10. ARA

I didn't think we'd ever make it to Maine, but it was a pressing issue. I didn't believe what those elders thought about words of people who were long dead, but I knew that that there were a lot of people who would be out to get me if I stuck around. And I'd lived long enough going under the shadows without people gunning for my life.

My staff worked quick.

Nash was excited by the entire thing. He'd never been outside of the city before. All of his family had been stuck in a cult-like witch commune. I'd tasted parts of his memory. I'd felt the way he'd thought about them. It was an incredible feeling, it gave me a renewal on life.

And then Estefania came in and tried to bring all of that back down on me. Accosting me in the foyer of the apartment while Nash was pressed against the reinforced window, staring out over the city in awe. Probably unaware of Estefania's ranting.

"Uncle, I'm staying here," she said. "There always needs to be a DeMauriel here. At all times. And—"

"Darling, your last name isn't DeMauriel," I offered with a chuckle.

"By blood," she said. "And you're going to need that here. So, I'm staying, even if thee isn't a staff. I'm trying to help the family. Come on. We've lost a lot of reputation. And the vampires are already talking."

"They are?" I laughed. "What? Telepathically. I doubt that."

"No," she said, shining the bright screen of her phone in my face. "On the internet. There are so many places now online where we can talk about things. Well, the elders in the city know you're turning the post down. And they know you're doing it for a witch."

I grabbed her phone. This wasn't a good idea at all. Having access to the internet at the touch of her fingertips. I knew there was witchcraft, but this was a different type of witchery. "Are you telling them any of this?"

"I haven't said a word," she said.

"Good. So, don't say a word. Just say we've left town. We won't be coming back until I—until we've really bonded, I'm going to marry him." I glanced across the room at him. He was unaware of the plans I was hoping to make with him. "I've never felt this way about anyone. And I think there's a reason why I found myself waking from my hibernation now. Other than it being something I requested. It was so that I could meet him."

She scoffed. "Even if he was the one that gatecrashed your party."

"Even more sense. We were supposed to meet. We were supposed to be together. Don't you see it?"

I'd been accused of seeing signs that weren't there before, but this was real. My feelings were real about this. And I was going to see it through until I saw a sign that said otherwise, but even those signs would be ignored because I was bonded with Nash, and there were very few ways to break a mate bond.

I didn't mind Estefania staying behind. I knew the only reason she was here was because she was looking to live in this large, luxurious apartment. But she would have to staff it herself if she wanted to take full advantage of all the amenities it could create.

"When are we going?" Nash asked. "I have a—" He was cut off by the penthouse elevator dinging. The door opened up and inside it stood a girl with curly hair.

"Hi, how did you get up?" I asked.

As she came out of the elevator, Nash called out her name. "Melize, how did you?"

She pressed a hand to her chest and gasped. "You've not gone yet."

"No, but we're about to," I told her. "But who are you?"

"I'm his sister," she said. "Nash. You just left."

He approached her and cuddled up to me in the process, taking my hand. "If I told them, they would've tried to keep me back," he said. "And that would've killed me." His palms were sweaty in mine. "Don't tell them You can't tell them."

"Didn't you invite your family to stay?" I asked him. "Because I offered it. I know the situation your family must be in. I have this—" I glanced at Estefania. "This apartment is free, with the exception of my niece. If your family is kicked out of the compound, I extend an invite to you."

"I didn't tell her," he whispered to me. "I didn't want you to think he was trying to buy your respect with it."

She let out a sobbing laugh. "Fuck. Nash. I guess there's no convincing you otherwise. So, that only leaves me with telling mom and dad. Obviously, it'll just mean I can never leave, which is selfish, but it also means I'm going to be pressured into marrying someone and having a child. Uh. I don't want kids."

"Move in here then," I told her. "You shouldn't have to feel pressured into doing any of that. Obviously, you'll have no staff, so you'll have to feed yourself. But freedom and free will is something I value most. It's why I'm taking Nash, we need free will away from the words of old prophets."

I didn't know his sister, but I could see the cogs turning behind her eyes. She was clearly thinking through her options, and it didn't matter what she said, I was taking Nash to Maine, and nobody else was invited.

"It's a good idea," he said. "We'll be back once we figure out things."

"What's the witch prophecy got to do with any of this?" she asked.

"Not that one," he said. "This is different. It's a vampire prophecy."

"An elder vampire would end a powerful witch's bloodline," I said. "And I am officially an elder vampire."

"But he's not a—" she furrowed her brow as she glared at her brother. "Nash, you're not that powerful of a witch."

"I never said I was, but I'm stronger than a lot of witches," he said. "And I'd rather be safe than whatever ending a bloodline means. But for all we even know, those things are bullshit anyway."

There was a moment of quiet that was interrupted by a member of my staff carrying a cooler box into the foyer. It was marked with a blood symbol.

"You've gotta be safe," she said. "I know I can't tell you what to do, Nash, just like I couldn't tell Rhone, but fuck, mom and dad are going to be pissed."

I kept a holding Nash's hand, feeling small surges of energy pulse through my palm. I knew he respected his parents. And from everything I'd heard about them, they were just trying to give their kids a good life, and I knew I could give Nash the best life.

"Can we talk?" she asked. "In private."

Nash took a corner of the foyer to talk with his sister. I directed the cooler of blood to the van I'd had them prepared with things to take to the house with us.

"No blood," Estefania mumbled, approaching me. "You have a supplier in the city?"

"I told you, if you stay, you're fending for yourself. But we're not taking all the blood. I don't really need as much anymore."

"Because of him." She nodded to Nash. "Has he agreed to be your personal blood bag?"

"No, because I'm older, I don't require as much." I rolled my eyes. "Honestly, if I were you, I'd stop complaining. I'm allowing you to stay here, and you don't have to go home, even though you probably should."

She fussed a little, tugging at the cuffs of her sweater. "In Vermont, we're very accepting, but I was brought up knowing that a vampire's true mate was another vampire." She then snickered. "Trust the old one to have a more progressive idea of relationships."

"Darling, I was alive when everyone loved everyone, and anything went. It was only—" A sharp jagged emotion struck me at the throat. "Around the time your mom was murdered, people changed. People were clinging to their groups before that. Shifters, vampires, witches, whatever you are, or were, you started to stick with that group. But I've always been open, and I think showing our communities that we can be together is a show of force." It wasn't a prepared statement, but more of what I was feeling in the moment, even if I was going out of my way to accommodate for the bullshit of my own community.

The moment Nash finished talking to his sister, he came to me and hooked an arm around mine. "Ok, let's go before my sister tries to pull me back home."

"Don't worry," she called out. "I know there's no convincing you. I'm just stressed out because I'd love to live here, with that view, and—"

"Do it," Estefania said. "Besides, I need a friend in the city. Unless you're afraid to live with a vampire."

I smacked my hands. "Great," I said. "You can both do whatever you want to do, and we'll leave you to it."

We were soon in the elevator and down at the garage. There was a small van and my town care, two of my staff ready for us to depart, waiting on us. So much had happened today, I was impressed they'd done so much today, and so much I'd done with Nash today.

"You want me to drive us, or I can have someone drive us," I offered him.

"I think I'd like you to drive us, if you remember how," he giggled. "I just want to spend more time with you alone without any of your staff listening to us. It kinda feels weird to have a people who listen to your every whim."

I tugged him into my arms and kissed his forehead, hitting his hat almost off his head. "When we're in Maine, I'll let you look through my family archives, and you can see just how much power and influence my family has."

He kissed me back. "I wish I could give you the same access, but my family have always lived in poverty and shit like that. Well, I say that, but we've never had anything, or property like that. And you have houses everywhere."

"Well, vampires live longer," I told him. "We mass wealth. Collect it. And since our need for blood satisfies almost everything, the cost of food is way down. But obviously, that doesn't always apply. Some vampires don't live long and most of them don't make much." Growing up in whatever year it was before people had easy access to healthcare and education, vampires were feared into giving over property and wealth, but nowadays, that wasn't the case. The world was awake to us, and that meant we didn't operate in the shadows anymore.

I sent the two members of staff off in the van and got the keys to the town car. I'd been driving longer than Nash had been alive, and it was like riding a bike, although I had been out of practice for a while physically, but mentally, it was like I'd been driving just last week.

In the car, Nash adjusted his seat a bunch and played around with the settings on the console of the car. Technology I wasn't too familiar with, the glowing screen was a little jarring, like a small television unit in a car. It was fascinating to see him play with it like a form of witchcraft everyone had access to.

"So, tell me about this place in Maine," he said. "Like the address and I can put it into the GPS."

"We don't need that," I said. "I know the route well. I was brought up there. And every other weekend or so, I would come down to New York, a bit of a hunting ground," I said.

"I thought the apartment was where you grew up," he said.

"No, it's a large house surrounded by forest," I said, smacking my lips and recalling the sweet fresh pine air. "It's been a long time since I've been there. I'll drive through the night. You should get some sleep. Unless you don't need it."

Nash relaxed into the seat, collecting his hat against his chest. "I definitely need it. Today has been crazy."

That was one word for it I hadn't planned any of it, but I was grateful. Throughout my life, I'd been vocal about the universe sending me signs and places where I needed to be. The only time it failed me was my sister's death. I couldn't have saved her, the poison had already infected her entire body, she'd done it to herself. Thinking she would wipe out the entire group of elder vampires by having them drink from her. That's how much she didn't want to become an elder, she killed herself because of it.

For the entire nine-hour drive to the estate in Maine, I was going back and forth with a headache of stormy thoughts. It was the first time since I'd woke up where I was alone to think. Nash's sound asleep body, snoring slightly reminded me I wasn't actually alone.

My sister's voice still fresh in my head, telling me that I was doing the right thing. I knew I was, I felt it as much in my soul. I just wished she was here to give me advice, maybe if she was still alive and an elder, she would've attempted to sway their minds about the prophecy, telling them it had already come to pass already.

We arrived at the house as the sun was breaking over the trees. It was a gorgeous glowing orange view. The house was nestled inside a large overgrowth of trees and bushes. The van had arrived a little earlier and they were unloading it.

"We're here," I whispered to Nash, getting close to his cheek. I gave him a gentle kiss.

He gasped awake. "I—"

"You ok?"

His bright bloodshot eyes, stared into mine. "My parents were trying to call me in my sleep."

"I didn't hear your phone."

"Mentally," he said. "They were doing their best. But I've got wards up."

I took his hand. "You want to see the house?"

He turned to look out of the window. Slack jawed expression on his face said everything. He was excited and impressed. It was going to be nice starting out our mate bond here.