Chapter Nineteen

CHAPTER NINETEEN

Roxy

It wasn't really his words that snapped me back to my right mind.

I mean, they were part of it.

No one wanted to have some unknown power invading their minds, making them do things they weren't one hundred percent sure they would do if they weren't under some sort of emotion amplification spell.

It was like being drugged, honestly. Which was really messed up with all emotions, but doubly so for things like desire.

All of that was on my mind, sure.

But it wasn't what had my heart sinking to my feet, had me scrambling to stand, turning my incredulous gaze on the vampire who'd been my rock through this maze.

Only… he wasn't a vampire, was he?

Sure, he'd told me that the labyrinth had weakened his powers.

But he hadn't filled me in when he went from a power-stripped vampire to… a man.

A mortal man.

Who breathed.

Whose heart beat.

That was the realization that had broken the spell for me.

When I'd been kissing him, I'd felt his heartbeat. Against my chest. Against my lips.

Before he even pushed me off of him, I was ready to roll away.

Because… what the hell?

I mean, I wasn't going to begrudge most people for keeping secrets. We were all entitled to them.

The difference here was that this labyrinth was dangerous. I was risking my safety, and likely my life, to keep moving through it with him.

I needed to know things like how he wasn't, you know, immortal anymore. That was important.

Objectively, I knew that the upset was only partly because of my responsibility to keep him safe through this unpredictable maze.

It was more personal than that.

It was because of the connection I thought had been growing between us.

There was the attraction, sure. But I felt like there was more to it than that. At least, that was what I concluded when he'd held me so carefully. When he'd pushed me to my highest potential. When I'd been so hysterical about his poisoning and potential death.

He should have told me.

"Roxanne…" he started, voice soothing.

"No. Nope. You don't get to try to placate me," I said, stalking toward him.

I could feel the spell then, poking at me, trying to push my emotions to a higher level.

I didn't need the spell, though. I was already almost at my max.

The hunger, exhaustion, the constant adrenaline dumps from dangerous tasks were all weighing on me, making me overly sensitive and short-tempered.

"I mean, did you plan on keeping it from me until the end? Didn't you consider it was something I might need to know to try to keep you safe in the maze?" I asked, waving a hand out at the room as a whole.

"It didn't happen all at once," Nathaniel said. "It's been a slow progression. I think the poisoning was the final push toward mortality," he admitted.

"Were you planning on telling me?" I asked, chin jutting, daring him to lie to me.

"No," he admitted, shrugging it off.

"No?" I asked, the wind out of my sails a bit at his admission. "Why not?"

"Because I didn't think you would help me if you knew."

"Wait… what? Why wouldn't I help you if the maze was making you human?"

"It's not the maze," he admitted. "I imagine the magic here has only accelerated what was already at play for many years."

"You've been… becoming human for years?" I asked.

"I was cursed about a hundred years back. Ever since then, I've slowly been losing some of my powers."

"So that speed thing you do, that was… slow?" I asked, thinking how much faster he'd been from other vampires.

"Yes."

Wow.

I mean, I didn't want to be impressed when I was angry at him. But, yeah, that was impressive.

"Why were you cursed?" I asked. "Did you abuse and murder the most beloved daughter of some witchy clan, and the family decided to punish you with a soul for all eternity?" I asked.

"What TV show is that from?" Nathaniel asked, the beginning of a smirk toying with his lips.

"An old one," I admitted.

"Real life isn't usually as dramatic as fiction. It was a… witch who came from a clan who has hated my kind for many generations. They'd created the curse, the cure, and the maze that protected it many years ago."

"Are you the only vampire who has been cursed?"

"From what I can tell, there's been about a dozen of us through the years. Though, I think I am the last one. The witch died a few years after cursing me in a car accident. She'd never had a chance to have children, so I assume the knowledge of the curse and cure died with her."

It wasn't a surprise to me that entire covens hated vampires enough to want to curse or kill them. I mean, I remembered stories about some killer clan of witches who trained their whole lives, geared up at night, and hit the streets to take out vampires.

We were, traditionally, enemies.

It was just that the modern age made it so easy to forget about things like age-old nemeses.

There were lots of other things to focus on. Better things. Like fictional vampires falling in love with humans and fae and, well, witches.

What can I say? Fictional vampires were always brooding and hot and…

Well, kind of a lot like Nathaniel. Just with better names.

"Why you?" I asked.

"Come again?"

"Why did she curse you? Were you a particularly awful vampire?" I asked. "I mean, I know all of you drink blood. But some of your kind have kind of, you know, evolved. Hence the blood bars and such."

That was why I'd tried to donate my blood. They offered a lot of money for willing donors because the demand for human blood, without the whole feeding thing, was growing.

I mean, there was even a movement trying to convince humans that vampires weren't all bad, that they wanted to integrate into society.

I wasn't exactly convinced since there were still many people being attacked and drained.

"No, I wasn't… that bad," Nathaniel said. "I did drink human blood for most of my life. And, yes, often even unwillingly. But once I realized there were humans who would let us feed willingly, I started getting my nourishment that way."

"Why?"

"Why what? Why didn't I enjoy the fear and pain of humans?"

Well, when he put it that way.

"That's a very… human mindset, though," I said.

"My theory is that the longer we are around, the more we evolve. I haven't met many vampires my age. But I met one quite a bit older. He's probably the most empathetic being I've ever met. Last I saw him, he was refusing even to drink cow's blood to survive."

"Without blood, wouldn't he die?"

"Yes."

Huh.

"I'm not going to pretend that vampires are exactly like humans. We don't have souls. We can't die, save for specific ways. And I think that immortality makes it harder for us to develop the depth of empathy, joy, and pain that you experience. But I do believe that living amongst you slowly changes us."

I mean, sure, he'd been a little lacking morally with the whole kidnapping thing. And he was kind of brash and selfish.

But, he'd been good to me.

Kind, at times, even.

If he had another hundred years, it might even be hard to differentiate him from a human.

"Have other vampires tried to get to the cure?" I asked.

"Yes. By my count, three of them. At least, I found evidence of three."

"Why didn't they succeed?

"The first two, because they didn't realize the key factor with the witch."

"And that is?" I asked.

"The witch has to be willing," he told me, watching my face for my reaction.

"But you kidnapped me."

"And then made you a deal," he reminded me.

Right.

That was true.

The money was the only reason I hadn't tried to escape when I'd had opportunities to do so.

"What happened to those vampires that tried to force the witches?"

"They burned up the second they stepped into the labyrinth," he said, shrugging that off.

"What about the witches?"

"The maze isn't meant to hurt your kind," he said.

"Um… it almost burned me and drowned me."

"I don't think it's possible for you to die from the spells. They can kill me, especially as I become more mortal, but not you."

"What happened to the third vampire?"

"The witch couldn't complete the maze. I don't know which challenge had her failing. But the only thing I can find is that she went back to her life. I couldn't find any information about the vampire, though. I imagine he just died in the maze."

But he still wanted to go in himself.

"Was I the first witch you approached about this?"

"No."

I went ahead and pretended that my ego didn't get a little bruised by that.

Because, objectively, of course I wasn't his first choice. I doubted I was the tenth, or twentieth, choice. I was simply the one he got to say yes.

Then lucked out that I was halfway competent.

"Why me?"

"Because you were the most likely to accept my offer," he said. "But I also believed that you had more power than you realized you did. It takes a lot of power to make effective spells for people without ever meeting them."

"And my stubbornness factors in too," I said, offering him a small smile.

The spell tried to make the affection grow, but I fought against it.

I was okay with my normal, real level of affection toward Nathaniel. Even if I was still annoyed with him about his omissions.

"So this cure… what is it? An elixir?"

"I believe so. The wording in the journals I found suggests that."

"And you're sure it won't kill you?"

"Well, the way I see it, the magic here won't kill a human. And as of a few minutes ago, I am fully mortal again. So, worst case… it doesn't work at all."

"And you finish out your mortal life and die? Or do you immediately age and die?"

"I guess we will have to see about that," Nathaniel said, moving toward me, reaching out to gently grab my wrist. "I should have been honest with you about the cure."

"Yeah. I mean, I went into this knowing you were a vampire. I agreed to it then. Why would you not continuing to be a vampire change my mind?" I asked.

"That…" he said, looking taken aback.

"Didn't really think that one through, did you?" I asked, smirking at his dumbfounded look.

"I suppose not," he admitted, exhaling hard.

That was such a human reaction, making me realize just how much humans relied on things like breath to convey emotions.

Sighing. Exhaling. Snorting. Long, deep breaths. Held breaths.

They all told you so much.

Suddenly, I felt like Nathaniel wasn't such an enigma now that his feelings were being expressed in a way that I could interpret.

"So how do we get out of this room?" Nathaniel asked as his fingers slipped between mine again.

"I have no idea," I admitted.

But then, right there at our side, a door opened.

"I guess opening up about our feelings in a raw, real way was the way through," Nathaniel said as my brows raised.

"I almost don't want to go out there," I admitted.

"Hey, you've gotten us this far. I don't think anything else could stop you."

With him at my side, open and honest, even if he was suddenly missing all of his powers, I had a feeling he was right about that.