.” A voice penetrated through my shrieks of pain. A glass was pressed against my lips. I struggled against it, but the person was insistent, holding the back of my neck and forcing the glass to my mouth. “Drink! It’ll help.”

I realized that the voice belonged to Jessie. I didn’t understand what was going on, but I knew he was trying to help, so I took a sip. As the liquid washed over my tongue
, it was like water quenching a fire. The searing pain that had been shooting through my body diminished. I took another large gulp, and the pain faded even more. I wrapped both hands around the glass and began sucking the contents down. It was ambrosia. It was the most delicious thing that I’d ever tasted.

“Easy, easy,” Jessie said, trying to coax the glass from my hands so I would drink a little slower.

“No,” I told him. “I need it.” It tasted so good, I felt like I needed the sweet elixir he was giving me in order to live. “What is it?”

He was quiet for a moment and then said, “It’s blood.”

“What?” I sputtered, swallowing a gulp down the wrong pipe and coughing hard. “What did you say?”

“It’s blood,” he repeated, applying the glass to my lips again.

I wanted to spit it out. My brain was repulsed, but my body craved more. “How can I …” I scanned my memory. I remembered Daniel grabbing me. I remembered the pain of him draining me. And I remembered the battle in the woods.

For the first time
, I was able to take in our surroundings. I was lying on a large bed with crisp, clean sheets. Jessie was sitting on a chair next to me. We were in a vast bedroom that was sumptuously furnished. I had to assume we were in the castle. “What happened?” I wanted to know. “How am I even alive?”

He hung his head, unable to speak.

“Jessie?” I asked, reaching out to him. I needed his reassurance.

“It was my mother,” he said, taking my hand but not meeting my eye. “Daniel had drained so much of you that after you died she
…” His words faded.

“After I died?” I asked, feeling frightened. But that couldn’t be. I was alive. I was there in the room with him. It didn’t make sense.

I tried to think. I remembered being in the woods with Jessie holding me. I remembered him saying goodbye. And then the world grew very black. “Does that mean …?” I wasn’t even sure what I wanted to ask.

Jessie nodded, still looking down. “You’re one of us now,” he said quietly.

I couldn’t take it in. Did he mean I was a vampire? That was the only explanation I could think of for how I was still alive and why a glass full of blood tasted like nectar. I frowned, not sure what to think. How could I be a vampire?

Before I could ask another question, Jessie blurted, “Aurora, I’m so sorry.” He took my other hand and pressed them both to his face, covering his eyes. “I can’t believe I let this happen to you.”

“It’s okay,” I said automatically. I wasn’t in pain anymore. I felt a lot better. The blood had cured me. I had gone from agony to feeling vital and strong. “Everything is going to be all right.” But I immediately began to worry. If I was a vampire, what was I going to tell my mom?

“What are you thinking about?” he asked, pulling my hands away from his face, his voice tentative, his eyes still not meeting mine.

“My mom,” I admitted. “I don’t know what I’m going to tell her about all of this. I don’t want her to be upset.”

Jessie lifted his eyes, looking into my face. “Oh, thank God,” he said
, visibly relieved. Shifting over to the bed, he wrapped me in his arms, pressing his face into my hair. “Thank God,” he said again.

“What?” I was confused.

He pulled away slightly so we could talk. “If you’re worried about your mother then becoming a vampire hasn’t changed you. Not the real you,” Jessie said. “I’m sure I told you that … Sometimes when a person is transformed …” He paused. “Oh, never mind about that now. It’s enough to know that you’re still Aurora. You’re the same girl to whom I gave my heart.”

“Jessie,” I whispered, moving closer again, desperately wanting to be near him.

“Aurora,” he said, pressing his lips against mine. “I love you.”

My body thrilled; there was still that same electricity between us. That hadn’t changed. After a moment’s hesitation
, our kiss deepened.

The knowledge that I was a vampire frightened me. But I was also grateful. It was the only way. I knew that every time I was reborn
, I would fall in love with Jessie all over again. But mortals are too fragile to survive in the vampire world. It was my destiny to become a vampire. It was my fate. Now Jessie and I could be together forever.

The End

Thank you for reading
Fate of the Vampire
, the final book in the Vanderlind Castle series. If you are reading this book on a Kindle device, then when you turn to the last page you will be given the opportunity to express your thoughts on Facebook and Twitter. If you’ve enjoyed the story, would you please take a moment to click that button and let your friends know? I would very much appreciate it.

Craving more books about the exploits of the Vanderlind family? Look for
Birth of the Vampire
in the summer of 2014 to learn more about the dashing and arrogant Dorian Vanderlind.
And what happens to him when he finally falls in love.

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