Immortals And Melodies (Blood And Guitars #2) (36 page)

"Let me guess," he said. "You're getting the tour."

I smiled, and Beck stepped forward, greeting
Stanislav
with a handshake.

"It's good to see you again, Beck,"
Stanislav
said warmly to him. "How are you adjusting to life outside the vineyard?"

"I can't complain," Beck said. "Besides, I've been hanging out with this guy." He nodded in my direction. "Maybe some of that insane talent will rub off on me, if I'm lucky."

"Don't count on it," I teased as we all stepped back out into the crisp night air.

"I have some business to attend to,"
Stanislav
said as he locked the building up behind us. "I hope you don't mind if I leave you to explore on your own for a while. Besides, you don't need an old man hanging around, anyway." He smiled, and just like that, he was gone, leaving behind only a light trail of dust in his wake. Beck and I slowly made our way back in the direction of the mansion.

"What are you going to do now?" I asked him, eager to get my mind off of my own problems and find a distraction.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"Well, you seem to be adjusting to life on the nocturnal side of things pretty well. What are you going to do with the next hundred or so years of your life?"

Beck chuckled and shoved his hands in his pockets as he thought about my question. "I need a job," he said, which just made both of us laugh. "I can't go back to school, at least, not like I was before. I don't know what to do anymore."

"Well, it's obvious you're a big music fan," I said. "Have you thought about a career in the music industry?" Beck's face lit up at the prospect of it, and he stopped in his tracks to face me. "I happen to know some people," I said, giving him a light shove on the shoulder to get him walking again. "I could introduce you to a few people, put in a good word. Maybe the label could use a new intern, if that's your thing."

Beck was grinning now. "I ... I don't know what to say."

"It's the least I can do after everything you've done for Aurora and me," I added. "Just cross your fingers that she wakes up soon and things can get back to normal - whatever that is."

"I lost track of normal a long time ago," Beck said in agreement. "Who needs it?"

A few hours later on the other side of midnight, after my tour of the Vineyard with
Stanislav
had ended, I was sitting in the chair at Aurora's bedside. My attention was focused on the design on my wedding band, and I was completely lost in my thoughts, when suddenly I heard Aurora's voice inside my head.

I don't remember doing this before
, her voice echoed.
Is this real?

My head jerked up in response, and I couldn’t believe it, but she was looking up at me in concern.

"Aurora," I said, jumping to my feet. I grinned like an idiot, leaning down to touch her face. "I’m real,” I assured her. “You don't know how much I've missed those beautiful green eyes." She sighed and leaned into my touch as I caressed her cheek. "How do you feel?" I asked.

"Strange," she said. Her voice sounded rough even though she spoke just above a whisper. "What happened?"

"You went through the banister at Club Sanguin," I said. "You were hurt pretty bad. Mark and I brought you to
Stanislav
Vidic
. He saved you by giving you his blood."

Aurora's face showed disbelief at first and then surprise as she glanced around the elaborate guest room and realized I might not be joking. "
Stanislav
Vidic
?" she asked. "You … you really brought me to see an Elder?"

"I know it's crazy," I said, sitting on the edge of her bed, cradling her hand in mine. "I would have done anything. I ... I almost lost you."

She squeezed my hand, and I bent down, kissing her softly. My vampire heart was reverberating in my chest, physical evidence of the overwhelming level of gratitude I was feeling in that moment. I couldn't have explained in words how amazing it felt to kiss Aurora and have her kiss me back. Just hours ago, I wasn't sure I'd ever enjoy that feeling again. When the kiss ended, she grinned up at me, and I smiled right back.

"Mark will want to know you're awake," I said to her. "I'd better go and get him." I got off the bed and headed for the door. "Don't go anywhere," I teased. "I'll be right back." I went across the hall and knocked on the door. It opened just a moment later, and Mark was standing on the other side.

"She's awake," I announced. "She's talking and everything."

The relief on Mark's face almost mimicked what I was feeling as he followed me back across the hall and into the room.

"Hey," she said. "It sounds like I've been a lot of trouble."

"No more than usual," Mark said with a smile. "It's good to have you back."

"It's good to be back," she said, squeezing my hand gently.

"You could probably use a drink," he added.

"I'll get that," I said. I poured a glass of
Vidic
Vineyard's finest and brought it over to the bed where Mark was helping her to sit up, propping pillows up behind her for support.

"Is that what I think it is?" she asked, smiling as I handed her the glass of blood/wine.

"It is," I answered. "Can you believe we've been forced to drink this stuff ever since we got here?"

She laughed softly and took a sip, closing her eyes briefly to revel in the taste. "Rub it in, why don't you?"

I grinned and laid my hand on hers. “I’ll buy you a supply of this stuff, if that’s what you want. We’ll fill the wine room at home with it.”

She took another sip and then smiled. “Talked me into it.”

Chapter 48

Aurora

ONE BOTTLE OF VIDIC Vineyard's finest vampire cocktail and two blood bags later, I was starting to feel more like myself. I didn't even mind that Mark had insisted I stay in bed and rest. It was enough just to have Trey sitting there on the bed with me, holding my hand and explaining the great lengths they had gone to in order to save me. I didn't know which part was harder to swallow, the fact that Malena really had been the cause of most of our problems and had managed to almost kill me in the process, or the fact that I now had the blood of an Elder pulsing through my veins. I couldn't remember perfectly everything that had happened at Club Sanguin that night, but I was starting to get it back piece by piece.

"Malena hurt you," I said to Trey, reaching my hand up to feel the smooth skin of his neck. She'd torn into his throat with her fangs. I remembered that now.

"I'm fine," he assured me. "I'm healing up already."

I didn’t miss the fact that he wasn’t saying out loud that his neck wasn’t the only place he’d been hurt. "What else?" I asked, a little afraid of the answer. The thought of Trey being hurt again was almost more than I could stand.

"It's nothing," he said. The look on my face must have shown I wasn’t convinced, because he resigned to tell me after a moment. "It’s just a few cracked ribs. That's all."

He'd broken bones in that fight, trying to pull Malena away from me. None of it would have happened, if I'd been stronger. I slid my hand through the space between two buttons on his shirt and felt the tape that ran along the side of his chest. I pulled my hand back out and began unbuttoning his shirt to get a better look.

"I'm fine," he insisted. "It's nothing a little blood and time won't heal."

I pushed his shirt aside and saw the giant, black and blue bruise that covered half of his chest. My voice was only a whisper when I tried to speak. "Trey-"

"Hana taped me up," he interrupted. "I'll be good as new in a few days." He brushed a strand of hair away from my face and I met his eyes. "Come on. I'm the last thing you need to worry about."

I sighed and gazed at the bruise again, this time realizing that his tattoo had completely faded away since the last time I’d seen it. Trey seemed to know what I was thinking because he shrugged and said, “I guess we’ll have to get that airbrush gun you mentioned after all.”

“It’s at the top of our list,” I said.

“You healing up is at the top of our list,” he corrected. “The tattoo can wait.”

I let myself relax against him again. "You said Hana helped you when I was … you know?"

"Yeah. Mark sent for her and Beck when I called him."

"What's she like?" I asked. I’d only met her briefly at the Lunar Eclipse Ritual in Miami, but I definitely would have paid better attention if I’d known she and Mark would actually end up dating.

"She's nice," he said. "She did what she could to help take care of you. She fixed my throat and made sure I was drinking blood from the stash so I could heal." He looked down at me and added, "I know you only met her once, but you're going to like her. Really."

"She took good care of you when I couldn't," I said truthfully. "I like her already."

“It was Mark’s idea to bring you here,” he added. “We were desperate. I would have done anything at that point.”

"I've never heard of an Elder giving of their blood like this," I said to Trey, still trying to wrap my head around the story he'd told me. "I still can't believe you convinced him to do it."

"It didn't take that much convincing, honestly," Trey said, twisting my wedding band around on my ring finger. "The important thing is that it worked. You look better already."

"Do I?"

"Yeah," he said, followed by that irresistible half-smile. "The bluish veins around your eyes are gone and your skin has that sort of ethereal quality back to it."

"Ugh ... I must have looked awful."

"You're beautiful," he said, cupping my cheek with his hand. "You always have been." I opened my mouth to respond, but a glance into Trey's cool blue eyes whisked my breath away. I'd wondered, during my time in the endless fog, if I'd ever get the chance to drown in the intensity of his eyes like this again. Looking at him now, I wanted to fully appreciate just how stunning he was. I reached up, letting my fingers run along his chocolate colored hair. "Hey," he said softly, cocking his head. "You okay?"

I nodded, letting my fingers trail down the side of his face and along the strong line of his jaw. The absence of his breath on my fingertip as I traced over his perfect lips was still strange to me. In ways, I’d probably always see him as the human I fell in love with. He met me halfway when I leaned into him, his lips covering mine in a slow, sweet kiss. For the second time since I'd fought my way out of the fog, I felt Trey's emotions swirl up inside of me, blending seamlessly with my own. It would have been impossible to separate them, and I had no desire to try. There's no way to describe how amazing it is to have someone else's feelings so completely in tune with your own that there's no need to explain yourself. When the kiss ended, I leaned against Trey's shoulder and tried to relax, but my mind was wandering.

"What is it?" Trey asked after a moment. "Not that I'm complaining, but your mental fortress is back up in full force, so I have to ask."

“I feel … different.”

“That’s not too surprising considering you were dying a short while ago.”

I sat up and saw that Trey was smiling at me, but it didn’t mask the sudden concern in his eyes. “It’s probably nothing,” I said, more to convince myself than anything. Then, more to change the subject than anything I said, "I still can’t believe this all comes back to Malena. If only I had known…."