Total pages in book: 97
Estimated words: 91295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 91295 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 456(@200wpm)___ 365(@250wpm)___ 304(@300wpm)
“How do I figure in all this?”
He turns his beautiful eyes towards me, and I can see now there is no longing for something he cannot have in them. There is only a quiet resignation and a great sadness. He looks exhausted. There are blue shadows under his eyes. How could I have missed how tired he looked? The thought of him dying fills my heart with terrible pain.
“The ancient texts give us a way to stop the decay,” he says softly, his eyes never leaving mine. “It was long foretold that before the next EMPOC comes, a child will be born, a human child, and she will hold our destiny in the palm of her hand. It is the law of this world. As you have sowed you will reap. Just as we have held the lives of so many humans in our heartless hands she will decide the extinction or salvation of our species.”
For a second my eyes go blank. It cannot be. Surely, he doesn’t mean me, but his eyes, his eyes tell me I’m not wrong. The word shoots out of me and hovers between us, “Me?”
He nods slowly. “Yes, you. Little, unassuming Autumn., you. You and you alone have the power to decide whether to preserve my kind or stand over their demise.”
“How can that be?” I blurt out incredulously. “It must be a mistake. It can’t be me. I have no powers at all. I’m nothing.”
“It is not a mistake. It is you. The power is in your blood.”
“What?”
“Yes, you carry something in your blood, a little genetic aberration that could regenerate my entire species.”
“How do you know that?”
“There is something else about me you do not know. I bear the title of Count in the human world, but in our world, I am a Prince. One day I will be King. It was foretold that it would be me who would lead our kind towards salvation and redemption, or termination. For hundreds of years I looked for you. I would close my eyes and search for your blood. One day, I locked in on you. You were two years old then. Ever since that day, I’ve watched you, taken care of you, and protected you from the shadows.”
My mouth feels dry and my voice sounds hoarse and rough. “What exactly do I have to do?”
“You must be willing to offer your blood to me in a ritual, but it is not as easy as it sounds. I must warn you that if you do, there is no turning back, you will become one of us, immortal but forever cursed with blood lust.”
I walk to the chair opposite him, the horrendous weight of his words is too much to bear. I slump into it. “I will become a vampire?”
“Yes,” he says simply.
“And if I say no?”
“Nothing will happen. No one can force you, Autumn. It is our immutable law. We can trick, lie, and cheat humans into interacting with us, but we must obtain their permission before we take anything from them. If your blood is acquired by force it will be of no use to any of us.”
I nod slowly, even though there is nothing to nod at. “What will happen to you without my blood?”
He shrugs. “It doesn’t matter. I have now told you everything. I have done the right thing, my duty to you and to my species. You must think about what you want to do and tell me your decision. Until I have your answer, I suggest you do not leave Ze Dem Adelar. Some of my kind do not seem to understand the concept of ‘willingly offer’. William has prepared your room for you. I bid you goodnight, Autumn.”
Then he stands and walks away without looking at me as if he thinks I find him too deplorable to look at. There are so many questions in my head, but I let him go. I let him go because I don’t want him to see me cry. When I hear the door close, the tears fall. Now I know he never cared about me. It was all about my blood. It’s the creed by which they live. They can trick, lie, and cheat humans into interacting with them as long as they ask for permission. Never in a million years did I ever think I would be in a position like this. I don’t even have Sam to call and talk to. I feel so horribly, horribly alone.
For a long, long time I just sit there, my mind playing back all the incredible, fantastic, unbelievable things he had said to me. Then I stand and go up to the observatory. The house is utterly silent and my shoes echo. I walk past a large painting of a stern man from a past century who it seems to my fevered imagination to malevolently stare down at me.