Lure of Forever (23 page)

"I can't, please don't make
me."
 
Her stomach had rolled at the
thought of forcing more blood down her and terror filled her at the thought of
what her body may do if she gave in to the ache in her jaws. "What if I
lose control again? I couldn't, I don't. I don't want to turn into a
monster."

He'd been next to her in an instant,
drawing her trembling frame into his side and she'd simply given herself up to
the comfort he offered.

"You could never be a monster,
Coralie
, but your body needs blood." She'd heard the
soft click of his fangs and screwed her eyes shut, her heartbeat roaring in her
ears, as her nostrils flared at the scent of blood. Before she could do
anything at all, Lucas had pressed a shot glass into her hand and urged her to
drink. Confused by his actions and compelled by the hypnotic quality of his voice,
she'd downed the contents in one go, bracing herself for her stomach to
rebel—only it hadn't. Warmth spread through her veins instead and a sense of
rightness settled on her.

"That's my girl. See, that
wasn't that bad, was it?" Lucas smiled at her and that feeling of
belonging increased.

Coralie
shook her head to clear away the maudlin thoughts. She may feel as though she
belonged, but Lucas had kept his distance. He'd been polite and attentive: a
comforting, but never prying, presence in her mind that kept the other voices
at bay.
 
Voices that still scared her
witless, but at last she had made a decision. It had taken a week of poring
over old ledgers, tracing her family ancestry and learning about the intricate
involvement between the original vampires and the ancient covens to reach her
decision.
Coralie's
ancestors had been the ones to
curse the vampire race into darkness to try and stop the spread of vampirism,
which was fast turning into an epidemic.

The original vamps hadn't taken
kindly to that and a bitter war had ensued which had spanned centuries and
involved many other facets of the supernatural community. Whilst a fragile
peace now existed, skirmishes broke out all too frequently.
Coralie's
heart beat a little faster when she came across Lucas's history.
 
The old troll had been right. Not once in his
three thousand years had Lucas turned a human. He'd killed many––in fact, he
was the assassin for the council and after Carmen, one of the oldest and most
powerful vamps in known existence. Known for his ruthlessness, he was feared
and respected in equal measure.
 

His story made for gruesome reading
and
Coralie
should have been repelled, but instead
she'd cried for the lonely man the pages depicted. Not much was written about
his human days, but one fact jumped out at
Coralie
.
He had been married to a witch named
Melisande
, who
was killed by a demon. Without knowing the name of that demon
Coralie
knew it had to have been
Jacomo
,
because a just-awakening Lucas brought his mental shutters down with a
resounding thud, leaving
Coralie
reeling.

He was next to her in a whirl of
air, slamming the
vampirology
book shut with so much
force,
Coralie
was surprised the ancient texts didn't
evaporate.

"There is nothing in there you
need to read."
 
The pain behind
those words brought a new wave of tears to
Coralie's
eyes. Lucas had jumped when a single drop of moisture fell on the hand with
which he held the ledger.

"Don't. It was a long time
ago." The growled words made her reach out to him and he'd pulled her
close with a muttered curse. His hold on her tightened for an instant with her
heartfelt words, "Of course it matters, Lucas. I am so sorry."

He'd pushed away from her, one hand
going through his hair in agitation and her heart clenched at the pain in every
line of his body, even as the hot poker of jealousy stabbed at her insides. He
must have loved his wife to distraction.

"What happened?"
Coralie's
soft question had him reaching for the old whisky
on the side cabinet of the impressive library his cottage also sported. He
poured himself an overgenerous measure and swallowed.
Coralie
watched the movement of his throat, every fiber of her being yearning to go to
him and offer comfort any which way she could, but she stayed put waiting for
him to speak.

When Lucas finally did, his voice
was rough and he had to clear his throat several times.

"
Melisande
and I married young, against the wishes of both our families. My father never
accepted her. Her family was poor, peasants, and my father was the liege."
Lucas smiled grimly and stared out of the window, seemingly lost in the past.
"I was hotheaded and foolish. I thought all that mattered was that we
loved each other. We sat up home together and we were happy for a while. But
Melisande
was a witch and her family cast her out when she
eloped with me. Even back then, the ancient bloodlines had begun diluting. As
one of the originals it was expected of her to marry into another ancient
family, not get herself hitched to a hot-headed youngster like me. I learned very
quickly that witches don't fare that
well on their own
."
He paused and threw a searching glance towards
Coralie
.
Her toes curled under at the intensity in his emerald eyes and a cold shiver
went up her spine. She wasn't seeing Lucas anymore, but a young
Melisande
running away from a jeering crowd, dodging the
stones flying her way.
Melisande
crying on her cot,
clutching her tummy, keening her loss at the baby she had been carrying. Lucas,
hurt and confused, bitter rows and hot sex.
More pain and
heartache—God, so much pain.
Melisande
summoning
Jacomo
in her despair, but instead of
helping Lucas's wife he'd fed on her and left her without her powers, unable to
heal or call for help.

Tears streamed down
Coralie's
face unheeded, as the horrific images played out
in her mind, until Lucas's voice finally broke through, dispelling the last
image of
Melisande
. The young witch smiled and put
one finger up to her lips.
Coralie
too smiled through
her tears, even as her neck hurt where Lucas was shaking her so violently her
head was lolling about like a rag doll and her teeth clanged together.

She opened her eyes and put her
hands on his chest, her smile deepening at his worry flooding her mind, worry
for her. His eyes bore into hers and he let her go.

"
Merde
,
don't do that. I never know whether you'll get back here."

"I'm sorry, Lucas. But she
doesn't blame you, you know. You made her happy. If she had to do it all over
again she would. Not the
Jacomo
bit, naturally, but
marrying you. She loved you, Lucas."

Lucas had taken a few steps back,
shaking his head repeatedly, goose bumps visible on his naked torso and without
thinking
Coralie
had flicked her hand and the
fireplace in the room had roared to life, making them both jump. The dancing
flames had illuminated the growing darkness in the room and
Coralie
had grown self-conscious under Lucas's steady regard.

"Does that mean you've made
your decision?"

"What? No…I…"
Coralie
had looked up at him and his face had fallen at
whatever he saw in her expression. He'd turned away, leaving
Coralie
feeling as though she'd let him down somehow.

Coralie
shivered again. The sun had disappeared almost completely and there was a cold
breeze coming up from the sea. It carried change with it and the promise of
rain—the perfect time of day for
Coralie
to accept
her destiny. She could only hope that Lucas would still want her. That he
desired her physically, she didn't doubt for one minute. But he kept his mind
too well shielded to ascertain his emotions. Not that she could bring herself
to delve that deeply.

The guilt he exhibited about turning
her had been bad enough. They'd come across a young family during one of their
early evening walks. The toddler's shrill screams of frustration at being
carried off the beach as the sun was slipping past the horizon had made
Coralie
smile at his harassed father.

Lucas quietly translated the rapid
French conversation that followed. The boy's father had apologized profusely
for still being on Lucas's beach at that time, but Lucas waved the apology off.
He'd seemed lost in thought, a slight flush on his high cheekbones, when
Coralie
asked, "Why are you letting them use your
beach? I'd have thought you'd value your privacy too much."

Lucas hadn't looked at her and
simply shrugged his shoulders.

"It's the best bit of beach
around here, and the safest for children. I can't use it during the day, so why
should I deprive the local kids? As long as they're gone come nightfall,
there's no harm done. Children have a right to play in the sun."

The words carried a depth of pain
Coralie
recognized all too well. She'd blinked the tears
away and Lucas had pulled her into his arms with a growled apology.

"I'm so sorry,
Coralie
. I took all that away from you."

She'd pushed against his chest and
he'd let her go. The pain in his eyes made
Coralie
reach out to him with a tremulous smile.

"Lucas, you didn't take having
children away from me. Life did that when I was sixteen. My good-for-nothing
boyfriend up and left the minute he found out that I was pregnant." She
had to smile at his furious growl in response and ran a finger over his
emerging fangs. "No, you can't drain him. He's not worth it, and besides,
he wasn't much older than me.
 
Guess he
didn't know what to do."

"What happened,
Chere
?"

He'd pulled her back into his comforting
arms, as the tears fell in earnest.

"I had a fall, when I was seven
months pregnant. There were complications.
 
I lost a lot of blood. They couldn't stop the bleeding, so they had to
take away my womb." His arms had tightened around her and he'd kissed her
tears away. Her heart had beaten faster at the tenderness he displayed and the
comfort he offered. "So, you see. I never could have children anyway, so
if you feel guilty about that, then don't. Guess that's why I spoil
Suz
as much as I can. Same as you do with
Lando
. To think I once thought he was yours.
Marnie
put me straight, of course."

He'd harrumphed at that and they'd
laughed
,
 
the
sudden tension between them cleared away.

They'd stood watching until darkness
had fallen and
Coralie
had known there was only one
decision she could make, only one way to free Lucas of his guilt and keep the
people she loved safe.

Coralie
shut her eyes and spread her hands, letting the power of the elements flow
through her. The wind increased, whipping her hair around her face as the rain
hit. A crack of thunder tore through the air and lightning forked across the
sky. Electricity darted through her fingertips and the storm increased, when
Coralie
started to chant.

****

Lucas woke up to the crack of
thunder. The ground shook with the force of the storm battering his cottage at
the edge of the cliff. The fine hair on the back of his neck stood up. This was
no ordinary storm. Stopping only to pull on some jeans, he went in search of
Coralie
, his heart beating an unsteady rhythm in his
chest.
 
She'd made her decision, then.
Peace flooded his mind through their connection and he stopped dead when he
spotted her at the edge of the cliff.

Arms spread wide, her hair floated
in the air like a raven's wings. She hovered several inches above the ground,
her whole body glowing with the forces she was channeling. Ancient words
carried over to him on the breeze and he smiled. She had studied the books
well. Summoning protection for those she loved, she called on the forces of the
elements to set Suzanne free in exchange for
Coralie's
acceptance of her role, giving herself up to the ancient powers. His gut
clenched anew and wonder filled him at hearing her fervent prayer for himself.
As he listened to the words, a peace rolled through him in ever-increasing
waves and he saw
Melisande
beckoning to him, her
melodic voice carrying clearly over the roaring of his heartbeat, the pelting
of the rain and the cracks of thunder.

"Live your life, Lucas. Be
happy, forever.
My gift to you."

He reached out to touch her but the
image faded and the storm slowly abated, as
Coralie's
chanting stopped and she floated back to earth and her legs buckled. He was
next to her in an instant, stopping her from falling.

"I've got you."