Fateful (39 page)

Ethan must have noticed her internal battle
as she kept her eyes fixed on the eight-legged monster, because he
suddenly appeared in front of the sofa. Danielle never heard him
coming, and jumped reflexively.

She was relieved to see her loving and
devoted Ethan still reflected there in his no longer blue gaze. He
was still observant, still thoughtful, and still in love with her.
Smiling as he whisked the frightening creature from the sofa and
crushed it for her. He then swept the area for any more like it.
When he finished with his search he stopped in front of her to
caress her jaw, slid his thumb across her parted lips and then
returned to his distanced post.

“Thank you.”

Ethan nodded without looking at her.

He was still the gentle hero, and because of
that she could see no possible way he would ever harm her. The
demon Lucas described can’t exist within him.

Chapter
2
3

Humanity

Hours passed as they stayed at opposite sides
of the room while it gradually grew darker and darker. Danielle
shifted around a lot more than Ethan, while he sat as still as a
statue, and she wondered if he was even breathing.

As the shaft of light from above shifted from
pale-white to a muted orange, Danielle knew the sun was setting and
the idea made her apprehension grow. She couldn’t escape the
reality of her predicament—she was entombed in a cement-lined room
with a parched vampire. As her gaze traveled the lines of stress on
his brow, she couldn’t imagine what this was like for him, being
locked up with her smelling as tasty as ever.

After hearing a soft crackling noise, her
eyes left Ethan and moved to a light bulb as it flickered on by the
door. Wondering…. Can Prince Charming resist the destructive curse
in his weakest hours? Can he abstain from Cinderella’s tempting
blood? Will the fairytale have a happy ending, or will it end
tragically? Will Prince Charming remember who he is and be able to
fight the monster lurking inside him, or will Cinderella go missing
forever?

Trying to be brave, she kept reminding
herself to quell any feelings of fear from rising in her heart. Now
that night had descended upon them, it would make things much worse
for him if she didn’t, because he’d be able to sense it.

Time ticked on at an excruciatingly slow
pace. Ethan seemed to be resisting her amazingly well, and she
couldn’t help but be proud of him. Danielle guessed that it had
been night for several hours when he finally moved. He stood, but
kept his back pressed against the wall, and she could see that he
was shaking more fiercely than before. This concerned her, but she
continued to fight off fear by reminding herself that she trusts
him, and that he loves her.

His silver eyes flashed to her, and she
jumped like she’d been shocked. She then blinked and suddenly he
was right in front of her. With lightning speed his fingers curled
into the flesh of her arms and he yanked her to her feet, rather
roughly.
No fear!
she told
herself as she looked away trying not to be entranced by the
magic.

Ethan leaned down, placing his nose
just beneath her ear and drew in a deep breath.
No fear! No Fear!
she shouted mentally, but it
wasn’t looking good for her at that moment, especially when he
started growling in a low menacing tone. Ethan lifted his head and
she watched his lip curl away from his teeth, exposing fangs. With
eyes rounding at the sight of the dangerous Ethan of her nightmare,
she tried to back away. “Ethan! No!” she cried out when his grip
tightened. She’d hoped desperately that she’d be able to reach his
soul with her words, but apparently they went unheard.

With one fluid motion, Ethan spun her around
and shoved her to the floor. She landed hard on her backside. The
force knocked the wind out of her lungs, but luckily she’d landed
on the rug or she would have been injured. Frantic because this
position was just like her dream, she leaned up onto her elbows and
started to crawl away backward.

Ethan pounced and landed in a crouched
position over the top of her, his eyes glazed over with a ravenous
hungry look. Don’t look into his eyes, she told herself. But her
heart sank, because she’d realized this is what a vampire looks
like before he takes your life. The beast was winning. The curse
was conquering.

“Ethan, please!” she sobbed.

In answer to her plea, a deep growl vibrated
low within his chest.

“Ethan, look at me, really look at me!”

Nothing stopped his advance as he moved
forward onto his hands and knees, crawling over her as she made an
attempt to slide away across the floor.

The rumbling of the beast inside him finally
bit past his lips. And that’s when fear took her. Of course
Danielle knew he could smell it, but she couldn’t control it any
longer. Being face-to-face with a thirsty monster was just
terrifying, and she knew she was the perfect thing to sate his
overwhelming desire for blood. Despair curled around her lungs and
constricted.

Ethan suddenly gathered her wrists into one
hand and held them in his inescapable grip to her stomach. Without
that support, her back slammed once again against the rug as he
then pinned her down with the muscular weight of his body. Danielle
couldn’t move as a grunt was forced from her mouth.

Bending down, Ethan glided his nose
along her jaw, breathing in deeply, taking in the sweet appetizing
scent of her mortal blood. Lifting his head, he looked into her
eyes.
Please let me see his
soul
, she prayed, but all she could see in his starved
and wild gaze was the overpowering lust for her blood. His soul
could no longer be seen there. Filled with utter anguish, and woozy
from looking into his eyes, Danielle sobbed as tears streamed down
the sides of her face and into her hair. This was the part of her
dream right before he killed her.

Ethan blew his concentrated breath into her
face, clearly wanting to sedate her for the kill. She fought the
effect of it, trying to remain coherent, but she wasn’t getting
far. That internal battle had begun. In one breath she wanted
death, in the other, she wanted life to continue.

Feeling his cool breath touch her skin, Ethan
slid his lips down to the side of her neck, just above her
shoulder, and in a brutal move he jerked her blouse out of the way.
The delicate fabric ripped. When he parted his lips, she could feel
his sharp fangs press against her skin.

“Ethan!” she screamed, fighting past the
potion in her veins. “Remember your humanity! Ethan! Please!
Please...” Her body shook with deep wrenching sobs she couldn’t
control, and her eyes swam with so many tears she could no longer
see.

Danielle gave up ... she’d lost him and knew
she was going to die. “Goodbye, Ethan, I love you.” She fell limp
under his weight, no longer struggling against him, not that it had
mattered as weak with magic as she was. Deep down she knew that had
been the first time she’d said those words to him, and regretted
waiting so long. Closing her eyes, she waited for his fangs to
pierce her skin and for him to drain the life from her.

When she didn’t feel a pinch or
any
pain at all, she
wondered,
Do you not feel it when a
vampire bites you?
Oddly, however, his grasp on her
wrists had loosened, and she was able to pull one hand free.
Lifting it to her neck, she discovered there were no puncture
wounds and opened her eyes.

With his face hovering above hers Ethan was
looking down at her. “Ethan?”

“Danielle,” he whispered back. The gentleness
had returned to his beautiful British voice even though he still
sounded parched. With eyes widening, she realized his eyes were no
longer wild. Was it even possible for him to beat off the monster
in the last moment?

“I’m so sorry.” The words trembled out of
him. Was he crying? No, she corrected, he was sobbing.

Before she’d figured out what was going on,
Ethan quickly lifted his crushing weight from her and lay down on
his back next to her. But immediately after that, he pulled her on
top of him. Danielle tried to stand and get away, but he held her
there firmly.

As her tears cleared, she could see his
expression better and took in a mixture of sadness and regret in
his face. Fear was slowly releasing its grip on her soul at the
mournful sight of him. But Ethan still had the look of a vampire
and deep down, she was still frightened. “Please let go,” she
begged, pushing at his chest.

“No ... Danielle, my love ...
bite me
,” he whispered.

“What?”

“The prophecy, I understand it now....
You helped me to see.... The cursed one who gives himself for
humanity! I give myself to you, Danielle.
You
must bite
me
!”

“But I don’t have fangs and you’re
indestructible!”

“It’s never been tried before, just do it! Do
it now! Please, at least try! It’s the only hope we have, Danielle
… I’m begging you.”

She paused for a moment, trying to comprehend
what he was asking her to do. Could this really be the cure to the
curse? Maybe. It seemed that her loyal, kind Ethan had come back to
her. The horrible beast was gone or restrained by some incredible
strength within him. For her he controlled the curse, and for him,
she would do it. “Okay, Ethan, I’ll try.”

Shifting her position, she hiked up her long
skirt, so that she could straddle his body. She unbuttoned the
first two buttons of his shirt, and pushed the material out of the
way.

He growled again before one word tore from
his throat, “Hurry!”

Resisting the urge to run, Danielle bent over
the top of him so she could reach his neck. He brushed her hair to
the other side of her head with a trembling hand so it draped onto
the floor. She pressed parted lips to his skin and then bit down
hard.

Nothing happened. It seemed she couldn’t cut
through the surface. Trying again she bit harder, grinding her
teeth together, trying to get through his pliable yet tough skin.
Still nothing. She kept trying, but was beginning to worry this
wouldn’t work, when finally—she felt his skin break and then tasted
his blood. Pulling away, she looked and then gasped. Ethan was
bleeding from two crescent shaped teeth marks.

“Suck, Danielle,” he commanded softly, but
urgently. Her eyes flashed to his, and she knew from his look that
he meant what he said. At this point Danielle was willing to do
whatever he told her to do. She leaned down to the wound, but Ethan
gripped her arms and she paused. “Suck, but don’t swallow,” he
instructed.

So she sucked. Like a vampire she drew blood
from the bite that she’d created.

His blood filled her mouth. It was cold, and
she couldn’t pinpoint the taste of it with a name. The flavor was
nothing like anything she’d ever tasted before. She had tasted her
own blood, and it wasn’t like that. It was a strangely desirable
flavor, but she couldn’t enjoy it. Doing what she was doing made
her feel sick.

Feeling his hands on her shoulders, she
stopped immediately. Fighting the urge to vomit, she leaned over
the floor and spat the blood from her mouth.

Ethan waited for her to finish, and then he
tugged her back to him. He was smiling and he looked relieved.
Danielle was confused.

Running his thumb gently across her lower
lip, he wiped away a drop of his blood. Danielle couldn’t help but
shiver because she really felt rather queasy.

Without warning his head snapped back, he
arched his spine and groaned.

“Ethan! What’s wrong?”

He didn’t respond, but remained stiff while
he clenched his teeth together, and his breathing became
labored.

“Are you in pain? Do I need to do something
else? How can I help? Ethan!” She didn’t know what to do, and was
beginning to panic, but he found the strength from somewhere to
place his fingers on her lips to quiet her.

So she waited while troubling thoughts ran
through her head. Is death how he is released from the curse? Had
she killed him instead of him killing her? Or was he being cured by
some miracle? It was almost too much for her impatient nature to
bear and the sting of tears returned.

Finally, after several agonizing moments, his
tense muscles relaxed and he looked like he was sleeping. Relieved
to see his chest rise and fall with breath, Danielle was startled
when he reached for her—carefully took hold of her head and gently
led her to rest her ear over his heart. Danielle resisted
momentarily until she realized he just wanted her to listen. She
listened, but heard nothing, no heartbeat. All she could hear was
his smooth breathing. But when he still wouldn’t let her up, she
listened longer … then … she heard it, a distant thump. Then
another, and another, but the time between them was too far
apart.

Clutching his shirt, she held her breath so
she could listen without distractions. Was she really hearing his
dead heart restart after many long decades of being silent and
still at night? The sun wasn’t up yet and the curse holding him
should have kept his heart silent.

She held her ear pressed to his chest as the
thumps became louder and stronger and more regular. Finally … thump
thump … thump thump … thump thump! It was a mortal heartbeat,
consistent and strong!

Danielle sat up with a smile forcing the
corners of her lips up. It had been many long hours since she’d
been able to smile and now that she could it didn’t feel natural.
“Ethan, your heart! I can hear it!”

“I can feel it,” he said peacefully. “It
wasn’t like this during the day, the beat wasn’t this strong.”