"Staked. I got him while he was distracted. I couldn't have done it without you, pet. You saved my life."
"Yes." Pain twists in my temple, I rub it away. I have to remember. "I'm glad he's gone. He killed my pack. My family. It was Xavier."
"Oh," Lucius sounds as pained as I feel. "Selene."
I shake my head and wince. "I'm glad he's gone." My head throbs like it's been clubbed. I sift through my memories, reliving what happened. Xavier, in the crypt, Lucius staggering-- "He hurt you. You were hurt. You... when Xavier was here. You seemed to be weakened…" I stop as he smiles. "You were faking it! How did you know?"
"An educated guess. Xavier seemed so smug."
"He used me to try to kill you."
Lucius' smile fades. "Yes, pet, and I'm sorry. Your death is my fault."
I jerk in his arms. Bring my hands up between us, not to push him away, but to examine them. My hands look the same as they always have. A bit paler, perhaps. "I'm not... dead."
"Not in the way you think." He looks so sad, I cup his face.
"It's all right," I murmur.
"When you find out what I've done... I can only hope you can forgive me."
"Of course. What--"
In answer, he takes my fingers and puts them to my mouth. I don't understand until he pushes them past my lips. I touch something hard and slim and cold. Needle sharp. A fang. Not a wolf canine, but a tooth belonging to a greater predator, a--
"Vampire?" I ask, dreading his response.
Slowly, he nods.
A little sound escapes my throat. A whimper. A moan. "You turned me."
"I turned you," he confirms, and before I can say more, he gathers me into his arms. "I would do it again even knowing you'd change your mind. You said you wanted to be with me. I couldn't let you go. Not now. Now when I know--"
"Know what?" I turn in his arms so I'm facing him. My heart beats loud in my ears. Under my palm, Lucius' heart pumps blood in matching rhythm.
"I love you. Selene, I love you, and I couldn't let you go."
I raise my hand between us, right in front of my face. It looks the same, the pale skin, the bluish veins His blood flows through my veins. Immortal blood.
Everything is different. But when I retract my hand and see his face, I know: everything is the same.
"I know. Lucius, I know." I lay my palm on his cheek. His hair is tousled in contrast to his elegant features. For once he's not perfectly groomed. It only took a meeting with his enemy and a near death experience for him to forget his vanity.
He looks as beautiful as ever. Unworldly. A god come to earth. A legendary king come back to life. "I love you, too. I loved you from the first night."
His breath blows my hair about my shoulders. He embraces me, his lips finding my ear. "That's a relief."
I laugh into his hug. "Did you think I wouldn't forgive you for giving me life?"
He pulls away. "It comes with a price. Pet,"--he cups my chin, all seriousness--"I have condemned you to a life in darkness. You will never see the sun."
I lean forward and twine my arms around him, needing to feel him. "I do not need the sun," I tell him with all honesty. "You are all the light I need."
EPILOGUE
C
lub Toxic pulses with the music of the nightclub above. Below, the dungeon is crowded with vampires, all of Lucius' sired gathered at his command.
I apply lipstick carefully, blot once, apply again, until my lips are as red as the liquid of my drink. At least, I think they are. When I look in the mirror, I can't see a thing.
The hair raises on my neck a second before Lucius breathes in my ear.
"Nervous?" A firm hand squeezes my shoulder before sliding to loosely collar my neck.
"No." I keep looking at the mirror, even though I see nothing but the reflection of the room. I don't know why I even bother. Force of habit, I guess.
"Good girl." In the mirror, my glass rises in midair, lifted by an unseen hand. I take it, obediently.
"You look like a goddess." He dips close. "Maybe tonight I'll fuck a goddess in the ass."
I sputter and almost spill my drink.
"Careful." He steadies my hand. "You're too thin as it is."
"How much do I have to drink?"
"I will let you feed from the vein tonight," he promises and I shudder. That's the difference between him and other vampires, he explained. The new vampire is weak, dependent, requiring a balance of care and slow weaning into independence.
"Xavier tried to make vampires, but they either fought him and he killed them, or he mind wiped them and they didn't survive because they were too weak.
"That's why your sired survive?"
"Yes."
"So I'll survive?" I joked.
He didn't laugh. "You will do more than survive. You will thrive."
His fingers tip the glass and I let him help pour the blood down my throat. I'll do more than thrive. Already, my body is stronger, my reflexes faster than any vampires. I blur with ease. When we race on the mountain trails, I easily beat him, my shifter strength combining with the vampire abilities to create a new creature. I am unstoppable. The sired will soon outpace her sire. I am the most powerful predator on earth.
And totally in love.
"Ready?" He takes my glass from me.
"As I'll ever be."
He offers his arm.
"You don't want me to crawl?" I joke as I take it.
"Only if you choose. But not before them. Never before them. They will see you as an equal."
"They are not my equal."
His lips twitch. "No. But let them find that out the hard way."
"It will be my pleasure."
We step out of his office, into the light.
The crowds part as we glide past. There are plenty of curious glances. Plenty of hostile ones. I still smell like a shifter, a wolf. Another ability I have--controlling my scent. Only the most astute will sense that I am something more.
Lucius seats himself on the throne. I take my place at his side.