'Til Death (Page 32)

She smiled brilliantly as the first rays of light hit her hair. Then she streaked back to the home, to tell the love of her life that they could be reunited. I twisted to bury my head in the chest of the love of my life, my eternal life. His arms wrapped around me, warm against my skin. Glancing down at myself, I stared at my silent chest. I kept waiting to hear the heartbeat, but it didn’t happen. If I had been purely human first, I probably wouldn’t have noticed that lack of a beat, but I hadn’t been entirely human in awhile and my enhanced ears had gotten used to the familiar rhythm. It was shockingly odd to not hear it anymore.

Teren’s fingers lifted my chin so I’d look up at him. Brushing my jaw, he smiled softly. A shaft of light hit his eyes, making the gray flecks in them leap out at me. I smiled at the distinct clover shape in the right one; it was adorably beautiful. "How do you feel?" he asked softly.

Sighing, my hands drifted over the wet blood on my ruined shirt. Unlike Teren, who didn’t have a spot of blood on him, I hadn’t exactly been a dainty eater. I was pretty sure my face looked like I’d just filmed a horror movie. My fingers resting on my silent chest as I locked gazes with him, I smiled crookedly. "Dead tired."

He grinned, a soft laugh escaping him. All the tension seemed to release from his face as he scooped me up. The uncertainty of that situation had probably been just as terrifying for him as it had been painful for me. The memory of that pain tried to intrude on me but I blocked it out. Much like childbirth, some pains were worth going through.

Smiling as I rested my head on his shoulder, I felt him kiss my head. "Come on, I’ll tuck you in."

Yawning, I reached up and kissed his neck. Through the cool warmth of his skin, I felt the river of ever-flowing vampire blood coursing through his veins. The same blood now flowed through me. Self propelling, no longer needing the extra effort of a circulatory system, I was now one level up on the food chain. But I was still the person I was before. Now that I’d gotten through that moment of insatiable hunger, I knew I’d be able to control it; I wouldn’t be out munching on the townsfolk or anything.

In fact, Teren’s skin was the only skin I’d ever consider puncturing. And he would live through any playful attack I made on him. As would I now, when he took a nibble from me. Self healing, I’d never die a natural death. It was an intimidating thought, but I knew that I’d have Teren by my side for all of it. Together, we’d face the daunting endless life in front of us.

Blurring us back to our bedroom, he helped me clean up and change clothes, then he tucked me under our covers. He held me until the exhaustion overtook me. Before completely caving into it, I muttered, "I want to see the children soon."

He nodded as he held me to his chest. "As soon as you get some sleep, we’ll go get them."

Exhaling, feeling the pleasure from making the movement, but not the need to feel the air through my lungs, I vaguely nodded my head. "M’kay."

Chuckling, he kissed my hair. Before silencing my unnecessary breath, I heard him whisper, "I’m so glad you made it. I don’t know what I would have…" Exhaling a quick, shaky breath, he held me just a bit tighter. "I love you, Emma."

I wanted to respond, to tell him that I understood his fear and I loved him more than anything, but dying was an exhausting experience and sleep crept up on me. Mumbling something unintelligible, I once again slipped back into the darkness, if only for a little while.

Chapter 11 Emma 2.0

I had odd dreams while I rested after my conversion. Odd dreams that I couldn’t quite remember, although as I woke, the sounds of distressed cattle were echoing in my brain. I had a feeling that my dreams were mainly settled around the feasting that had happened last night. Not wanting to think about the carnage, I instead focused on my deceased body.

My eyes still closed, I listened for any sound coming from me. Usually, there was something – a heartbeat, the wind whooshing through my lungs, the food in my stomach digesting…something. But as I lay there, still not even breathing, everything was completely silent. Forcing myself to not instinctively inhale, I waited for the accompanying discomfit that the sensation would have given me had I been alive. I waited for the rising panic that shouted at my body to stop playing games and take the breath it needed. The feeling never happened though. I could have peacefully held my breath for hours on end.

I inhaled deep anyway, enjoying the expansion and contraction of my lungs, even if I didn’t need them. Scent rushed in on me as I did. From in the room, I was barraged with the creosote from the cold fireplace. From out in the hall, the familiar Freesia scent filtered in to me. Farther away, I could pick out candles, furniture polish, and the unmistakable scent of bacon. Yesterday, the bacon scent would have had my mouth watering. Today, I immediately discarded it, moving on to the scent overriding everything in my world. Blood. Somewhere downstairs was fresh blood; I could practically smell the heat of it.

My eyes flashed open. If my stomach could have rumbled, it would have. I remembered Teren having to eat continually the first few days after his conversion and thought my hunger was due to my newness. My fangs started slipping down, but I pulled them back up. I was still me. I could control the cravings until they subsided into the more normal range.

Lying on my side, perfectly still and straight, a face suddenly filled my vision. I smiled as Teren’s pale eyes locked onto mine. "Good morning, sleepy. Or should I say, good afternoon?" He half smiled as he lay beside me, his hand coming up to brush some hair off of my cheek.

I smiled wider at the pleasing feeling of his soft, room temperature touch. While there were some aspects of him being cold that I would miss, mainly in the intimate part of our relationship, it would be nice to hold him without shivering.

Wondering if his mouth would no longer be icy either, I murmured, "Good afternoon to you too." My words registering with me, my eyes widened and I sat up. As shock and worry flew through me, I waited for my heart to surge; naturally, it didn’t. "Afternoon? I’m seriously late for work. They’re gonna can me."

Teren tilted his head and smirked. "Do you really think I’d let you get fired? After everything you did to get back there?" He smiled wider, his face peaceful as he shifted to his back, propping his hands behind his head and crossing his ankles.

Taking in his relaxed posture, I relaxed as well. "I guess not. What did you tell them?"

He chuckled softly, his eyes playful. "I told Tracey that you were feeling a little under the weather after your weekend, and you’d be missing a few days." Laughing a little more, he added, "I think she thinks you’re still hung-over."

I smiled, then sighed. I’d have to go back sooner or later, and face the same obstacles Teren had faced when he’d gone back. But he’d managed it pretty simply, I was sure I would too. Aside from being cold and not ever able to eat around humans, I’d be essentially the same as before.

Hearing my sigh, Teren sat up and rested his hand over mine. "It will be okay, Emma. You’re through the hardest part. The hunger will be more and more manageable every day." Smiling softly, he stroked my skin. He leaned in to kiss me, his lips as warm to me as the rest of him. "Speaking of that, Mom’s got some blood ready for you, if you’re hungry now."

Feeling a discomfort in my belly, the same sort of discomfort that you get before your stomach growls, I nodded. "Starving." My mouth felt parched to me too and I dryly swallowed.

I didn’t have to say more than that before Alanna was standing in my door, steaming thermos in hand. "Here you go, sweetheart." Her smile was a wide one when she handed it to me and my ears picked up the sound of Jack humming outside. I figured her joy was as much at being reunited with him as it was that I was safe.

Thanking her, I watched Imogen causally standing at my doorway. Taking a much needed sip of plasma, I waved her into the room. Smiling as widely as her daughter, she walked through a bright patch of sunshine. She cringed slightly before stopping herself. I suppose it was still an odd feeling for her, being in the sun when she’d avoided it her entire life.

Leaning down, she placed a warm, grandmotherly kiss on my head. "I’m so glad you made it through, Emma."

Taking only a fraction of second to pause and thank her, I continued downing my soothing treat. It was hotter than I recalled it being, the heat flowing all the way down my body, warming me from the inside out. It only made the experience more enjoyable, as the liquid satisfied the burn of thirst and the discomfort of hunger. I couldn’t imagine anything ever tasting better and I had no desire to have anything else.

The very idea of consuming anything else suddenly sounded about as appealing as eating the mud pies that I used to make as a kid. I hadn’t understood how Teren had suddenly had no interest in food after his change, but now I did. Anything that wasn’t this was suddenly a little nauseating. Just the thought of having a piece of the bacon that I could smell lingering in the air from downstairs made me feel a little ill. It gave me a whole new appreciation for when Teren had forced food down his throat for me.

After finishing my drink, I stared into the thermos and considered licking the rim. Laughing softly, Alanna asked, "Would you like another, Emma?"

Cringing, I looked up at her. "If that’s okay? I know I’ve taken a lot…lately."

Lightly shaking her head, she patted my shoulder. "You’re an Adams, Emma. You may have as much as you need."

Walking at a normal pace, Alanna and Imogen headed back down to the kitchen, talking over how surprising things had been around the ranch lately, what with Gabriel’s light blocking windows being put up, Starla’s sudden need for all of my shots, and my unexpected conversion. As they entered the kitchen they started debating what other surprises might be in store.

Teren listened to them with his head tilted, then settled in to kiss me again. Pushing back the extra conversations, I focused on the one thing that always grounded me, my constant, him. Feeling his lips move over mine, his hands clenching my hip, I started to understand what he’d told me once about seeing the world differently. I felt every molecule of air against my cheek. I heard every brush of noise in the room. Through my slotted eyes, I saw variations of color that had never existed to me before.

But instead of it being overpowering, it made everything seem more…real. Like I’d been living in a sepia-toned silent film my whole life. At the time, that had seemed rich and full to me. Then I’d been bitten, and thrust into the world of Technicolor. That had seemed miraculous, and I’d wondered how I’d never noticed how flat the world was before. But now, now I’d been immersed into a high definition 3D film. It was beyond anything I’d ever imagined and as Teren had correctly told me once, I felt connected to the world, more a part of it than I’d ever felt before. I felt the very pulse of life washing over my unblemished skin.

My half-closed eyes sprang open as I pulled away from Teren’s mouth. His tongue had just reached out to flick me and he seemed a little disgruntled that I’d made him miss. Ignoring how sexy his lip looked, curved into curious displeasure, my hand ran up to my neck. The spot that had forever been marked with a strange man’s teeth was now smooth. Not feeling the rigid bumps of poorly healed skin made me giggle a little.

I tried to look down to see the spot, but my eyes weren’t suddenly detachable or anything; there was just no way to see that angle myself. Teren chuckled at me as I hopped off the bed. "What are you doing?"