Epilogue Part 1

Quiet

T he following night at dusk, I ran my tongue along a sharpened canine, frustrated that I couldn't make use of my mirror to see them. I didn't have a reflection anymore. My gray eyes had dimmed, allowing the blood to show through. They were the color of amethysts now, Rorick said.

"You'll make your mouth sore, doing that," he warned from the bed behind me.

I sucked on my teeth. "I can't help it. I'm overly aware of them."

"You'll grow accustomed soon enough," Rorick said, his smile rueful. "They suit you, you know. I like them."

"I'm a little hungry," I warned him, chewing carefully on my cheek. I'd accidentally hurt myself with my living habits a couple of times already.

His eyes went wide. "Again?"

"You taste delicious. I can't help it!" I joined him on the bed, jostling him in my exuberance. "Was it like that for you in the beginning? Insatiable?"

"Everyone's different, I think," Rorick said. "I struggled to get used to it at first. Made myself sick a few times trying to eat solid things I'd liked before my change, and there weren't other vampires to guide me. Trial and error got me there in the end."

"That must have been lonely," I said, pulling his arm across my lap with purpose. I ran my finger down his wrist, stroking the tempting vein there. His heart didn't beat very often, but I heard it patter gently at my touch. I loved that cautious sound.

He smiled at me with his violet eyes, the corners crinkling, but there was a sadness deep within them I longed to rid him of. I knew he was still thinking terrible things about himself, in his head calling himself a monster for striking me down. He was convinced he should have recognized me, but how could he have in all that madness? How could he have when, in so many ways, Hecate was me, and she'd tricked us?

"It was worth it all in the end," he said. "Go on. Have a bite."

Baring my fangs, I lifted his arm to my lips. At the last moment, I licked him instead. Was he punishing himself by letting me have at him this often? "Are you sure I'm not making you sore? Even Astor mentioned she wouldn't mind helping me if I needed to feed. All this time I thought she disliked vampires. Turns out she just doesn't like you," I added playfully. "My sisters would let me—"

"No," he said firmly.

His severe tone surprised me. Recognizing its cause, I grinned at him so broadly my cheeks hurt.

"Rorick," I said, quoting his words from long ago, "I had no idea you were so possessive."

"There's no reason to bite anyone else," he huffed. "Not when I've got veins full of perfectly good god-blessed blood right here!"

"Decadent blood," I soothed. "The very best vintage there is."

He eyed me apprehensively until I licked his pulse once more, this time languidly. His heart thudded once against the cage of his ribs, a hollow sound that echoed in my keen ears. The changes to my body were at times overwhelming, but I enjoyed that one.

My gaze held his as I bit down, breaking through soft flesh until rich copper hit my tongue.

He palmed the back of my head, encouraging me to seal my lips around the gushing wound. "Just like that," he said breathlessly. "You want to be quick. Blood sours fast once it leaves a vein. My undead blood turns sooner than most without a preservative."

I suckled at his giving vein, and the effect on him was immediate. His violet eyes dilated. His head fell back, and he moaned at the ceiling. Such a rich reaction made muscles clench deliciously low in my belly. I was connected to him at that same point, like my veins had tied themselves to his. I felt him everywhere.

I took another long, slow drag, then sealed his wound with a flick of my tongue.

"Do you have any regrets?" he murmured, his breath smelling of apples and sweetness, and I could see in his earnest gaze how much my response meant to him.

"Not a single one," I said, grabbing the loose collar of his nightshirt tight and moving in closer.

"Won't you miss the sun?" That damned sadness coated his voice.

"I'd rather have you!" I pulled him in for a kiss. "Do you know how much I love you?"

"I do," he said against my lips.

"We don't say it to each other. Not nearly enough," I told him, peppering his jaw in little kisses, pressing my body to his, determined to distract him from the little thoughts I knew continued gnawing at him.

"Of course we don't," he said, stroking my cheek. "Love is too dull a word for us. I've killed for you, died for you, and come back from the dead for you. Now you've come back from the dead for me. Love just doesn't suit."

"Then what shall we call it?" I asked.

"I don't think there is a word superior enough," he confessed. A secret smile bloomed in the corner of his mouth. "But I bet I can show you how I feel about you well enough."

Not needing to be told twice, I climbed into Rorick's lap and allowed him to demonstrate.